Because often you do not get a second chance to make a first good impression!

With billions of active internet users out there, it is critical to have a visually appealing website that keeps visitors long enough. With instant access to the internet, most people get their first impression of your business from your website before they make a purchasing decision.

According to a research study conducted in 2006, it takes only 50 milliseconds for a website visitor to form an opinion about your website and your business. This means you have only 0.05 seconds to convince a website visitor that you’re worth their time, however, many businesses drop the ball and miss the window entirely.

First Impression Matters: What does your business website say about you?

What is the first thing that catches the attention of people when they visit your website? Does your website tell people what you are selling? It seems obvious, but there are thousands of websites out there – many of them creatively designed – which don’t mention explicitly, what they sell right off the bat.

Even if your website has a streamlined design and you have a decent navigation to your product pages, it won’t be of any help if website visitors are unable to understand your business or what you are selling them. This is the most important piece of information that needs to be conveyed in a fraction of a second.

Relevancy: Does your Website offer to-the-point Information?

Animated splash pages and introductory pages are a remnant leftover from the early days of web. With the evolution of the web, they are just unnecessary and superfluous. Website visitors no longer care how creatively it has been made or how everything falls into place perfectly; if they are on your website, they are there for a reason. Don’t give them one to leave.

Visual Appeal: What does your Website look like?

With so many software and tools available online, almost anyone can make a website today. But should anyone make a website? Not a good idea! Professional web designers exist for a reason. They know how to design websites that grab the attention of your website visitors in those precious 50 milliseconds. So if you do not have web designing experience, hiring a professional designer would be your bet.

Loading Time: Does your website take a long time to load?

Page loading time is obviously an important element part of any website’s user experience. Google considers load time a factor when ranking websites. Your business could potentially lose thousands in sales, if your web pages do not load quickly, as visitors would simply hit the back button and go somewhere else to satisfy their needs.

There are a number of reasons that may have an impact on the loading time of your website. You can analyze your website and find these hindrances using different tools like WebPageTest and Pingdom. For instance, if you are trying to use large images and that too on the bleeding edge in terms of definition, complex media files, a cluttered code, your website may take a long time to load.

So, how does your website stack up against others? Will it lead to skyrocketing acquisition rates and help your business take off?