We’ve all heard the adage, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This is especially true with your website. In today’s digital world, your website and brand provide a first look into who you are and what you’re about within seconds.
Before you create a new website or update your current website, knowing the design methodology is crucial to your digital success — understanding how people view websites and how to get them to stay increases the likelihood of interactions and ultimately, conversions. Guide the viewer through your website in a way that makes them want to contact you, purchase products, or hire you for a service you provide, and you’ve got a recipe for success.
There are a few essential things you need to know about how people view your website. These 5 facts will give you a leg up on your competition and keep viewers coming back for more.
Fact 1: Appearance Increases Credibility
In a study by Stanford University, researchers found that 75% of web users admit to making judgments about credibility based on a company’s website. But how long does it take them to come to that judgment? Fifty milliseconds.
Fifty milliseconds is all it takes for a user to determine if your business is credible and if your visitors want to continue reading.
If your website design conveys credibility quickly, your first impression will stick. This impression leads to higher user satisfaction and primes your customer’s future interactions with your business.
Positive priming is the process of triggering a person’s memory with a recognizable word, letter, or image. When you integrate positive priming on your website, you boost users’ mental association and satisfaction, whereas unfavorable first impressions negatively affect viewer satisfaction.
Fact 2: Errors Cause Negative Impressions
Avoid website errors at all costs. No matter how small they seem, broken links, typographical and grammar errors have a significant adverse effect on viewers. Proof your website multiple times by multiple people to ensure that your site works correctly, and the content is correct and readable.
In addition to broken links, typographical errors, and grammar errors, fancy fonts are another pain point. No matter how “pretty” or “cool” you think the font is, if it’s unreadable or too flashy, it leaves the impression that you are about flash instead of the viewers’ experience. Use internet safe fonts to guarantee that your content is readable by humans and different devices.
Fact 3: Most People are Viewing Your Site on Mobile
Searching for and viewing websites is primarily done on mobile devices. In 2020, 68% of web traffic was generated from mobile devices, up 5% from 2019.
If your website breaks, hangs up, or isn’t formatted and optimized for viewing on a phone or tablet, your visitors will quickly leave to find a site that is intended for their device. Responsive design allows your full website to be properly formatted and displayed on any screen, and is perhaps the most important pillar of web design in the new decade.
Fact 4: Page Design Influences Retention
Research has shown that people read in an “F” pattern. They start at the upper-left corner, read the upper-right corner, then the lower-left corner, and finally, the lower-right corner. So, when you design your website, place the most value-additive information at the top left corner of your website.
Put supporting information in the upper-right and lower-left areas, and finally, your call-to-action (business and contact information) in the lower-right hand area. Once you design for how people scan and read your site, the longer someone will want to stay.
In addition to designing for reader flow, your headings, content placement, and photo placement are important, too. Titles to articles and parts of articles attract a viewer to a specific piece of content or article that meets their particular interest. When you create content, keep paragraphs short and sweet. Get your point across to readers in a concise way, and then describe how you can solve their problem.
Fact 5: Viewers Have “Expected” Placements of Website Elements
Even though readers look to your site’s left upper corner first, this doesn’t mean your menu should be there. However it should be at the top of your page (and ideally carried down when scrolling). When the menu isn’t at the top of the page, viewers get confused and they will not spend more than a couple of seconds looking for it.
Remember, the fewest obstacles possible is the most direct route to achieving visitor satisfaction and conversion. In addition to keeping your menu at the top of your page, there are a few other considerations to keep in mind:
- Use descriptive labels – Use actual products or services as the menu button. Listing things just as “services” and “products” won’t convey your purpose to the viewer. It also won’t scan with Google.
- Avoid drop-down menus – Drop-down menus become annoying. Viewers want to see what they want upfront, no clicking menu items to see the details. Get the details in the forefront. Use the actual page for the specifics and options.
- Use no more than seven items – People don’t like to have too many choices thrown at them at once. Keep your menu buttons concise and direct. Information can get lost or scanned over if your menu is too big.
It’s Time to Make Your Website Work for You
Many businesses are wasting money on marketing and advertising, sending traffic to websites that don’t convert.
At KangoMedia, We design websites and digital marketing campaigns that convert website visitors into leads and paying customers so that you get a positive return on investment.
Clients that work with us often see dramatic results in the form of an increase in website leads, requests for quotes, service calls, and sales. Businesses choose to work with KangoMedia because of our focus on growing their business. We are more than a service provider, we are your partner in growth.
Give us a shout, and let’s talk about your business.