What Does Your Website Do in Five Seconds?

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Remember when JT and Madonna sang that peculiar little song about how they only had four minutes to save the world?  That really doesn't seem like enough time to save the world, or, do much of anything, actually.

Well you, my friend, have only five seconds.

Okay you don't have to save the world, but it takes only five seconds for a visitor to your site to gather enough information to determine whether to go back out to the web or to stick around.  So you've got that much time to hook them.

And how is that accomplished?

You have to do one of three things to intrigue the average web surfer enough to hang around.

1. Deliver a Call to Action.  In other words, set up some kind of enticing button on your home page that pushes the visitor farther into the site right away.  We're talking about a "Click Here for a Free Quote" or "Hundreds of Items On Sale - Today Only!  Click Here to Shop!"  Those types of appeals get the casual browser involved right away, enticing him to stay around for awhile.

2. Communicate Your Unique Selling Position. You need to sell your uniqueness right off the bat.  Your home page has to be YOU, and make people see that YOU are different from your competitors.  In the first five seconds, visitors won't get the full picture of you, but if you have the right layout, design and content, they'll get your vibe.  Are you the eco-friendly choice?  The professional choice with years of experience?  The new funky alternative choice?  Your page should be designed to reflect attributes like that in a way that a visitor can pick up in five seconds or less.

3. Give Them Something Valuable. If a visitor perceives value right away on your home page, he'll stick around to find out what else you're giving out.  It may be as simple as some good content that answers his questions.  If it looks like you know your stuff, and you deliver the right message right away, visitors will likely poke around to find out what other information you have to share.  In addition to appealing content, an actual giveaway could also do the trick.  This idea links back to our first suggestion - a call to action. You could use that call to action to do a giveaway (e.g. "Click here for your FREE coupon!").

So, if you want your casual browsers to delve deep into that website of yours, you need to have something significant going on as soon as they enter the site.  Whether it's your unique charm, some free information or a giveaway, or a flashy clicky button, make sure that you have something that will keep your visitors interested past those first five seconds.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock.