The power of the first impression

The first impression is not only important; it means everything. The visitor forms an idea about us and makes a judgement based on his own values in the space of a few seconds. If he likes what he sees he will proceed to the Homepage. If on the other hand he doesn't like what he sees he won't come back again.

If the visitor has already passed his judgement on us, he is unlikely to change his mind later on. He has classified us. This can be very positive if the value he attributes to us is a high one. What happens however, if the first page fails to gain his trust?

Checklist Does the site contain everything that the customer needs to know? Does it invite to find out more? Does it list the information it contains? Does it represent your philosophy? Does it contain useless effects? Does it include the most important links? Does it contain updateable elements? How fast is it?

There are many potential errors to be made on a communicative level. The same goes for the programming. The Internet is evolving at a rapid pace and consequently visitors' expectations are also becoming more and more demanding. How fast does your site open? Is it able to incite curiosity in the visitor? Does it inundate him with information? Does this distract him from the most important information? Does it give the impression of being able to find one's way around easily? Does it give the impression of being able to provide important and objective information? Does it give the possibility of publishing temporary/seasonal news and events?

Don't make the mistake of under-estimating the importance of the first page of your site! You can't imagine how many potential visitors will be turned away. People who don't know your company will judge you on the basis of the information you provide on your website. In the worst-case scenario they won't go further than your first page.

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