design your website to survive the landing page blink test

Survive the Landing Page Blink Test

Don’t lose users in the first 0.5 seconds!

an epic slideshare brought to you by

“There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational

analysis.”

― Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

Top 20 internet users by country:1. China2. USA3. India4. Japan5. Brazil 6. Russia7. Germany8. Indonesia9. UK10. France11. Nigeria12. Mexico13. Iran14. Korea15. Turkey16. Italy17. Phillippines18. Spain19. Vietnam20. Egypt

The world total…

2,405,518,376 users

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For entrepreneurs, this means a huge market of technologically capable

people in a geographically borderless market.

And plenty of solutions, tools and gimmicks to offer them.

This also means that what makes the biggest impact on your potential users will be the first thing they see on your website.

So, how fast do people make up their minds about what they see online?

0.5 seconds

(study conducted at Carleton University Canada, 2006)

Sucks to be you, Web Designer!

Add to that, the number of new websites created every year…

In 2012 alone, that was 51 million.

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I’m too old for this sh!%

But never fear, there is hope!

A follow-up study by University of Basel in Switzerland in 2012 proved this about website design:

Step 1: Use a Template

Why use a template instead of building my own site?

• Faster• Cheaper• Code is clean (pay for your

template from a reputable site!!!)

• Customizable (usually – or just ask the creator to pop in a feature)

• Already been tested for user optimization

• You can choose one that is cross-browser and cross-device capable from the get-go

Resources for themes:

ThemeforestTemplate MonsterThemetrust

Alternatively… if you know a website you want to “borrow”…

Right click > “View source” and check the links for the CSS or JS tosee if it’s WordPress, Joomla etc. and what the theme name is. Then search for it

on Google.

Pro tip: see what others in your industry are doing and take the best features from them. You’ll need to research them in any

case to get the “prototypical” aspects correct.

It may be tempting to go for an eye-catching and unique design at the start…

…but if your brand is very new, it will drive people away

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Rule of thumb: keep it simple, clean and clear until you have gained a loyal user base

Check out the hard facts on this infographic by Calvin Sellers:

Human Visual Processing – Why understanding it is Crucial for Web Design

Step 2: User Testing

a) The Coffeeshop Test

Get out on the street with your laptop and smartphone, and ask people to tell you what they think.

Make sure to charge your devices fully before starting!Image credit

b) Heatmapping and metrics

Choose from a range of tools:

-CrazyEgg-Clicktale-Mouseflow-Google In-Page Analytics-Mixpanel

Conversion and retention combined are the Holy Grail

With all of the information interpreted from mapping and analytics, from coffeeshops to

templates, you will be able to refine your website to optimal user retention and higher

conversion rates.

Good luck!

Hopefully you will end up with a pretty website like Squarespace…

…and not this eyesore!

Find the original article that inspired this Slideshare on The Next Web:

“Don’t lose users for eternity in the first five seconds: how to survive the blink test”

Got questions? Click on an icon!