The human brain requires only 50 milliseconds to register the visual information and that time is enough to form up a positive or negative impression, in our case visual information is Website Design. If you are operating in Dubai or UAE, you must be aware that for every business entity having a decent website is essential these days. The same trend is everywhere!
With the rise of smartphones and computers, customers, in general, are searching on the internet for a company before making a purchase decision. It is very important to understand that all online marketing or digital marketing efforts ultimately converge to the website and bring all the traffic to your website. Most of the companies and businesses in Dubai have witnessed that more than 80% of the online traffic is coming from online searches, mainly Google. This means people are directly landing on your website. This is why your website is the first impression of your company for a huge number of prospective customers. So it is extremely important to have a great website that can compel your online prospects to click on CTA (call to action).
The human brain can make an impression of a brand from its website in 1/10th of a second or even quicker, studies showed that a person can make an impression within 50 milliseconds. This is the time required by our brain to process the information it is receiving from the eyes under normal lighting conditions. A study used screenshots of different websites and showed them to a group of people and ask them to compare them with each other, for each category there were only two websites, and the participants will have to choose which one is better than the other. At first, they have started with 500 milliseconds per page, then they have reduced it to 50 milliseconds and the results were the same. So, it is a proven fact that our brain requires only 50 milliseconds at least to form up an impression of a brand/company from the visuals of their website.
Let us discuss some scenarios about how a prospect can reach you out making your website the very first impression of your company:
Google Searches or Search Engines
No matter what your company is doing, either you are a local business or a small contractor or a large service provider or you work at any scale, if you are operating in Dubai, UAE you should have a website. People here tend to search everything, every purchase decision involves internet research here, it is crucial to have a good website. For example, I am a prospect and I need a product or service that you are providing, and I heard about your company from a colleague or just someone who referred your business to me. The first thing that I will do is to look it up on Google. Get to the website and try to assess and evaluate the company by exploring their website. Or even if I need to physically travel to the company I would like to have their location available on their website and maybe the contact details too to plan a visit.
Let say I don’t know anything about your company, I just need a particular product or service which you provide. The first thing that I will do is to look it up in Google or search engine. Let say I have explored around 4, 5 different companies who are proving the same product or service I have been looking for, and then at the end I have landed on your website, the very first thing that will compel me to go on any further in your website will be its first impression, if the first impression is not good, I might not consider further exploration of the website and leave it. This is why a website is the very first impression of a company online. If this impression is not good you might end up losing so many customers to your competitors who are having just a better website than you.
Digital Marketing Campaigns
If you are running digital marketing campaigns to promote your products and services, the success is very much dependent on the landing page of the website. If that web page is not compelling enough then the visitor will simply bounce back. The landing page is critically important for the success of any digital marketing campaign. Because the digital marketing platform will just run your ad, which usually contains only a few details about the brand or products/services they are offering. But the landing page would have all the information to form up a customer journey and this is where your marketing campaign will ultimately converge. All the efforts should pay off on this page, and if that particular web page or the website itself is not so good, then the prospective customers will be left from there.
Hence even if you are running online adverts or social media ads all of your prospective customers are getting the first comprehensive interaction at your website. Whoever is coming to your website will get the first impression of the brand from the website. If a website looks good, and professional the visitors build a good impression of the brand in their mind. If a website is outdated or looks old, simple, and dull then the visitor will think if a company can’t even maintain a good quality website, what kind of work quality they have been maintaining in their workplace. This way the visitor builds expectation and these expectations either positive or negative will be directly driven through the first impression of your website. This is how your website becomes the first impression of your company.
Conventional Marketing Campaigns
After the influence of search engines, digital marketing platforms and social media another most powerful factor that makes a website the first impression of a company is the general perception of the purchasing cycle. In Dubai, UAE people tend to explore the website of the company first before making a purchase decision. In a conventional marketing campaign, either you are running an advert on Radio, TV, Newspaper, or a billboard or anything. Maybe you are distributing your company’s pamphlets or any such thing, no matter however you are reaching out to your audience, the maximum prospects will try to visit your website first before planning a visit to your company. This is how important a website is and this is what makes your website the first impression of your company.
