Your Web Site is Your First Impression

The first impression your web site makes is absolutely critical to your e-business operation. Studies claim to have isolated the attention span of the average web surfer. These studies point to a decrease in overall attention span from around 8 to 10 seconds several years ago to around 3 to 4 seconds today. Given the shrinking amount of time you have available to channel user interest, you have to make whatever loads on your page count -- and count big.

Except for about a handful of exempt businesses (to be discussed later), this means avoiding splash introduction pages, cutting out pop-up ads, and engineering your web site with 56K modem users in mind as your base customers. Battle test your web site loading configurations with different people. Do your friends and family wait for your page to load out of sympathy to you? Do associates praise your pretty graphics and large text sizes? If you are not getting objective info from your inner circle, you may need to subject your web site to third party testing.

Graphic design studios, artists, and several other e-businesses which rely on lots of flash and style may put splash pages near at the beginning of their web sites to wow potential customers. This practice can be acceptable, provided that your clients use broadband technology and expect to be inundated with animations upfront. That said, you should still be sparing in how much animation you put on your web site.

In addition, take care to make sure that your main page delivers concise, exciting, and articulate information about your merchandize or your service. You don’t have to fill your text with exclamation points, capital letters, bolded words, and colors to get people excited. If your language in and of itself isn’t enough to move customers’ hearts and minds, it still won’t be enough once you’ve finished glittering it up. Work your web site copy until it’s perfectly optimized.

Finally, make sure that your site navigates well. Once you’ve gotten past that 3 to 4 second mark, you still must make a good second impression to retain visitor interest. Make navigation bars accessible and easy to use. Don’t put all of your text and/or images on your homepage. Include outgoing links, contact information, and a search bar for your site. Make sure that the first impression that your web site gives after it loads will be just as relevant to veteran visitors as it will be for first timers.

Superpages Web Sites

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