We tend to think that consumers fully explore a Web page before assessing its worthiness. The truth is, users are screaming past your website like cars on the Autobahn, taking only enough time to quickly scan the page and click on the first thing they find appealing. During this scream-by stage, they’re also making split-second decisions about whether or not to stick around.
Consumers read Web pages like they read billboards, not like a termpapers. An independent Web consultant recently ran a comprehensive study showing that the average web surfer spends three to eight seconds on a site deciding whether or not they are going to stay. If you haven’t gotten your message across in that amount of time, then you’ve lost a potential customer.
To make the most of the few seconds you have, design your Web page more like a Spartan billboard and less like a term paper. The following sections offer some specific suggestions.
Omit needless words
If you have a standard eCommerce Website selling consumer goods, the rule of thumb is this: Remove half of the words on your page, and then omit half of what’s left. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to removing product descriptions, nor does it apply to selling a complicated service, such as a self-employment opportunity. It simply means to remain as succinct as possible when writing copy.
Follow convention
Most consumers who visit your site are well versed in the Web’s design conventions, and they are quickly confused if the logo isn’t in the upper left-hand corner, if the navigation is anywhere but along the top or down the side, if the search bar is hard to find, if page titles aren’t consistent throughout the site, and so on. Surf the Web (especially the big sites like MSN, Amazon, and Yahoo) to get a feel for conventions. Then follow those conventions when designing your Website.
Be consistent
Inconsistencies in a Website’s design erode the site’s professional image and confuse and frustrate visitors. If you have a green, bold, 16-point title at the top of your Products page, apply the same style to the titles of all of your pages. Establish a template for your site (a navigation bar, logo, search bar, and so on) and repeat it without variation on every page. The only time you should be inconsistent is when you intentionally introduced an inconsistency to evoke a certain response – and testing proves that it works!
Eliminate virtual noise
Eye candy often becomes eye clutter, overloading the senses and confusing visitors. When designing pages, keep them simple and uncluttered—like a billboard. Since buyers want to get to your “goods” quickly, eliminate any visual noise that distracts them from their goal. Remove all unnecessary graphics, repeating animations (unless you’ve placed an animated banner ad from a sponsor), background images,unnecessary text, and anything else that makes the page feel cluttered or difficult to read.
Of course, you can encounter exceptions to every rule, but don’t make a habit of making exceptions, and when you do make an exception, test it to make sure it works.
