When you meet a person for the first time it takes less than seven seconds for them to form an opinion of you. For your website, it’s even less.

You want potential customers to stay, take a look around and decide that it’s worth doing business with you. That first impression will determine whether they do just that or if they bounce and check out the competition.

Here are ten tips that will ensure your website makes a great first impression:

1 Quick to load

Websites that are slow to load are annoying. How many times have you clicked off a website because you had to wait for pictures and text boxes to load? Keep your load speed to under three seconds and test it regularly.

2 Branding, branding, branding

People like to know who they are dealing with and want to ensure they are on the right page. Make sure your branding is clear.

3 Keep it visual

Bright, relevant images and even fast-loading video can keep your audience engaged with your website. Just don’t forget about tip one and make sure they aren’t slowing your load speed.

4 Populate it with people

It’s human nature to gravitate to images of happy people. Use photos relevant to your product or service, but don’t fall into the trap of relying on too many stock library photos, they can look staged and may create an artificial impression.

5 First contact

Make sure your contact details are clear and easy to find. As well as being one of the key reasons people visit websites, it’s also reassuring to be able to contact you easily.

6 Content is king

Ensure the content is relevant to your audience, accurately describes your product or service and provides details of how potential customers can access it. Keep it concise and take advantage of keywords so you’ll be found by search engines.

7 Create a connection

Use an appropriate tone of voice in your content to instantly connect with your audience. The tone should be appropriate to your brand personality, whether it’s fun and funky or professional and businesslike.

8 Professional design

How often have you opened a website to find it difficult to read, hard to find the information you need or just plain and boring? Invest in a professional design and reap the rewards.

9 Smart colour and font choices

Following on from the point above, crazy colours and funky fonts are going to be difficult to read and may put potential customers off.

10 Make it secure

This is especially key if you are taking payments or wanting visitors to enter their personal information. An unsecure site can put visitors off straight away.

A free review

Could your website work better for you?

Do you think there’s potential for change but not sure how to go about it?

Then give us a call and we’ll give you a completely free review. 0800 2 NETTL (263885)