Who is our audience?

Table of Contents

Write content focused on what your web visitors need to do. Start by thinking about what your agency or organization does and the many types of people it serves:

  • As a… [who is the target audience?] I want to… [what does the audience want to do?] so I can…[what is the audience’s goal?]

How you refer to Iowans and the general public is dependent on context. Choose from any of the words on this list: 

  • People
  • Residents
  • The public
  • Constituents

We avoid the word “citizens” as not everyone who uses Iowa.gov and our agency sites is a citizen. Use “citizens” only when specifically writing about U.S. citizenship  –  for example, when describing who can vote in federal elections.