The Five Second Rule: Website Design Considerations
Hey Team! OK….before we get into what the Five Second rule is, let’s make sure we are ready to go. 
You’ve got your new website We have talked about the design You know exactly what we are trying to do with the website
(Not sure? Check out the article: Using Your Website to Go from Prospect to Customer
or watch the YouTube Video)
REMEMBER!
Your website is: to convert customers to help you get sales to help increase your authority to make sure people are coming to you to get their questions answered
Not for you personally
Ready to GO! The 5 Second Rule:
Now that we have made sure our basic website is ready, let’s dive into the five second rule.
A new visitor has just come to your website for the first time…..you have 5 seconds to grab their attention! What do you want them to know?
Let’s Focus on the Header
When people first get to your page, what we want is something in the header, something on the landing page, something on that blog post that tells them EXACTLY why they came to your page. We don’t want much in this header section.
In the Header Section we want:
- A topic
- Call to action
- eye -catching image
Those three elements are all you really want or need in the header. They can be in different design layouts that you prefer. You might like a big “Hero image” that is front and center, you might have an image over on the left, or an image over on the right.
Quick YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS!
We also need a quick call to action and a quick headline so your visitor will know exactly what you want them to do when arriving on your page.
YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS to capture their attention or the person is going to leave.
Right up front you want to “say”:
- this is what my website is supposed to do
- this is what my business does
- call to action
Call to action
A call to action tells your visitor what it is that you want them to do by visiting your website. That call to action can be many different things depending on what it is you want your visitor to do.
Your call to action might be:
- contact me to find out more
- fill out this form to get this great e-book
- schedule a demo of my great product
- we’ve got a sale going on click now before it ends
But we need a specific call to action that will catch the visitors attention in 5 seconds.
All that in 5 seconds?!
That is a lot to do in 5 seconds! You need to be very clear. Don’t cloud the page with a lot of text. We can’t cram a bunch of things together. White space is your friend! Gone are the days the big “hero image” slideshows with tons of pictures and banners. It is hard to get people’s attentions and only getting harder.
Get their attention. Tell them exactly why they should give you a little bit more of their time! That’s it! The Five Second Rule.
Read for more? Continue the Website Design Considerations Series HERE!
