listen up

Would you let your customers see a showroom / lobby / office in a complete mess? Piles of paper on the floor and desk? Broken lights, missing ceiling tiles, stained floors? No! You dress your best, your employees dress their best, and you keep your showroom / lobby / office in tip top shape. Or at least I think you should. Your website should be no different.
The demand for good web design is increasing, revealed a recent Webcopyplus online poll. Almost 25% of web users indicated “poor visual presentation” as the number one element that drives them away from websites. Only 6.6% of web users who participated in a similar 2007 online poll indicated “poor visual presentation” as the main reason to abandon a website. That equates to a 267% increase during the two-year period.
From Webcopyplus:

Our web content specialists believe the increased desire for quality design comes from the fact that Internet users have become increasingly sophisticated. Consequently, more of today’s Internet users understand that a well designed website makes it possible to achieve more, with less time and effort.
A total of 318 web users were asked what’s most likely to drive them away from a website.

• 50.9% indicated “slow load times”
• 24.8% noted “weak web copy”
• 24.2% specified “poor visual presentation”

In the 2007 poll, 51.2% of 258 participants indicated “slow load times” and 42.2% noted “weak web copy” as their biggest turn-offs.
 

So what does all this mean?

A website won’t fix your slow business. UNLESS your site is well done. Work with your designer / developer to address all of the above issues. Your website is often the first thing a potential client / customer sees. They are judging the quality of your organization, products, service, and reputation based on 30 seconds of face time online.
So make those precious page views count!