Homepage UVP: How to Succinctly Convey Your Unique Value Proposition to Visitors

It takes, on average, 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for a visitor to form an opinion about your website. If it resonates with them, they’ll likely hang around, explore, and learn about your product or service. If not, they’ll leave. 

While there are a variety of factors that determine a visitor’s perception, including visuals, colors, spacing, and symmetry, the homepage’s unique value proposition (UVP) often makes or breaks it. 

And that’s the crux of this article. Here we’ll take a deep dive into what a homepage UVP is, why it’s important, and offer actionable advice on how to incorporate a strong homepage UVP while citing plenty of real-life examples. 

What Exactly is a Homepage UVP?

I think this definition from Unbounce articulates it perfectly. 

“A UVP is a clear statement that describes the benefit of your offer, how you solve your customer’s needs, and what distinguishes you from the competition.”

In just a few words, a homepage UVP succinctly explains why visitors should care and why they should choose your brand over someone else. 

Also, note that for a UVP to be effective, it needs to be displayed prominently on the homepage, ideally above the fold so visitors can see it at a glance without having to do any excessive scrolling. 

The homepage UVP of 3.7 Designs, for example, looks like this. 

The header says, “Build awareness and generate leads through smarter inbound marketing.” 

Below that, we elaborate to show visitors how exactly we go about solving their needs and how we ensure results with the following subtext. “See how 3.7 Designs can help you find and convert more prospects into leads, customers, and members through smarter design thinking and our exclusive inbound marketing process.”

Finally, we use a beautiful hero image of a lightbulb to communicate the “aha moment” of a great marketing campaign and smart decision-making. 

As a visitor lands on our homepage, they see our UVP, which helps them get their bearings so they know what they can accomplish by partnering with 3.7 Designs (they can build awareness and generate leads) and what differentiates us from the competition (we use a smarter and exclusive inbound marketing process). 

So in just a matter of seconds, a visitor can go from being brand new to 3.7 Designs and not knowing a thing about who we are and what we offer to having a crystal-clear idea and feeling compelled enough to explore further. 

That, in turn, allows us to connect with visitors and encourage them to learn more about our offerings. 

Why is a Homepage UVP Important?

There are three main reasons. 

First, it generates enough initial interest in a visitor to make them consider doing business with you. Rather than making them scroll through your homepage or other pages on your site to figure out who you are and what you do, a well-crafted UVP encapsulates it in just a few words. That way you’re on the same page right from the start. 

Second, it gives you a competitive edge. As Campaign Creators put it, “Having a strong UVP will allow potential customers to have a good first impression of your company. If they can connect with your UVP, they are far more likely to pick you over your competitors.”

Third, a solid UVP makes it easier to convert more leads. By setting the right tone the second a visitor lands on your site and clearly articulating why buying from you is a smart choice, this makes it much easier to close the deal later on. 

How to Create a Winning Homepage UVP for Your Site

Let me start by saying there is no definitive formula for constructing a homepage UVP that works across the board for every single company. The end result can differ somewhat, and that’s totally fine. There is, however, a basic template that works for most companies and should serve as a good starting point (you can always refine it later as you gather data and feedback). 

It looks like this:

1. Establish relevance – Explain how your product or service solves a critical pain point or addresses what your target audience is looking for. 
2. State value – Encapsulate in just a few words how a customer will benefit and why they should care. 
3. Differentiate your brand – Let a potential customer know why you’re the best option over similar competitors. 

In terms of the specific layout of a homepage UVP, this tends to work well:

• Main headline – The overarching selling point in a single sentence that instantly grabs a visitor’s attention. 
• Subtext – This can include a short, two to three sentence blurb or a few bullet points that elaborate on your main headline. 
• A “hero” image – This will help accentuate your UVP, reinforce your messaging, and offer an attractive visual to further appeal to visitors. 

Again, going back to the example from our website, it starts with the main headline. 

That’s followed by the subtext. 

And there’s a hero image to the right side of the homepage UVP to provide a nice aesthetic pop. 

Other Real-Life Examples

Now that we know what a homepage UVP is, why it’s important, and how to create one, let’s look at a few other real-life examples for inspiration. 

One of my favorites is from website optimization/heatmap software Crazy Egg.

Notice that it has the three key components, including:

• Main headline – “Make your website better. Instantly.”
• Subtext – “Over 300,000 websites use Crazy Egg to improve what’s working, fix what isn’t, and test new ideas.”
• Hero image – Two people standing in a hot air balloon basket with directional cues pointing to the offer. 

Another great homepage UVP comes from project management tool Trello.

Trello also has the three core elements, which are:

• Main headline – “Trello helps teams move work forward.”
• Subtext – “Collaborate, manage projects, and reach new productivity peaks. From high rises to the home office, the way your team works is unique — accomplish it all with Trello.”
• Hero image – An ultra-collaborative image suggesting how Trello helps teams coordinate activities and stay in sync. 

Finally, there’s this killer UVP from landing page building platform Unbounce. 

Again, it uses the same exact formula, including:

• Main headline – “Smart marketing tools to grow your business”
• Subtext – “Turn more of your visitors into customers. Unbounce is the AI-powered landing page builder with smart features that let you create beautiful, high-performing marketing campaigns in just a few minutes.”
• Hero image – There’s a fun and playful, yet visually striking image of an example landing page featuring dogs. 

Partnering with a Professional Agency

A homepage UVP can make or break a visitor’s perception of your brand. Get it right, and you can turn visitors into leads, and ultimately leads into customers. Fall short, however, and many visitors will simply leave without ever giving your business a serious chance. 

That’s why it’s important to 1) create a winning UVP and 2) refine it to work out the kinks for maximum effectiveness. If you’re not quite comfortable handling this on your own, partnering with a professional agency is often a smart move. At 3.7 Designs, we can work one-on-one to craft and optimize your homepage UVP to ensure it perfectly hits its mark and resonates with visitors. 

To learn more, you can reach us through our contact form, and we’ll get back to you shortly.