Did you know that the estimate for the number of domains registered today is approximately 80 million? Now out of that number it is not clear how many are active websites, but according to a Netcraft survey as of 2006 there were close to 40 million active websites on the internet. What does this mean for your site, my site and most of the other sites out there? Basically we are all just a drop of water in the ocean, well if your site is large enough maybe we could call you a bucket of water, but compared to the ocean you are still pretty inconsequential. The goal of every website is pretty simple, somehow you want to distinguish your site from all the other drops of water out there. To do this you need to ask yourself a question, what makes you stand out from the crowd? Pick a topic, any topic, and do a Google search. How many websites have popped up in that search? Chances are thousands (Note: If you're answer is “Not that many” then you have either found yourself a gold mine or a topic so boring no one cares about it). Now out of all those thousands of websites why would anyone want to visit yours? Can't answer? Then you better think about it. If you can't even say why someone should visit your site and listen to what you have to say then you have a big problem. The goal of every single website owner out there is to create a value proposition that is greater than the competition's.

Not sure what a value proposition is? Let me explain. According to About.com a value proposition can be defined as “The unique value a business offers to its customers. It's why your customers will want to do business with you.” If you have no value proposition you have no business, if you have a bad value proposition you still have no business. You do not have to have the best value proposition, but it has to be good enough or at the very least unique enough to get people to look at you. So please take a moment and answer the question; what is your value proposition? What are you offering that will make people visit your website time and time again? If you can immediately answer this question good for you, now get to work developing your site around your value proposition. That means structure your site, key words, meta information, title and description to high light this proposition. You have to do everything in your power to make sure that this unique “something” that you offer is presented to your potential customers. If you do not know what your value proposition is, don't worry too much. Just sit down and make a list. Write down everything that you are good at; your skills and expertise, the things you have experience with. Ask your family and friends what they think, what do they believe you have to offer the world? This may seem silly, but getting this stuff down on paper is one of the best ways to get your brain focused on the problem at hand, and once you get your mind really focused in on figuring out your value proposition you will be surprised at how many good ideas you can come up with.

Once you have figured out what you should focus your site on, there are some simple things you can do to make your website stand out from the crowd. Write an e-book or offer special promotional material that will drive customers and traffic to you. What I don't recommend is going to ebay and buying a collection of out-of-date, poorly written and ill conceived e-books that are all over the place – these e-books can be found all over the web, they are too easy to come by. Be original, write your own material or sign up for a website that offers pre-written material on a limited distribution basis (i.e. they only let a limited number of people use the material). I will leave you with one last thought; on the internet content is king – but only if the content is good.