There is a lot of awkwardness on the Internet. For instance, awkward family photos like the well posed and smiling family portrait taken alongside a busy stretch of highway or the children scowling atop a pile of beer can boxes.  (For all the times my mother brought us to Olan Mills, I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself on awkwardfamilyphoto.com.) Awkward stock photos also abound online. Personal favorites include a woman flapping her arms in an office cubicle while gazing upwards wistfully and a photo descriptively labeled “Human hand with hand-finger pointing to beyond”. But what happens when your business has an awkward website design?

Research shows that in-person first impressions form in as little as 1/10th of a second, but did you know that web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 1/20th of a second? Research further demonstrates that this nearly instantaneous first impression of your website’s visual appeal can trigger subsequent perceptions of your website’s usability and business credibility, and will ultimately influence purchasing decisions. I’d say that makes your website’s first impression pretty essential!

In the end, your website may be perfectly optimized and listed at the top of the searches, but if it falls flat aesthetically or is slow to load, it is also seriously hurting your customer sales. Take a critical look at your website’s home page design. Are you making the most of this initial communication to customers or is your home page the equivalent of a gawky pimple-faced teenager with little personality?

Creating a faster-loading, more visually appealing site will positively affect time spent on your website as well as click-throughs and customer conversion rates. Let the experts at corecubed revamp your website design for both visual appeal and performance. We’ll make your site the most popular kid on the block!

What is the first thing you notice on a website’s home page? Let us know in the comment section below.