Your Business Has Only 50 MILLISECONDS To Make A First Impression
You may have heard that when you meet someone for the first time, you only have around 7 seconds to make a good impression before they make a judgement about you. That is a lot of pressure when meeting someone in person, and it takes practice to make a good first impression. In the digital age we live in today your business has a mere 50 milliseconds (that’s 1/20th of a second) to make a digital impression on a customer. How are you supposed to make an impression in such a short window of time?
Google And Your Website
There are a ton of ways customers consume content from your business and brand. Two of the heavy lifters when it comes to impressions are the prime way people find out about you; Google and your website. Think about the last time you needed to find a certain profession, maybe it was a plumber, a bakery, or just looking to buy a new product. Most likely you turned to Google at some point. You searched for plumbers, for example, and found their Google business page (if you don’t have a Google My Business page yet, get one ASAP) and likely found your way to their website. As of writing this, if I search plumber into google I get 808 million results. Thus, I won't be going to every plumber's website, and the ones I do will need to make a great first impression on me, otherwise I will move onto the next. With the vast amount of choices, your website needs to present itself professionally to keep customers engaged and keep them from moving on to the next one.
What Attracts Customers?
So, how can you keep your customers attracted enough to stay at your site? A lot comes down to aesthetics. The design of your website needs to be professional and aesthetically pleasing. Things like color schemes, layouts and functionality need to be a priority. A few other items that customers hone into are the business logo, imagery and written content/copywrite on the website.
Factors To Avoid That Can Leave A Bad Impression
There are several things to avoid in order to prevent a bad impression. One thing you don't want to do is overload your site with words. You do not want your customers reading a novel when coming to your website, they want clear and concise copywrite. Another thing is the website should be usable (UX is the technical term), meaning the customer should not have to think on how to navigate the website to get what they came for. This is something that will cause users to leave a website quickly. Lastly, another big thing to avoid is subpar imagery and stock images. Your images should be aesthetically pleasing (aka not blurry or photos taken on a whim). Take time to think about images that help communicate what your business/brand is to your customers. Stock images can be tempting, but most consumers see these images on many sites and can tell when they are stock and can leave a very generic impression.
“Not only can these [stock] photos feel inauthentic, but it can be a poor experience to see the same picture again and again across multiple websites. ”
Steps Your Business Can Take To Make A Better Impression
An example of a product image taken with a cell phone with minimal considerations to aesthetics compared to one taken by a commercial photographer. Which gives a better impression to you?
The most important thing you can do as a business owner when it comes to websites is to create a visually appealing one. If you are not design savvy, it is highly suggested to hire a web designer to create one for you. Their whole job is to create websites that draw in customers and keep them on your site. If that is not in your budget, at least take the time to research web design basics. To go along with website design, your images should be equally as appealing. Invest in quality images that show the customers you care and establish trust with them from the start. You can take the time to learn how to properly take photos, or you can hire a commercial photographer to take images for you, who are good with angles, colors, lighting and how to make your imagery more appealing. Also, it is great to hire a photographer to take a photo of you (and team) to put on your website. This is another great way to establish trust and leave a great impression on customers!
Commercial Photography Is A Strategic Investment
Jake Stepec Studio specializes in commercial photography to help your business establish trust and make great first impressions on customers. The investment into professional level photography helps impress your target market in that 50 millisecond window to keep them from going to the next website. I am a commercial photographer operating out of both Findlay, Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio. I use my unique combination of photography and project management skills to create content for clients worldwide. Give me a visit at my website or give me a call at (216) 800-6599 to get started on your photography projects today!
