How To Get a Competitive Edge
I was reading a magazine article which mentioned a study that I first seen a while back on ProBlogger about how website visitors take only a fraction of a second to form an opinion about a site and that these instant first impression colored their entire experience about the site.
The article tracked the story a little further and found a website where the story’s lead researcher discussed the finding of the study in depth [First Impressions Count in Website Design].
The gist of the study is:
“…the strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to draw attention away from usability problems. This suggests that aesthetics, or visual appeal, factors may be detected first and that these could influence how users judge subsequent experience…. Hence, even if a website is highly usable and provides very useful information presented in a logical arrangement, this may fail to impress a user whose first impression of the site was negative.”
But what is really interesting is that if you scroll down a little bit there are examples of the 3 highest and 3 lowest scoring sites from the study. The author’s conclusion:
“This research shows that reliable decisions about your site can be made in as little as 1/20th of a second. This emotional judgment can color subsequent judgments made after further reflection. Even though your site may have superior products, services, or usability, an initial negative impression from a poor or slow design can steer customers towards your competition. You only get one chance to create a good first impression, make it count. A clean, professional, and fast-loading site can ensure that your first impression will be a good one.”
As a guy who spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about business strategy I can see a real opportunity in this information. Especially in the realm of blogging for dollars, for a couple hundred bucks a webmaster could gain a significant advantage on the competition and really begin to step up the ladder of credibility.
Often to webmasters, myself included, spending money on design is difficult to justify since there is not a direct tangible benefit. But as the study above suggests, there could be solid financial returns that are derived from increased credibility. Don’t forget the essence of branding: your brand exists only inside the mind of your customer! And if that mind is coloring all future decisions in the blink of an eye then a couple hundred dollars is a small price to have some control over the crayon.
A related resource is the popular book: Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.