Your website may get a lot of visitors, but how many of them subscribe to what you’re selling? Whether you’re asking them to sign up for a service or buy a product, every home page needs a unique selling point to succeed.
Your Headline and Image Should Relate to Each Other
A unique selling point is a combination of the main headline and image on your home page. Both should relate to each other. A headline with a relevant image makes your unique selling point stronger and more compelling. It also clarifies the headline if the user has any questions in their mind.
“People around the world” text connects with images of people around the world.
A good example of a unique selling point that follows this is Kiva.org. Their headline, “Empower people around the world with a 25$ loan.”, specifies ‘people around the world’. The main image they use is a strip of thumbnails showing people around the world. There is a strong connection between the headline and the image, making the unique selling point strong and clear.
Try to Say It All in One Sentence
A unique selling point that’s verbose is one that users will often skip. You should try to keep headline short, and say what’s unique about your site all in one sentence. It makes it quicker and easier for users to read and process. It also makes your home page look cleaner and less cluttered.
Left headline is weak and wordy. Right one is strong and simple.
Codecademy.com’s unique selling point is verbose. They could have easily said everything they wanted to say in one sentence. Instead of saying, “Learn to Code: Codecademy is the easiest way to learn how to code. It’s interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends.”, they could have simply said “Learn to code in an easy, fun and interactive way with your friends.” A shorter, punchier headline has a faster and stronger effect on users.
Avoid Using Generic Adjectives That Can Apply to Anyone
There are many ways you can describe your site if you use generic adjectives in your headline. The problem with that is that they can apply to anyone. And that doesn’t make your site very unique or interesting. Instead, describe your site using specific adjectives that are unique to what you offer. This allows users to get a clear picture of how your site is different from other sites, making them want to learn more.
Top headline uses generic adjectives. Bottom headline uses specific adjectives.
SideTour.com’s site is unique and interesting. But users can’t see that when they read their unique selling point. Their headline uses generic adjectives such as “authentic” and “real”, which can apply to any other website. Instead of saying “Authentic experiences. Real people”, they could have said “Real-life experiences with passionate people.” to make it more specific to their site.
Avoid Esoteric Lingo That Only You Understand
Some sites have tendency to use esoteric lingo for their unique selling point. Although it may seem clever and cute, it’s not clear to users on what it means. A lack of clarity on your home page can make users abandon your site with a lack of interest. Using words and terms that only you understand is a sure way to leave your users feeling alienated and frustrated.
Headline is esoteric and doesn’t tell users what Klout is about.
Klout.com’s unique selling point informs everyone that they have “Klout”. Unfortunately, this term does not really describe to users what Klout is. Klout is a pun for the word “clout”, meaning influence or power. While there is a correlation between the site name and what it offers, their headline isn’t clear enough to compel users to sign up right away. Most will still wonder what Klout is after reading it, and will have to look to the navigation to learn more about it. That is, if they have the patience.
Use a Text Color that Contrasts with the Background
What your unique selling point says is important, but how it looks is also important. Your color of your text should contrast with the background color so that users can see and read it easily. The size of your text also matters. Many users will ignore small text under larger text if it’s too small. Balance and contrast are needed to make your unique selling point stand out.
Blue text doesn’t contrast well with blue background, making it hard for users see and read.
Goodsie.com’s unique selling point has large white text that contrasts well with the background. However, their small blue text doesn’t contrast well with the blue background. They’re not only are both blue, but the background also has decorations on it, decreasing the contrast even more. Users will see the large text, but miss the small text because of the poor contrast.
Use an Elegant Typeface
Color and size isn’t the only way to make your unique selling point stand out. An elegant typeface can also do the trick. It can give users the feeling that your site is unique and interesting. There are many elegant typefaces you can choose from:
Elegant typefaces affect how users perceive your site.
Onswipe.com uses an elegant typeface for their unique selling point. This makes users feel that their product is modern and creative. Their headline is also clear and specific, which further adds to it.
Unique and to the Point
A unique selling point is what will spark the user’s interest when they visit your home page. The more clear and specific you make it, the more unique your site will look. Having a good unique selling point doesn’t mean that everyone who visits your site will buy what you’re selling. But it does mean that your target users will better understand what you’re offering. The quicker you grab their attention, the quicker you’ll win the sale.
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Good tips, thanks. The one about avoiding generic adjectives jumped out for me– easy to get lazy and fall into that trap!
Interestingly enough, I frequently have the opposite sort of problem. That is, I frequently find that in order to read a web page on my screen or copy it in print without losing information, I need to reduce character size and/or the width of a various sections of text. Interestingly enough, liquid alignment works far better for these purposes as well.
And any web designer who specifies that the width of a given page must obligatorily be wider than the capabilities of my browser and screen to display–is disgustingly incompetent as far as I am concerned.
Some really interesting points, specifically about the use of adjectives. Another great tip for creating USPs is to research head lines by competitors, put them into a spread sheet, and try to improve what your competitors have already done. This can give you some great inspiration for creating your own and providing stronger ones than your competitors.