Is your business website focused on solving a problem or on providing a solution? Although it may seem that both lead your visitors to the same road, their actions may be completely different based on your chosen approach.
People will go to longer lengths to avoid pain
The main difference here is that people who are looking to solve a problem are wanting to avoid pain, while people who are interested in a solution are doing research and weighing their options. It has been proven that we will go to longer lengths to avoid pain, so while it may be a good idea to split test for this, chances are that you are much better off solving a specific problem on your website versus simply providing a solution.
This is much easier to do when you really know your audience and their “hot buttons” or pain points. Are they business owners? Gold players? College students? These three kinds of people have different pain points, that you can highlight and use as triggers for them to take action. A really simple way to transition from a solution based website to a problem based one is to ask the right questions. For example look how similar yet very different these two questions are: Are you tired of your website going down and constantly losing money? B. Are you ready for superior web hosting that will minimize your downtime? Both questions lead to the same end goal, which is a new place to host your website. The difference is that the first one addresses their pains and frustrations, while the second one promises “superior web hosting” which is highly unlikely that this will tick anybody’s clock! Being tired and losing money are both negative results, so people want to avoid them. Superior web hosting seems like a good idea but at this point it is only a great option.
Problems = Encourage people to take action
In order for your website visitors to take action you will need to create a sense of urgency, highlight their pain and provide a way to eliminate it or minimize it. Problems usually have urgency behind them, the sooner they are gone the better. If you can help your visitors, deliver value, and deliver on your promise, they will be thankful and loyal customers.
Solutions = Encourage people to weigh their options
On the other hand, when you provide a solutions it sounds good, and makes your offer a good option. Offering a solution is more like making a suggestion, showing them a road they could take now or later. Even after you highlight benefits, without first painting a clear picture of their pain, the benefits will not be as impactful. Options give people time and the opportunity to look at other possibilities, they don’t address a pressing need, so the likelihood of them taking action decreases dramatically.