Is Your Website’s Doorknob Sticky?

Your first five-second contact with a business tells you a lot about its customer service.

First impressions

Think about a store or business you visited for the first time recently. What was your five-second impression when you walked through the door?

• Was the space well lit and clean? Was the interior design inviting?
• Was merchandise neatly and attractively displayed?
• Was the signage professional and easy to understand?
• Did the owner or an employee greet you with a friendly, “Hello” or “How can I help you today?”

Second visits

Assuming that wasn’t the only place within sixty miles selling something you desperately needed (like a carburetor for your 1967 Mustang), would you go back again?

Were you sent packing by a flickering fluorescent bulb, tired paint job, heaps of unfolded shirts, or a surly employee?

Or worse, did you even make it inside, or when you grabbed the doorknob, did you instantly let go with an, “Ick, gross!”?

Your landing page is your doorknob

Now picture your typical prospect. No, don’t just picture a typical prospect. Pretend you are a specific human being who needs what you sell. You have the same taste and education. You walk, think and talk like that potential customer. If they’re laid-back, sensitive, or observant, so are you.

Now visit your website. See what that person sees in the first five seconds.

• How do the colors make you feel? Are the words and images pleasingly arranged?
• Are the images bright? Do the subjects stand out from the background?
• Is the site’s navigation clear? Are the fonts easy to read?
• Are the words spelled correctly? Is the grammar and punctuation correct?

Remember, you aren’t you; you’re a particular person who needs what you sell.

Does that person want to browse through your company’s site?

Or does your site have a sticky doorknob?

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About the Author

If you’ve ever found yourself wordless, out of time, forced to write and hating it, you’ve needed my help. I’m Debra Hemminger. I write content for people like you who want to grow their small business by sharing knowledge their audience values. Writing content for small businesses is my dream job because I draw on all of my interests as I help people like you grow their audience.

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