Researchers have found that when people arrive at a
website, at least 50% of them will leave that website
within 8 seconds.
We know this because it's worth a lot of money to huge
corporations to know how people use the internet. They want
to know what people like and dislike, and what they do and
don't do. These huge corporations have spent millions on
research so that they can figure all this out.
All of this information is in the public domain and we can
access it. The best bit is that the information these
corporations have funded is just as valid for knowing how
your website visitors behave.
To repeat, researchers have found that when people arrive
at a website, on average 50% of them will leave that
website within 8 seconds.
In other words, if your website doesn't do something WITHIN
8 SECONDS to keep them there, at least 50% of them will
leave. For you, it could even be 60% or 80%.
There was an old metaphor doing the rounds when the web
first started, and sadly it's how a lot of businesses still
view their websites. "The internet is like a huge gigantic
shopping centre and your website is a shop. Everybody gets
to come and browse your shop". Rubbish. It's more accurate
if we imagine that the people in this mall are walking at
60mph and they are looking for something very specific, and
they only have 15 minutes to find it.
They are only ever going to go into the places that obviously
provide those services or goods, and if the shop looks as though
it doesn't, or they wouldn't feel comfortable in that shop,
they aren't stopping, let alone coming inside.
Think about how you use the web. You SURF THE WEB. Think
about the phrase 'surf the web'. It means you go from one
site to the next, to the next, to the next. You do it
because you can, and you don't stop until something
interests you or catches your eye. You now know that even
when you do stop, there is a 50% chance you will probably
leave in 8 seconds if it doesn't quickly become apparent
that it has what you're looking for.
That's the challenge you and I face.
We Have To Get Visitors To Stop Surfing And Interact With Us
How do we do this? Here are three ways:
1.Use Headlines
Look at your own website. If you don't have a headline in
the form of words, then your 'headline' is whatever your
visitor first sees when they arrive at your page. It might
be a logo, a graphic, a picture or a piece of blank screen,
or worse a lame piece of text like 'Welcome', or 'We have
been in existence since 1982'. Be honest with yourself and
ask - would this stop ME surfing? If you have nothing
compelling to grab the visitor's attention, then he's gone.
Remember that the headline is the first thing that's going
to grab me, and interest me; and it needs to be compelling
enough to stop me surfing.
Just making this one small change will make a big
difference for you. If you are using a headline on your
brochures or any other advertising and it works, then use
it on your website.
2.Use 'The Fold'
Make sure that your compelling headline and content appears
above 'the fold' of your website. 'The Fold' is a newspaper
phrase. Imagine you are reading a large newspaper, and you
have to fold it in half to read the top half before turning
over to read underneath. The equivalent on your website is
what people see before they have to scroll down the page to
read the rest.
So, going back to your website - what do you see before you
have to scroll down? This plays directly into the 8 second
rule. If you haven't given the visitor a compelling reason
to stop surfing, he/she probably won't even scroll down.
If you are announcing your new CEO, the fact that you
just won an industry award, or providing a long winded
introduction or history of your company above the fold,
your visitor is not going to be staying.
3. Walk in Your Visitor's Shoes
Put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. They
have found you on the web because they have specifically
looked for you, and Google has considered your site
relevant to what they are looking for. What are they
interested in? What concerns them? What problem do they
have that they want someone to solve?
As a business owner, you are, of course, close to your
business. You know it inside out. The temptation then is to
write about your business on your homepage and that can be
a big mistake.
The truth is people don't CARE about your business.
Don't take it personally. I'm sure they are all very nice
people, and so are you; but that's not what they are there
for.
They are there because it's likely that you have something
they need. In short, they have a selfish self-interest and
it needs meeting.
If you can meet that self-interest by talking directly to
them about how to solve their problem and challenges, you
will have a chance of stopping them surfing.
Go to your website as if you were a first-time visitor. Be
tough on yourself and ask yourself if you are really
captivating your visitors in those first 8 seconds in a way
that stops them surfing.
