By
Julie D. Sanders - Director of Client Services at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
We
all know first impressions are important.
We dress our best when going out on a first date. We polish our shoes to shine for a job
interview. So, why do so many businesses
ignore this rule of thumb and never give a second thought about what type of
impression they are setting with their websites?
The
simple fact is that they should be extremely concerned. It’s not just the
aesthetic look of the website but how it all is arranged and organized. Perceptions
are everything online and that quick first glance could be the only chance you
have to make the customer chose you over your competitor.
But
here is where it gets really interesting; recent
studies have found that it takes users less than two-tenths of a second to form
a first impression of a website, according to recent eye-tracking research
conducted at Missouri University of Science and Technology. But it takes a
little longer - about 2.6 seconds - for a user's eyes to land on that area of a
website that most influences their first impression. Wow, that’s what I call
snap judgment!
Volunteers
viewed static images of websites and had their eye movements tracked. Research
found that there are specific details of a website that attract more attention
from users.
The website sections that drew the most interest from
viewers were:
- Logo - Users spent about 6.48 seconds.
- The main navigation menu – Users spent an average of 6.44 seconds viewing the menu.
- The search box - Where users focused for just over 6 seconds.
- Social networking links - Sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Users spent about 5.95 seconds viewing these areas.
- The site's main image - Where users' eyes fixated for an average of 5.94 seconds.
- The site's written content - Where users spent about 5.59 seconds.
- The bottom of a website - Where users spent about 5.25 seconds.
So what does all this research gobble-de-gook mean? It means that we make almost instant decisions
on a company based only on how appealing their website appears. The Sherlock
Holmes in me can draw only one conclusion, that first impressions are vital for
websites.
Does your website make a good impression? Would you make a
second date with your website? If not I
know a great little company called Xapsis Integrated Marketing that could
help.
If you would like to read more on this is study information
can be found at: http://news.mst.edu/2012/02/eye-tracking_studies_show_firs.html
