So, why should I choose you?
When evaluating a client website, I’ll first look at how well that organization’s unique value proposition (UVP) is conveyed. A good UVP quickly answers the following question: “If I am your ideal audience, why should I choose to do business with you and not someone else?”
Quite often I find that most websites lack a strong UVP and if they do have one, it’s not articulated very well. Without a UVP, you risk getting lost amidst your web competitors. It’s my experience that creating a compelling UVP, or improving on an existing one, can dramatically help an online business improve conversions without touching anything else on the website. In other words, before you decide on the necessity of a massive site redesign first consider if you are doing a good job telling your web visitors why you are their only alternative.
Creating an effective UVP is not easy. It’s not a catchy slogan or tagline, but rather a statement that tells your target audience why they’ve found the business they’ve been looking for and why they need to stay. It must be clear, concise, memorable and conveyed in a few sentences.
Setting out to write a UVP can be a painful – start by creating a list using the following as a guide:
– What is your audience’s problem or issue and how are you helping?
– What one thing do your customers value most about your service or product? (Having trouble? Ask them!)
– List your strengths and weaknesses. Perform a competitive site analysis of your primary competitors and list their strengths and weaknesses. How do theirs compare to yours?
– Quantify how your service or product helps your audience. (e.g. “Our widget helps customers save an average of 40%…”)
Great! You’ve got your list and maybe even some numbers to back up your claims. Take time to identify and notate common themes that emerge. Give your list to a good copywriter and ask them to create 1-2 sentence variations using the common themes you’ve identified.
You now have a handful of UVP’s to choose from… in an ideal world, you’d test each UVP on your website and identify which variation has the most positive effect on conversion. For most that is not an option, so ask customers, staff, friends and family for feedback.
Pick a UVP, get it front and center on your website’s homepage, and reinforce it through the rest of the site.
You’ve only got a limited amount of time to engage your web visitors. A powerful unique value proposition differentiates you from others and helps convert casual visitors into loyal customers.
