It’s awful tempting to dive right into a landing page project with the first glimmer of inspiration; however even a brilliant concept is destined for failure if it isn’t objective driven.

In order to accomplish your goals, you have to know what they are. Is this an eCommerce website focused on transactions? Is the purpose to generate leads, or is it about branding or relationship building, or is it about increasing your database through membership registration? A good marketer will often start at the bottom of the sales funnel and work their way up to the point where the visitor first enters the funnel.

After you decide what constitutes “Success” you best figure out exactly who your ideal customer is. Remember; it’s NOT about YOU! Many businesses feel compelled to tell their story to what they perceive as a captive audience. There is no captive audience on the Internet. Check your ego at the door, it’s just too easy for a visitor to leave and find what they really want.

Before you can tell your story… you have to know who you are telling it to. A tried and true technique for defining your customer is to actually create one… complete with name and age and marital status, etc. You may even have multiple profiles; just make sure that you prioritize them. Remember…if you try to appeal to too many different customer types, you will wind up appealing to no one. Once you know WHO you are selling to, you can craft your message so that it appeals to THEM.

Stephen R. Covey said in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to begin with the end in mind. In the world of landing page design, you have to know what YOU want and what your CUSTOMER wants. Then work from there.