Have ever watched someone waiting for a web page to download? Do they sit calmly or are their fingers tapping impatiently and a certain amount of muttering and sighing going on if it doesn’t snap onto the screen instantly?
It’s amazing when you think that we all waiting much longer when we were on dial-up – how did we ever achieve anything at all? However, that’s not my point – my point is that we are all impatient; the web has taught us to expect fast results. We want information and we want it now!
The days when you’d go to the local library or get the encyclopaedias out are long gone. You sit in front of the screen and you have access to more information that most of us can possibly want. So, when someone arrives on your website – that’s the frame of mind they’re in: Impatient!
Take a good look at your own website – how fast does it download (try this on someone else’s computer so you’re not accessing your own cache)? What is the first thing on the page that attracts your attention? Is that your key message? If not, why not?
What are people really looking for when they come to your website? Does the key message answer the question or indicate that the answer is available on this website?
Get a few people to do this for you too – what is their feedback? You know that, unless all the answers are resoundingly positive, you might need to rethink your website.
—————————————————————-
Sign up to our FREE data service and get your free reports, tips and information that will help you get your message across in writing.
You can also find us at Inside News
