Five Seconds
I’ve read many studies that it takes the average website visitor 3-5 seconds to decide if they are going to stay on your site. With that in mind, I have worked with many clients who pay great attention to their home page to ensure their message gets across quickly and efficiently.
After conducting some SEO research for a client this week, I was reminded of something incredibly obvious and commonly overlooked: Search engines direct traffic to all pages of your site.
Although it is important to optimize your home page, it is equally critical to ensure all of your pages have a clear vision, are optimized for search engines and that the navigation of the site effectively allows users to find what they need quickly.
Never assume your visitors will land on your home page, make each page count. You have five seconds, make the most of them.
This discussion reminded me of the YouTube video “Information R/evolution“, which demonstrates how technology has changed the way we create, store and locate information:
Additional Reference:
5-Second Tests: Measuring Your Site’s Content Pages
Helpful post. Is there any kind of less is more rule or vice versa that people should be aware about when worrying about that first five seconds?
Fascinating. I work in PR and do a lot with the Web. Thanks for the Monday morning head scratcher.
Yup, according to the logs, 99% of my visitors come via search engines and bypass the homepage altogether.
thats a nice finding.. I have seen that on my website…