A visitor’s first impression of a website sets the tone for the visitor’s future interactions with the site and with the company.
According to a group of researchers in Canada, you’ve got as little as one twentieth of a second (50 milliseconds) to make a great first impression with your website.
People form their opinions quickly about sites they see, although young people see much more detail in the first brief exposure. Informational content isn’t as important, but those initial impressions last.
According to scientists, people want to be “right” about their initial impressions, so a phenomenon called the halo effect comes into play. Once they get that gut reaction, they look for things that confirm that impression. So when they return to the site, they’ll find things that validate their first feelings.
If they had a good feeling about the site, they’ll return again, find positive things, and will often translate those good feelings into sales.
So what do you need to do with the design to create those positive impressions rather than negative?
Speed: Make sure you site loads quickly and reliably.
Simplicity: People actually recognize and remember sketches more easily and quickly than realistic photos, for example.
Visual Cues: Interesting, good design, good color, good layout, imaginative – these are the words viewers used to describe the websites they found visually appealing.
So what’s the message for you and your business website? First, it doesn’t matter if you have the best product or services in your niche, if your usability is off the charts, or if your customer service is the best around.
A slow-loading or visually poor website can generate initial poor impressions that translate into lost sales. A clean looking, quick loading and professionally designed website, on the other hand, brings visitors in and helps turn them into customers.
Let the professionals at Webdatamation create that ideal website for you. Put their expertise to work and generate great first impressions with a high quality web site.
