When you first think about website design, you might tend to think strictly of things like the appearance of the graphics and text, the ease of navigation for the user, and the features it should have (such as a blog, e-commerce capability, etc).  And while these things are important, they have to work in harmony with the “value proposition” you are conveying to your potential customers.

What is a “Value Proposition”?

Your VALUE PROPOSITION is the foundation of your efforts to market to potential customers.  It is that primary reason why your ideal prospect should buy from you rather than your competitors.

With the current state of media in the world, messages flash past a person in an overwhelming torrent.  LOTS of companies are vying for that person’s attention and business.  And the net result is an A=A=A mentality.  The potential customer needs help DIFFERENTIATING.  If your website differentiates you and your business from the others (in a good way, we would hope), then you’re more likely to get the business.

In fact, according to a recent study on experiments done with different website strategies, there were three marketing elements that the researchers found most important in incorporating value propositions on web pages.  They are:

• Proof Points – Codified text bytes that support the claim of the value proposition (Example: “3,657 companies just this year have started using us for their…”)
• Supporting Stories – Simple narratives that bring relevance to the claim of value (i.e. testimonials, individual stories of clients)
• Illustrative Images – Meaningful graphics that illustrate the claim of value (i.e. graphics that convey the value proposition, not just that look neat)

Try this exercise:

1. Go check out your website and see what element or elements stick out to you the most on the page.  What grabs your attention first?  It is the title of the page?  An image off to the right?
2. Does that element directly and clearly, using image and or words, convey the value proposition you want to convey?  Or does it just fill space in that spot.  If it’s an image, did you pick it because it looks nice, or because it broadcasts your value proposition and why the visitor should buy from you instead of someone else?

Go through the rest of your site and look at it from this view.  You might be surprised what you find.