Creating First Impressions Via Web Design

Research has shown that human brain makes a judgement within 1/20th of a second when viewing a web page. So, thats how important your web design is. Well, this 1/20th of a second hold a lot of importance for web designers. An effective web design will include all the necessary factors to be able to create an impact on a website visitor within those milliseconds! Well, without this, visitors will move away, even before they find out how good your services and offerings are. If you do not include all the necessary factors, you are at a risk of losing credibility even before the visitor gets to know you. So, web design is crucial in creating first impressions.
Well, if a website visitor believes that your website looks good, they will move on to take a look at the content and services that you provide. And since they liked your website in the first instance, they will critically look for content and information that will confirm their initial judgement. If web design is that important, lets take a look at what factors of a web design affect first impressions of a visitor.
Here are a few factors:
Colours: Colours help create the very first impact. Select the right colour scheme, select the right contrast and select the right brightness. And the most important factor is maintain consistency in shades and colour schemes on the whole. Select background and text colour contrasts such that visitors can view them without having to squint or use highlight. Its a good practice to use only 2 3 colours for your colour scheme not more than that. Secondly, keep your background clear using too many styling factors and patterns will make the text unreadable.

Graphics: Splashing graphics all over the page will definitely not help. Use graphics wisely. Add images only that are relevant to your web page (not just because you think they are awesome).

Speed: In todays world, if its not fast, its not good enough. So, if your web design is such that it takes for ever to load, visitors will very conveniently click on the red cross and close the page and move straight to your competitors web site. So, check and re-check your site load times and ensure that it is as less as possible.

Layout: A very logical and easy to navigate layout is of great importance. At a glance visitors must be able to locate the information they were searching for. Meaning, they should be able to atleast locate where to click next so that they get information relevant to their query. If your web design consists of too many complex graphics and animations, it is very much possible that your visitor does not get an idea in the first glimpse about what your website has to offer.

Well, if first impressions count, and they help you with so much more, ensure that you follow all best practices and tips to create a first impression!