You Have Only 8 Seconds To Win a Visitor

seo-visitor

It is said by many SEO experts that the competitors are a click away. So the first impression is very important. Your website has only 8 seconds to impress a visitor, only 8 seconds to win a visitor. Can it accomplish that?

A visitor comes to your website. Within a few seconds he will decide whether to leave (maybe to a competitor’s website) or stay for more.

Sec 1

Your website must work. This is obvious but we have seen many websites that are down for hours and the webmasters have no idea. Also, your website should be compatible with all known browsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) and must not demand anything from your visitor. For example “This website needs Flash Player to work properly”. Most of the visitors will just close the browser when they see this message.

2-3 seconds

Visitors read the title of the homepage. This is shown in your browser. The visitor should read the title and understand where he landed.

Unacceptable titles:

  • Homepage
  • Welcome to our website
  • Untitled title

If your website has an informative title then your visitors will waste more than 3 seconds on the website.

4-5 seconds

Above the fold is a term used in newspapers. Is the upper area of the first page of a newspaper. Usually in that section are the most important news that will gain the reader’s interest.

On your website it is the upper part that the user can see without having to scroll down.

In this section you should avoid the following:

  • Message from the Director of the company
  • Company history
  • Your picture!

6-8 seconds
The visitor read the title, saw the “above the fold” section and now you have gained his interest. Now your website must satisfy him. He must quickly find what he wants.

Examples:

  • If you have a hotel website the visitor should be able to communicate with an easy to fill form.
  • If you have e-shop, the visitor should be able to find and buy what he wants easily and quickly.
  • If you have a program for downloading, then the visitor should be able to download it from the homepage.

Many studies have shown that the first impression is the most important for a website. The design plays an important role but you should also be careful with the above details. An easy way to understand if your website is gaining visitors or not is to ask for someone you know to enter the website and perform some action. If your friend does not accomplishes that action in a few seconds (without any guidance) then maybe your visitors you will not accomplish it also.

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