You are being judged. Whether you like it or not, every set of eyes that comes to your website makes a judgment about what you have put up for everyone to see. What is really unfair is that these eyes judge your site on very little information. Quite literally, your site is like that book that everyone is judging by its cover – and if the first impression is not appealing, you will lose your visitor within a few seconds.

It has always been widely known that people judge websites quickly, but it was only recently that this judgment was determined to occur in less time than it takes for you to blink an eye. This should, however, come as no surprise. As people living in an information-saturated age, it is quite natural for us to disseminate the information we see as quickly as possible so that we do not waste time on something that we do not care about.

It is for this reason that you need to control your visitors eyes. It is your job, when putting your website together, to do so in a way that helps your visitors quickly determine what your website is about, and also draws them in to your website to learn more about you. In a word, it is your job to make the cover of your book interesting enough that they open it up – at least to the table of contents.

When a user comes across a website (especially a new website) they are looking to see whether or not that website appropriately matches what they were looking for. Essentially, what they are really looking for is a quick summary of what the site is about, and they do not want to have to look far for that summary. For the most part, if a user is not able to determine what a site is about within a few seconds, they will not bother spending a few more seconds to see if they can figure it out. However, if they do find that summary, and if it intrigues them, they will venture further into your website.

So do your visitors a favor and tell them immediately what your website is about. If you sell electronics, feature one of your products on the front page in a hotspot – this will tell them that you deal with electronics. If you specialize in debt reduction, choose the best hotspot on your page to convey this message. If your specialty is publishing Internet marketing articles (ala Site Reference), give them an article with an attention grabbing headline to look at in a featured area that will draw your user's eyes.

This blog post was carried over from the last version of sabiadesign.com