If you want to increase the sales from your website, where’s the first place you’ll focus?

Well, if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ll look for ways to get more traffic.

But more traffic often isn’t the right answer.

Of course you can’t make sales if you have zero traffic, but the real leverage is in your conversion rates.

As Phil pointed out in this article (3 Ways to Generate More Revenue), there are 2 reasons why conversions are more important than traffic:

1. If you can double your website conversion rate, then you’ll double your sales without any more traffic to your site. Or in other words, you can double your sales without spending any more money on your online marketing.

2. A low conversion rate = high cost per sale.  If your cost per sale is too high, then your options for traffic are limited and you can’t grow your business until you improve your conversion rates.

 

The First Step…

The real answer to improving your conversion rates is to test, test, test. You need to design different pages and test different variations to see which converts the best. This process is known as conversion rate optimization, or landing page optimization.

But, before you dive into optimization, your first step to define your reason to exist in the marketplace.

Instead of asking “How can I get more prospective customers to respond?” you should focus on answering your customer’s biggest question: “Why should I do business with you?”

Your answer to this question is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

 

Examples of Good vs. Bad USPs

Here are some examples of good Unique Sellling Propositions:

Domino’s: “Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes, or it’s free”

Fedex: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”

Note that both of these involve a big, specific benefit, as well as a strong guarantee.

And here’s another one I saw advertised the other day, from a diet program: “The only diet in the world that allows you to eat all of your favorite foods and still lose weight.”

On the other hand, here are some examples of bad USPs:
“We’ve been in business since 1928.”
“We have the best service.”
“We care the most.”

What’s the difference?

An effective USP is specific and verifiable — not just empty hype. Your ideal customer should hear your USP and say “That’s exactly what I want!”

A good USP should first focus in on a specific benefit your customer wants, and then seek to differentiate yourself from the competition.

 

Create Your Unique Selling Proposition This Week

Here are some questions you can ask to arrive at your USP:

1. What do your customers really want? What is the real reason they are buying your products or services?

2. Why do your customers currently choose to do business with you?

3. What do customers hate about your type of business? What “wrong” can you make right?”

4. What do you do better than any of your competitors?

5. Narrow your target market: Can you cater to a particular niche?

6. What can you guarantee that none of your competitors currently guarantee?

Open up your calendar and block off at least 30 minutes this week to create your USP.

I recommend you take out a physical notebook and start jotting down answers to this question: “Why should I do business with you, rather than your competitors?”

Your goal is to craft a 1 sentence answer, ideally containing 20 words or less.

If you’ve created a USP for your business and you want feedback, post it in the comments section.