How to keep visitors on your site or lose them in 50 milliseconds flat
That’s right, it takes just 50 milliseconds or less for a viewer to decide whether to stay on your website or hit the back button. And the biggest factor in that decision isn’t the content: it’s the design.
• Compare: the average eye blink takes 100 to 400 milliseconds
Image is everything and everybody
Now if you’re thinking this doesn’t apply to your type of business, product or service, guess again. It’s an inescapable fact of human nature that appearance dictates our first impression, no matter what walk of life or business we’re in. Studies show that:
• 75% assess a company’s credibility based on its website design
• 89% search the web before making a purchase decision
• 94% of first impressions are visual-related
“Keeper” design according to Google Research
When Google studied user behavior, it found that two design factors make the difference in whether a website is judged positively or negatively.
• Complexity: Simpler is better. The more elements (images, colors and type styles) that are crammed in, the more repelling the design is to the eye and brain.
• Prototypicality: Familiar is better. Designs that were too far outside the expected box for that industry were perceived as confusing, unsatisfying and unprofessional.
How to follow the Google rules
DIY website creators often believe that all of their important messages must fit into the first screen of the home page (or any other page), and the result is like 20 people all shouting for your attention at once. But you don’t have to eliminate your messages; just make them easier to digest.
• Guide the viewer’s eye with a dominant main message
• Let them scroll: 66% of viewer attention goes to content below the fold
Mobilize it
Another ignore-at-your-peril aspect of successful website design is its accessibility from mobile devices. Here’s what users say about it:
• 67% are more likely to purchase a product or service
• 62% of companies reported increased sales after mobile optimizing their site
• 48% who encountered a non-optimized site thought the business didn’t care
Does your website meet the criteria to be a “keeper”?
Well, one way to find out is by analyzing your visitor metrics. Another is to give us a call. We’ll be happy to provide a FREE, NO OBLIGATION professional assessment.
