Is your website making a good first impression?

Have you ever heard someone say “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”? It means that you shouldn’t make a snap judgment based on what someone or something looks like. It is a great lesson to teach our children, however, not very practical when it comes to business. Why? Because unfortunately, people DO make snap decisions. They have to! There are 100’s of companies offering what you are selling. You have to make sure your website makes the best first impression with customers, otherwise, they won’t take the time to learn about your product (even if it fits their solution).

Why first impressions matter!

Research shows that it takes 50 milliseconds for a person to form an opinion about your website. That is literally a blink of an eye. Not only does this opinion affect how and if they interact with you at that time, but the opinion will last for years. So if they stumble on your page, product, or service again, they won’t give you a second chance to make a great first impression.

How to make a great first impression!

The purpose of a great first impression is to get customers to stay on your page and find out more about you, your product, and services. First impressions are 94% design-related, so the website has to look nice! However, everything you see on the website should push your USP (Unique Selling Point). We have put together a list of ways to help you make a great first impression.

Images

The best way to make a great impression is through images. Ever heard the saying “a picture paints a thousand words”? Having an image that invokes emotions is the best way to help visitors connect with your business and sell your product. Make sure that you invest in high-resolution images that represent your business, product/service, and your USP.

Colours

Colour has the power to subliminally convey values and stories. It is a form of non-verbal communication and is used every day. It is important to understand the meanings of the colours that you use on your website to ensure that it appeals to your target market.

Users want to know what to do when visiting your site, so colour is a great way to help them out. A call-to-action button that pops will draw the users eye and direct them through your site.

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)

Make sure that you don’t throw too much information at the user in one hit! When there are too many elements on the screen, the user will not know where to look. Let your theme image do the talking and allow the ‘Find-out more call-to-action button’ lead the user to more information about you and your product/services.

Time It

Your page needs to load quickly! People are time-poor and most people will abandon your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So every second counts! Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed to optimise your site.

Mobile-Friendly

People use their phones to do everything these days, so make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. It will significantly improve the user experience if they are accessing your site from a phone. Check if your site is Mobile-Friendly via Googles Mobile-Friendly Test Page.

Content

A lot of people stop once they have a great looking website. However, your content is extremely important. Although it is secondary when a user hits your site, without appropriate content you will not be found via search engines. If you decide to invest in digital ad marketing (PPC, Facebook, or Search Marketing), without enough information you are not going to convert your leads into sales.

People also want to know that you know what you are talking about, so having a blog with useful information will pull their interest.

Conclusion

Have a look at your website and ask yourself, does this reflect who I am? Does it encourage me to buy the product? Do I give my customers the opportunity to commit and buy my product or service online? If the answer is NO, then perhaps it is time to tweak your site.