What sets websites apart from their competition

[SenseiSteve]

Your thoughts?

Once many sites are launched, they remain static for years.

What sets websites apart, aside from their Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? Tweaking a site to closely match today's trends may not seem important, but image or the perception of value is so much more important than it used to be, especially when trying to remain relevant.

How important is it to stay in the know with your prospects, in terms of managing a website? And increasing conversions?

 

[easyhostmedia]

i thinks it more important today for you to know your market and to know something about basic web design as a majority pf people use Wordpress and other CMS and just chose one of their default themes/templates as this means most of the work is done for them without the expense of hiring a professional web designer, but these are an generic, so you need to know how to make these look different to everyone else and stand out from the rest.

 

[server]

SEO all the way?

 

[izumi777]

I guess these might sets websites apart their competitors.

- New products
- New contents
- New testimonials
- New design

 

[bigredseo]

White Glove Service will always win out at the end of the day. While updating the site will bring the customer to you, it's the service that will keep them there.

It seems nobody really offers a "test our network speed" setup any more - where users can download a 1MB, 10MB and 100MB file and compare the speed with their location. Those were critical items (and still are) when we looked for hosting.

Certainly some knowledge of basic HTML, PHP and WordPress are going to be good tools under the belt (if your target is WordPress). We were well known for a shopping cart, and nearly everyone on staff knew the basis of the software, with a few that knew more advanced settings and permissions. This was a big reason we were the top host in the US for that platform.

Perception of value is very important, as long as it's not over the top. I still see hosts offering 50% and 75% off for the first year, and then wonder why people dont' sign up for the second year of hosting. The discount was too great! Sure it gets bodies in the door, but it kills the overall growth.

Things change - live by the ABTs (Always Be Testing)

 

[easyhostmedia]

Perception of value is very important, as long as it's not over the top. I still see hosts offering 50% and 75% off for the first year, and then wonder why people dont' sign up for the second year of hosting.

I would never go for a host offering such discounts as its just false economy, would rather see a host advertise a small recurring monthly discount.

Also what a host states 'We guarantee your fees wont rise during your hosting' i also think this is false economy as power, water, wages etc. all increase, so eventually these hosts will run at a loss when their overheads rise but they don't increase their revenue