Why Do All Company Websites Look the Same?

There are two people in life. Those who see the status quo in slow motion, and those who think ahead.

Most people are in the first group … those who are ignorant that the status quo changes. Everybody’s advertising on Facebook and Instagram, saying the same things and making websites with the same landing pages with the same headlines drafted by the same machine-learning search engine.

They’re showing up in the same places, talking the same jargon, and offering the same products or service. So, if you believe that you are going to compete with them by doing the same thing that they are, then you are mistaken.

You may have heard of a startup or product that is a disruptive innovation, which is a form of differentiation where a product or brand “disrupts” a competitive market. Such scenarios are rare. Differentiation by itself is simply making your business stand out, and not necessarily disruptive.

For small businesses, differentiation should be a top priority if there are a lot of alternatives to your company.

Optimization is Sometimes Important

All company websites seem to have similar-looking websites.

A neat landing page, a blank background with bold, white headlines and subheadings. Top it with a cute CTA graphic that says “learn more”.

You may have even noticed some of these elements on my website.

I use this because I want to “optimize” my website to be efficacious like other websites who have these elements on their home page, or landing page.

At first glance, it seems like sameness happens because of people are sheep. Maybe partially.

Businesses want to make sure that their websites look like everybody else, not because they want to look like everybody else, but because there is some data that shows that these elements (minimalism, headline, CTA) are efficacious. So, the founders want to “optimize” their website with that look. In particular industries, it is important to do this because it is proven to “work”.

The truth is, if you are a new business, looking like everybody else too much can make you look plain. There is no real communication in saying what everybody else is saying, and saying arbitrary things even if they make no sense just because it worked for someone else.

So, while it’s important to do some things in a predictable way in order to optimize your website, the way that you can stand out is original content.

How You Can Differentiate Your Website

Now that we can see why optimization is important, we need to get in ways that you want to differentiate your company from others. That will strongly rely on two things: content and copywriting.

1. Content Marketing

Copywriting is your chance to stand out with other businesses. More importantly, it is a way to speak to your audience and customers.

Need Copywriting?