Why is it important to display USPs on your website?
No matter which industry you’re in, the internet is a crowded place. Getting noticed as a business can be really tough, particularly if you’re just starting out and don’t have many customer reviews or testimonials to help you out. What you need, then, is something to set you apart from your competition, something that makes you stand out in some way. What you need is a USP.
SEO and PPC allow users to find your site, but they alone won’t persuade them to convert. This is where USPs come in. They can help build trust, ultimately leading to more conversions. So much so, in fact, that nailing down and prominently displaying USPs on a website is a core part of conversion rate optimisation (CRO).
What is a USP?
An abbreviation for Unique Selling Point (or Proposition, take your pick), USPs are vital if you want to stand out online. As the name implies, a USP is something unique to you – something that could give you the edge over your competitors.
Typical examples of USPs include:
- Features that only your product has
- Specialist services you can offer that your competitors can’t
- Qualifications you have or training you’ve completed
- Aftersales support that you can offer
- Your previous experience
- Clients you’ve worked with or supplied to
- Your average review score on the likes of Google or Trustpilot
USPs vary significantly from sector to sector, and service-based businesses will naturally take a different approach to ecommerce sites. It’s always worth studying competitors’ sites to see how they’ve structured theirs.
What is the role of a USP?
The point of a USP is to explain to the customer why your company is different from its rivals. A handful of neatly-defined USPs can pique the interest of a potential customer enough for them to stay on your site and learn more, as opposed to simply closing the tab and moving on.
How should you present your USPs?
USPs have to be easy to understand, or there’s little point in including them. Try and keep yours as concise and clear as you can, using terminology that anyone could understand – even if they’re not familiar with your industry. It’s best to keep them short and sweet: say what you need to and nothing more! What makes you better than your competitors? Perhaps you undercut them on price, have more experience or have access to special equipment that they don’t? These are the questions you need to ask yourself.
Once you’ve written your USPs, we’d recommend showcasing them prominently across your website to take full advantage. They can be particularly beneficial on service pages and landing pages, and you could even add them to your site’s header or footer for increased visibility.