David Sorkin

Marketing Professional
Short Hills, New Jersey

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Small Business Marketing: The 7-Second Home Page Assessment

Small Business Owners: Here's a quick and simple test to find out if your homepage needs an overhaul:

Written May 23, 2012, read 4985 times since then.

Small business owners - here's a quick way to see if your homepage needs an overhaul:

The 7-Second Homepage Assessment

Step One: Ask an assistant or colleague to pretend that he/she is a potential client, and have them interact with your homepage for 7 seconds.

Step Two: As soon as the 7 seconds are up, close the browser, and see if they can answer the following four questions:

What's the name of the business?
What's the core product, service, or benefit?
Is this site for me? (hint: if they're a potential client, the answer should be, "yes")
What should I do next? (clear call-to-action, navigation, and contact information)

And that's it! If your assistant nailed all 4 questions after 7 seconds on your homepage, you're in good shape. If not, then you've just identified a key opportunity area for your marketing plan.

Fustrated? Confused? Don't be! There's a logical explanation as to why this information needs to be processed so efficiently:

First, research shows that consumers don't read homepages - they skim them. Which means all of that detailed information and storytelling you've written into your homepage is likely being glossed over. Eye tracking studies (like this one) show that readers tend to scan pages in the shape of the letter "F", horizontally from left to right, focusing initially on the triangular area in the upper left-hand corner. Lesson learned: Determine what the most important/relevant takeaways are about your brand and your business, and make sure they are:

Skimmable - key headlines, bullet points, and simple graphics work best
Not buried in the lower-right hand corner of your site, or (gasp!) below the page fold.

If consumers can't find a reason to stay on your site while in this skimming pattern (which is estimated at 3-5 seconds), they may not be getting your message, and you run the risk of losing them.

Second, a homepage needs to deliver an amplified level of instant gratification. A consumer that visits your homepage is on a mission to find content that satisfies or interests them. And if they don’t find it on your site within a few seconds, there's a good chance they'll keep clicking until they find it on someone else's. (Other mediums such as print, TV, and radio allow for a slower build and more creative freedom due to their interruptive context and indirect points of engagement). Remember: transition graphics and slow-revealing messages can be captivating marketing tools, but unless they help the consumer immediately find what he/she needs, they shouldn't hold a dominant presence on your homepage.

Third, you can resist the temptation to fill your homepage with all of your product offerings and detailed service information, as the immediate purpose of your homepage should be to provide an overview of your brand, tone, and context, and to provide a gateway to the rest of your website. Once the consumer decides they're in the right place, they'll expect to be able to drill down to find what they are specifically looking for, and learn about these products or services in more detail. It should be noted that a clear navigation architecture is imperative, as 76% of consumers say the most important factor in a website’s design is “the website makes it easy for me to find what I want”. (source: HubSpot, 2011).

Finally - the technical details (search optimization, page coding, tags, etc.) are important, but they shouldn't come at the expense of a consumer-friendly interface. Example: It's more important to provide the consumer with relevant information, a positive brand image, a pleasurable navigation experience, and a compelling call-to-action, than to stuff a page with SEO-friendly keywords that might cause the consumer to stumble and go elsewhere. A savvy web designer or marketing agency can help to ensure that your site is optimized for both search engines and consumer interaction.

The good news: Home pages aren't carved in stone - they're flexible and fixable. And sometimes even the slightest adjustments can bring in positive results for you and your business. You can learn a lot in 7 seconds!

Learn more about the author, David Sorkin.

Posted by Dennis Dilday, Everett, Washington | May 31, 2012

Very well said! Like so many other things it's easy to get caught up in what seems important to me and forget that what's important is what's important to the potential patient/customer/client. Thanks much for the reminders.

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Posted by David Sorkin, Short Hills, New Jersey | May 31, 2012

You're welcome Dennis! Thanks for the kind words and comment.
Posted by James Goldsmith, Seattle, Washington | May 31, 2012

Video near the top of your page will also keep the potential visitor on your page, as all the social media gurus are informing us. People need to be fully informed concerning the issues you have stated. You've got 10 seconds to convince the visitor to continue their experience or off they go.

Don't underestimate the value of an under 2 minute video presentation that will accomplish just that.

Great article to remind us to communicate quickly your core mission.

Our latest promo video link http://youtu.be/C8ZsS7W1Iww
Posted by Sharon Larson, Davenport, Iowa | Jun 01, 2012

Wonderful tip! I was just looking at my homepage today trying to see where I may need to make some changes. Thanks! Now...off to find a new person to view my homepage for 7 seconds!
Posted by Nadir Zulqernain, Ph.D., Kirkland, Washington | Jun 01, 2012

Great stuff David. Very relevant, practical and helpful.

Become a better worker, friend, spouse and parent.
Posted by Marie Lail Blackburn, Seattle, Washington | Jun 07, 2012

I like this simple test and will share it with colleagues. It's a great reminder to think about that split-second impression the home page makes. Thanks for posting this.
Posted by David Sorkin, Short Hills, New Jersey | Jun 07, 2012

Thanks everyone! Glad you find it helpful!
Posted by Gerald Grinter, Seattle, Washington | Jun 07, 2012

David, love this test. Sometimes it's the little things that make the most impact. I think my website failed the 7 second test. Time to get to work. Excellent article.
Posted by Scott Kindred, Hollister, California | Jun 07, 2012

Not by accident, I am sure, but your first two steps and four bullet points hit a similar mark; skimmable and instant gratification in the 3-5 seconds it took me to decide whether or not I wanted to read what you were writing about.

Nice article and great way to share this valuable info.
Posted by Steve Faber, Kent, Washington | Jun 10, 2012

David,

Great article

Following this advice accounts for the proliferation of simple website home pages with plenty of white space, large descriptive titles, bullet points, and simple graphics.

Time is of the essence, and I'm glad I spent mine reading your article.
Posted by Mina M, Kirkland, Washington | Jun 16, 2012

Very true, but how do you boil down the message that would attaract the right set of clients? that is a struggling point for me.

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Posted by David Sorkin, Short Hills, New Jersey | Jun 18, 2012

Gerald / Scott / Steve - thanks so much for your kind words - glad you like the article! Hope it helps you with your initiatives.

Mina - good question. Per the last thought in the article, the good thing about websites is that they aren't carved in stone - they can always change/adapt to the needs of the consumer. One process that my clients and I have found useful is using Google Adwords as a market research / copy-testing initiative. I'm not an advocate of spending lots of money on pay-per-click campaigns, but I do think that - when implemented effectively - a PPC campaign can function as market research for how consumers search for your product or service online. As you learn more about what keywords are relevant, and what 2-3 sentences of ad copy are most compelling, you can start to integrate these messages into your website to be sure that consumers are seeing the words and phrases that are most relevant to them at the time when they're searching for information. Hope this helps!