No matter if your marketing team is reaching out to your prospects, handing them over your brochures, or their business cards, or any material, the very first thing that every interested person will try to do is to go to your website to learn more about your company and your products/services. Which makes your website the first impression even for conventional marketing campaigns too.
Why is it Important to Have an Excellent Website?
Things have changed and things have changed very quickly, there was a time not so long back ago when having a website was not a big deal, in fact almost nine out of ten times a website was just an online company brochure and that was it. But with the revolution of smartphones, digitalization and social media integration in our daily lives, the overall consumer behaviour got completely changed. The customer’s expectations and their behaviour has been transformed and got more sophisticated. A website has turned into a powerful marketing tool from a non-essential online company profile. The effects of e-Commerce, Social Media, Smartphones and Digitalization have further raised the importance of a website for a company.
As most of the modern-day marketing mediums eventually converged to the website and lead a lot of traffic to the website which mostly consists of new visitors, so all they will learn about your brand would be from your website. Your company website would be the very first interaction of your brand with a lot many new visitors. Studies suggest that almost 85% to 88% of visitors never return back to a website if they had a bad experience with that website. This is why having an impressive first impression is extremely crucial for your brand’s success.
Company Website’s First Impression forms the Brand Image & Reputation
Modern-day websites are a powerful communication tool, which requires constant updates and should have the latest information all the time. From the design perspective, a company website should have to be modern and technologically up-to-date. As the human brain can very quickly form up a brand’s image by its first impression, it is important to understand what kind of impression you are imprinting in your visitors’ minds. This is what could make or break your brand’s image. If you have an old website or a poorly worked design, the visitors will immediately decide in their subconscious mind that this business is not so good, it is old, they would be unable to keep up with the technology, etc. If a website is built on modern standards and the design looks excellent, the visitor will immediately build a positive impression for the business in their subconscious mind. Being the first impression of the company this is how powerful a website is in building a brand reputation and brand image.
Company Website’s First Impression Can Boost Leads and Conversions
For any business, sales are the basic and fundamental scale to measure progress. Today’s world had changed a lot, now a day more sales are generated in unconventional ways than ever before. By unconventional I mean the modern methods, which majorly are digital. As there is no modernization without technology. Most of the modern marketing campaign eventually lead prospective customers to the company website, so it is extremely important that a website’s first impression is capable of converting those visitors into genuine leads. Make sure the page design, the content, text, media and taglines all are designed to form an excellent first impression which encourages the visitors to hit your CTA (call to action). Technically there is no limit where your website can’t reach, it is up to you which markets and audiences you want to target. This means you can have a huge number of visitors directed to your website from various organic and inorganic marketing sources and also from various targeted markets, regions and demographics. This freedom makes your company website a very powerful tool for marketing. If a company website is done properly, it leaves a very positive impression on the visitors which could significantly boost your leads and conversion rates.
Conclusion
A company website is the first impression of the brand for a huge number of new visitors. The digitalization in the modern world, our general behaviour and use of technology in our daily lives and market trends made the website more relevant than ever before. The marketing methods and techniques have been changed completely. Most of the marketing methods whether conventional or modern will eventually lead a prospective customer to your company’s website. Furthermore, the website can reach out to a very wider spectrum of demographics and targeted audiences, which enables them to attract a very huge number of visitors from all around the targeted markets. As the website is the very first interaction that is why it makes a website the very first impression of a company for a very huge number of prospects.
The first impression could have a huge influence on the next decision of the visitor and mostly if the first impression is bad the visitor will simply exit the page. Studies show almost 85% or even more visitors never come back to a website once they had a bad experience on that website. This makes the website significantly important than ever before. RSI Concepts is a professional web design and development agency in Dubai, UAE. If you need to revamp your “first impression” feel free to reach us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the below comment box and we will revert back to you.
Check out this: New website of Ajman Bank by RSI Concepts