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How is the casual web surfer going to perceive your website
as distinct from a thousand others in the same business?
Developing a clear Unique Selling Proposition (USP) has a
lot to do with differentiating your website (and company!)
from all the others. What is unique about your business? Why
do customers come to you for their business, rather than your
competition? What do you do better (or different) from all
the rest?
Finding your USP is one of the first steps toward a truly
successful marketing plan, especially online.
Distinctive Packaging
Many small business people cut corners on website design
costs. The result is a same-old, look-alike website that you
couldn't remember an hour after you visited it. Like book
covers that compete for consumers' attention, websites need
strong visual images.
A quality logo is essential. A small businessperson can get
a logo designed for $200 to $500, though many companies spend
several thousand dollars on the process, since it is so vital
to the identity of their company and their products. Most
graphic design companies offer this service.
Award-winning outsourced
customer service solution that gets your
customers the answers they need, when they need them most
-- while
they are still on your site...
Competitive Analysis
Just as important as a logo is a distinctive design for the
website. The site ought to leave you with an attractive visual
memory. Look at your competitors' websites. What do you like
about them? What would you change? If you like a certain style
or "look", chances are your customers will too.
Does your site's style reflect your unique business, or does
it simply list the bare facts about you with a big yawn?
A Distinct Voice
Another way to differentiate your website is with a distinctive
"voice." The Internet can be a very flat, cold world.
So make sure the style of writing adds personality and individuality
to the website text. In a corporate culture this can be darn
near impossible. We've all seen the webpage with the DRY message
from the CEO. Companies that are smart find spokespersons
who put personality into the website text, i.e. a distinctive
"voice."
A Clear Focus
Part of making your business or product distinctive is narrowing.
Many online businesses try to be everything to everybody and
fail because they are seen as just being part of the crowd.
How
long should it take you to get an e-business application up
and
running? A year, six months, three months? Not if you click
here...
Smaller companies have an easier job of differentiating themselves.
Often the Unique Selling Proposition can be a geographic focus
combined with a specialty. For example, a dry cleaner in Portland,
Maine, that specializes in cleaning suede better than anyone
else in the city. Or a recording company that markets New
Orleans jazz.
Find your company's Unique Selling Proposition, and incorporate
that into your website to make it stand out from the crowd.
Darlene Cary
Mind's Eye Presentations LLC
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