The day before yesterday, I noted that your Web site can be judged in a fraction of a second. Jeff Rosenbloom, co-founder and research and strategy director of something called Questus, is a bit more generous in this ClickZ article, noting, “We find that Web sites have three seconds to make an impression.” The point remains: You have very little time to make your first — and possibly last — impression.

And if that first impression is inviting enough, clean site design overall translates into higher conversion rates, according to a Questus survey. Site navigation was important to 37% of respondents, the checkout process mattered to 32%, and insufficient product descriptions mattered to 38%. Registering with a site, difficulty locating products; and a lack of trust also made big differences.

Takeaway for marketers: Design counts, but don’t let it get in the way of what your customers want to accomplish.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 23rd, 2006 at 9:42 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.