We’ve all heard the saying, first impressions are everything. It originally referred to personal in-person meetings, but today it’s highly relevant for websites.
Many studies have determined that the vast majority of consumers’ first interaction with a business is through their website. This is regardless of whether the business is strictly online or a brick-and-mortar store. Around 76% of people now research a business online before deciding if they want to visit their physical location.
That means it doesn’t matter how fantastic your store is if your website leaves a lot to be desired. With that in mind, let’s delve deeper into some of the research and ways that you can make an awesome first impression with your website.
You Need a Web Design That Makes You Look Highly Credible
The first, first impression comes from the web design. CXL reported a few years ago that 94% of consumers form an opinion about a business based on its web design. But that’s not even the biggest takeaway.
This opinion isn’t formed in seconds. It’s formed in milliseconds. Google backed up findings that users form an opinion of a website within 50 milliseconds or less. It’s literally a snap judgement based on the gut feeling users get when they first see a web page. If they don’t get a good feeling they leave immediately.
It’s Not Just About Interest, It’s Also About Credibility
The quality of your website design also determines your credibility with 75% of users. Yep. If your website design is lacking it’s going to hurt your credibility big time no matter if you’re the most credible business in your industry.
Responsive Design is a Must
One of the biggest things is a responsive design that automatically adjusts to the device that’s being used. You could have a great web design, but if it isn’t formatted for the screen someone is looking at it could appear to be broken.
You can’t control what device a person uses to view your website, but you can control how it appears in any screen format, so use that to your advantage.
Novel Designs Aren’t Good for Forming a Good First Impression
You’d think having a unique design would be a good thing, but it isn’t if you want to make a good first impression online. Another Google finding is that phototypicality is a good thing when it comes to web design.
Phototypicality is a fancy term that simply means the design looks familiar. We humans don’t tend to like surprises, so familiarity helps a user think of a website more fondly than a novel design that isn’t typical for what they’re used to seeing.
Unless you’re a well known brand that people formed an opinion about long ago, keep your web design simple if you want to make a good first impression. Whatever is the norm for your industry should be the basis for your design.
A Clean Design is Always Better Than Cluttered
Studies for over a decade have found that users prefer simple web designs over complex web designs. If a web page is cluttered with a lot of design elements it’s perceived as less visually appealing.
Instead of piling it all into your home page, organization of the information is key. And not just for design. It also affects two other key points: content and user experience.
Less is More With Online Content
Once you get past the hurdle of users judging your web design to form an opinion, the first impression phase continues with the content. The quality of your content is another credibility factor that can make or break a first impression.
If the user decides to stay on the page, they’ll start scanning the content. The hard truth is that the average user only reads around 28% of the content. For most people it’s an issue of not having much time, but what they do read helps them form a judgement about the web page. Even one or two typos is enough to create a poor impression with most users. Tone is another content factor that affects the first impression.
Usually a Lower Word Count is Best
There’s certainly a time and place for long-from content, and it can be a great content strategy for SEO. However, research suggests that if you want users to read more of your content there needs to be less of it on a page. Data from the research group NN/g suggests that if you have a broad audience or a short sales cycle you’ll make a better first impression if you limit the word count. Shoot for around 200-700 words per page to maximize the amount that’s read.
Consider Adding Video Content
A picture is worth a thousand words, which means a video is priceless in terms of content value. Not only can a video provide the user with a lot of information in a short amount of time, it also makes a better first impression. Users may not read all of the content, but a video will keep them on the page 88% longer. It’s part of the reason why video marketing has steadily grown over the last decade.
Plus, there are more ways to use video content than ever before so you can make a good first impression with users who interact with your business outside of your website. You can start a YouTube channel to gain traction in the second largest search engine on the web, and you can use it for your social media strategy. If you plan to use TikTok as a marketing channel, video creation is an absolute must.
Another plus – according to Clutch, videos are the third highest design element that users appreciate seeing on a web page.
User Experience (UX) That Makes Navigation Easy
A lot of the web design and content points that were already covered feed into the user experience or UX. But one thing to focus on if you want to make a good first impression is the navigation. Over a third of users put a lot of emphasis on the layout and the navigation of a website.
Also, more than 4 out of 10 users will leave a website if it doesn’t function as expected. Not surprisingly more than 3 out of 10 users believe engaging UX is the top priority for making a good impression. What’s considered an engaging user experience depends on the audience, but easy to use navigation is always highly appreciated.
What’s In It For Them?
Last but not least, making a great first impression on your website requires answering the question, what’s in it for the user? If you made a good enough impression with your web design, content and user experience, the user will be pondering this before they take their next action.
You’ll make an amazing overall first impression if the user leaves feeling like they got something of value by visiting your website – and they’ll be more likely to return or visit your physical location.
What you have to offer is unique to your business. But what does apply to all businesses is putting your unique value proposition (UVP) front and center. If you provide free quotes, state that in the top fold of the web page and make it easy for the user to get a quote. If you have a free ebook users can download, put that offer where they can easily see it and don’t require a lot of personal information for them to get it.
The point is to leave the user with the impression that you have something of value to offer them whether or not they give you their business.
These are some essentials for creating a great first impression with your website. A lot more goes into creating a website that people connect with in a good way. That’s why Bruce & Eddy is here! We help businesses get a better handle on the design, content and user experience so their website is seen more favorably by more potential customers.
Get in touch if you want to learn more about how we can help your website make an amazing first impression!
