Website Planning: How to Stand Out From Your Competition
One of my favorite questions we ask our clients when we are in the early stages of small business website planning is:
“Why are you a better choice than your competitors?”
If I asked you this question right now, would you be able to answer? If you can, that’s awesome! But if you can’t, let’s talk about why answering this question is the most important step in your marketing strategy.
Most business owners can easily talk about what they do, what they sell, or how they do things. But they rarely focus on the “why.” Answering this question is the key to helping your business stand out, especially online, when visitors are actively searching for a service or product.
Why Your Website Needs a Unique Value Proposition
You only have one chance to make a great first impression. Unfortunately, messaging is often the weakest link in a company’s online marketing efforts.
Convincing visitors to buy a product or book a service is a tough job. If you seem uncertain or don’t clearly explain the value you’re offering, you’ll scare off potential prospects. For the customer, the difficulty in making a purchasing decision stems from how much competition there is in the market.
If you are a roofer in Ocala, or a boutique shop in Central Florida, what makes you different from the dozens of other local options? That difference is your Unique Value Proposition (UVP), and it needs to be the foundation of your website.
How to Figure Out “Why” You Are Better
If you aren’t sure how to define your competitive edge, here is a simple three-step process you can use during your website planning phase:
1. Analyze Your Competitors’ Weaknesses
Look at the Google reviews of three of your biggest competitors. What are people complaining about? Are they too slow? Do they have poor customer service? Is their pricing confusing?
If you can identify where they fail, you can highlight how your business solves that exact problem.
2. Talk to Your Best Customers
Reach out to three of your favorite clients and ask them point-blank: “Why did you choose to work with us?”
Often, the things you think make you special are different from what your customers actually value. They might say, “You were the only one who answered the phone on a Sunday,” or “Your team cleaned up the job site perfectly.”
Use their exact words on your website.
3. Focus on the Outcome, Not Just the Features
People don’t buy a drill because they want a drill; they buy it because they want a hole in the wall.
Don’t just list your services. Explain how your services make your customer’s life easier, safer, or more profitable.
Where to Highlight Your “Why” on Your Website
Once you know what makes you better, you need to put it front and center. Don’t bury it on page three of your site.
The Homepage Hero Section
Your unique value should be the very first headline a user reads before they even scroll down.
The About Page
Don’t just write a biography. Frame your company history around why you are passionate about helping your specific type of client.
Service Pages
Remind the user why your specific approach to this service yields better results than the “other guys.”
Case Study: Putting the “Why” Into Practice
Let’s look at an example.
How do we apply this concept to our own business? What makes Graphicten different from the many other web agencies out there?
Instead of just saying “We build websites,” our “Why” is this: We help small business owners make more money by helping them better understand their business and improving their online presence.
Here is how we break that down for our prospects:
Custom Solutions, Not Cookie-Cutter Templates
We avoid using service providers that lock you into a specific ecosystem like Wix or Squarespace. With those services, you never truly own your website. We start by getting to know your unique target audience and struggles, then build custom WordPress solutions that fit your exact needs.
A Focus on User Experience (UX)
We focus on creating sites that follow best practices, are optimized for speed and search engines, and are highly functional. We provide your visitors with clear calls to action (CTAs), leading them down easy-to-navigate paths to generate leads.
A Proven Track Record
We have an extensive background in software and web development. We are not tied down to off-the-shelf software, which allows us to create websites that load fast, function properly, and keep your site secure.
Leading with our “why” entices prospects to want to learn more. We then follow up with the “what” and “how” to provide in-depth information.
Ready to Build a Website That Converts?
Your website should be optimized for what your customers are actually looking for. Lead with your strongest message- your “Why”- and people will take action to learn more about your products or services.
Are you ready to create something awesome? We are!
If you want to learn more about how we can help your small business succeed online, let’s talk.
Click here to schedule a free strategy call with Graphicten today.
