Picture the scene: you have been travelling all day and you finally arrive at your hotel. The reception desk is unmanned so you ring the buzzer and after what seems like an age, someone turns up. The staff are rude and the check-in process seems overly complicated.
Finally, you get in the lift and make your way to your room. From this point on, your opinion of the rest of your hotel stay is going to be influenced by your initial check-in process.
In his book “Thinking, Fast & Slow”, psychologist Daniel Kahneman stated “Our first impression is formed immediately, and then subsequent information is interpreted in light of this first impression.”
In the above example, we used the reception as the point where you would form a first impression. However, in reality, there are multiple points where you could form a first impression; when parking your car, the front of the hotel or walking into reception area.
Website First Impression
When it comes your website, like hotels, there are multiple points where your visitor can form their first impression.
Initial Load Time
- In 2023, average website load times were:
- 2.5 seconds on desktop
- 8.6 seconds on mobile
- A 2022 Portent study found:
- B2B sites loading in 1 second have a conversion rate 3x higher than those loading in 5 seconds
- B2C websites show a slightly lower, but still significant, impact
How many businesses realize that potential clients form judgments about them in just one second or less? This statistic underscores the critical nature of fast load times in creating a first impression.
Fortunately, several free tools are available to help you assess your website’s load time:
To achieve quick load times, focus on:
- High-quality web hosting: Invest in reliable hosting services that offer good server response times.
- Website best practices:
- Optimize images
- Minimize HTTP requests
- Enable browser caching
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
By addressing these factors, you can significantly improve your website’s load time and potentially boost conversion rates.
Look and Feel
Research shows that visitors form opinions about websites incredibly quickly, often within 50 milliseconds.
While it’s challenging to create a universally positive first impression, a poorly designed website can quickly turn visitors away. Studies indicate that 94% of first impressions are design-related
The goal of web design is to create an experience that resonates with your target audience without alienating potential customers. A well-designed website should:
- Reflect your brand identity
- Be visually appealing and professional
- Have intuitive navigation
- Load quickly
- Be mobile-responsive
Unless your brand strategy specifically calls for an unconventional design (like the infamous Ling’s Cars website), it’s best to focus on clean, user-friendly designs that meet visitor expectations. Remember, 59% of people engage more with beautifully designed websites, and design influences 75% of a website’s credibility.
By prioritizing good design principles, you can create a positive first impression that encourages visitors to explore your site further, ultimately leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Content
Content falls under the banner of Look and Feel but it is worth covering it as a separate topic. There is nothing worse than visiting a website and finding reams of confusing copy.
Your website copy should be concise and to the point. Your website visitors need to be able to find the information they need quickly and without getting frustrated.
Structure your content thoughtfully. Short paragraphs and subheadings help break up text, making it easier for users to scan and find the information they need. Engaging headlines can draw readers in and encourage them to explore further. Remember that users typically read only a fraction of the content on a webpage and make decisions within just a few seconds.
Usability
Usability is the glue that brings it all together. There is no point having a fast loading, good looking website, fully of engaging content that is completely unusable.
To create a positive first impression for your visitors, ensure that navigation is intuitive and straightforward. Logical menu layouts and a clean design will allow users to move seamlessly through your site without being interrupted by distracting pop-ups or unnecessary obstacles.
Conclusion
As you can see in this blog post, first impressions are not created at one point in time but at several points along a journey. Focus on ensuring that the user journey is one where every interaction is seamless and engaging. From the moment a potential customer lands on your website to the final stages of their experience, each touchpoint should be as seamless as possible. This means optimizing your website for speed and usability, providing clear and helpful information, and maintaining consistent communication throughout the process.
By prioritizing user experience at every stage, you not only create a positive first impression but ensure that the whole user journey is without issue.
