Who it is for

Lesson 3 of 6

A homepage written for “businesses of all sizes” is a homepage for no one in particular. The right visitor needs to recognise their own situation quickly. The wrong visitor should be able to leave without booking a conversation you would only decline.

You already chose one offer. This lesson puts a person next to it. The person is not a slogan about your ideal client. It is the situation they are actually in when they search, or when someone sends them your page.

Make the right person feel seen

Name the situation, not a demographic compliment. “Homeowners in Leeds whose boiler has died” is a person. “Valued customers seeking excellence” is a brochure. Use the words they would type or say out loud. A homeowner talks about a leak. They do not talk about a thermal system failure. A consultant’s client says the diary is full and the weekends have gone, not that they need a growth architecture.

Put that name in the first screen, beside the offer. If it only appears halfway down an About page, the right person has often left already. You can still tell a longer story further down for people who want it. The first screen is where recognition has to happen.

Say who it is not for

One honest limit saves time on both sides. You might not travel outside a certain area. You might not take new-build contracts, funded startups, or people who want the work done for them with no involvement. Say so in a sentence you would be willing to repeat on a phone call.

This is a practical filter, not a pose. People who fit lean in, because the page sounds like their week. People who do not fit stop before they waste an evening, and before you spend that evening explaining a no. A clear limit is kinder than a vague page and a polite rejection later.

Put the “for” line in the first screen. Put the “not for” line directly under it, or as the first sentence of the next short paragraph. Do not hide it in a question list that nobody opens on a phone. If the limit feels rude when you read it back, make it plainer rather than vaguer. “I do not take new-build contracts” is clearer than “some projects may not be the right fit”.

Example · a brand consultant

The current line says: “Helping businesses of all sizes unlock their brand potential.” A bakery and a bank could both claim it, which means neither will feel addressed. Nothing in the sentence tells a visitor what they would get, or whether they are the sort of client you take.

A replacement: “Brand names and homepages for solo consultants who are tired of sounding like everyone else. Not for startups raising a funding round, and not for shops that need a full packaging system.”

A consultant who has rewritten their own introduction four times can see themselves in the first sentence. A founder building a pitch deck can see that this is not the job, and does not book. That is a good result. You keep the calls that match the work.

If you really do serve two groups, name the one you want on this homepage. Give the other group a sentence, or another page. Do not average them into “everyone” and hope the right people will sort it out.

Do this now

Write who the page is for, in the words they would use about their own situation. One sentence.
Write who it is not for. One sentence you would say out loud without softening it into fog.
Put the first sentence into your draft first screen, next to the offer from the previous lesson.
Put the second sentence directly underneath. Read both on your phone. If the limit sounds harsh, make the facts clearer. Do not delete the limit to be polite.

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