While most people connect first impressions with meeting someone in person, the same phenomena occurs when someone first visits your website. You may know who they are at times, yet they are frequently nameless. In fact, 67% of the buyer's trip is completed before they express any buying signal, and around two-thirds of potential purchasers abandon the purchase following a negative encounter.
When you think about it, your website is your storefront, your brand's window. It tells the visitor who you are, what you do, and what they may anticipate and how they should feel.
Many businesses fail because they don't spend enough time considering how people will interact with their website for the first time. Because it is difficult to alter the website, they normally have one static homepage and then generate zillions of landing pages to customise for campaigns.
Even if you have first-party data, most of what you accomplish will be lost on anonymous visitors since they will come on your site and depart before taking in what you have to offer. The static homepage is no longer available.
What should you do?
Always check your site speed
Page load speeds have the greatest influence on the first impression of your website. A recent research, for example, found that a 2-second delay in load time resulted in desertion rates of up to 87%.
Focus on customer experience
Place your most important material and messaging above the fold. While clients are accustomed to skimming through websites, you have less than a half-second to make your point, and after you have their attention, it takes around 2.6 seconds for their eyes to focus and affect their initial impression.
Avoid flicker
When a webpage loads in one state and then quickly transforms to a different online experience—typically a dynamic variant with customized elements—this is referred to as flicker. While this may appear to be a minor side effect of website personalisation, it can have long-term consequences for your conversion rates. In fact, according to a recent Radware research, Walmart raised their conversions by 2% for every one second reduction in their page load speed.
Personalise for all visitors
When you know some information about your website visitors, such as the ad they clicked on to get there, machine learning enabled customization may help you go a step further and dynamically adapt your message, product, or picture shown based on firmographic, behavioral, and contextual data. According to a Segment survey, 71% of customers are upset when their interactions with a business seem impersonal.
Poor design is associated with mistrust of a brand
According to a recent research, 94% of initial impressions are tied to design. The images, typography, and overall style are the most crucial factors to consider. Is the image or video conveying the emotion you want the consumer to feel? Is it able to persuade the visitor to do the required action?
