Why is it that some businesses with an online presence are so blind to how (ahem) ugly their website is? When a visitor comes to your website there is only about a 5 second window of opportunity to grasp a visitor’s attention. If you have a website that is well, lets say, less than attractive, how do you expect to keep traffic on your site? The ‘staring-at-a-train-wreck’ theory does not apply to website visitors.
Companies must realize that just having a website is not nearly enough anymore. While 10 years ago, having a website was considered “cutting edge”, more and more businesses are catching on to the fact that an ugly website is directly affecting them. There are, however, businesses that feel it’s not important to update the look of their sites. A poorly constructed, aesthetically unappealing site is actually worse than not having a website at all.
This is very apparent in industries that are heavily influenced on or completely driven by aesthetics. Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery clinics, Cosmetic Dentistry Centres, Laser Eye & Laser Skin Clinics, and Weight Loss Centres are the very susceptible. Prospective clients to these websites are often judging the quality of their own surgeries by how the website looks. Think about it; someone who is looking to have some “work” done is obviously concerned about how things appear. Showing them an undesirable website is essentially telling them that this business does not care about the way things appear. This may seem like a no-brainer to most, but you would be surprised as to how many businesses I speak with that are oblivious to the importance of an aesthetically pleasing website. What’s worse is that there are businesses out there that acknowledge this problem and yet do nothing to solve it!
Have an unattractive website? The solution is simple; upgrade! Spend a little to get a lot. The small amount you invest in updating your web site will pay for itself many times over with the increase in leads. It will show a more representative site of your company, instill trust in its visitors, and bring in more revenue.
This is why you have a website in the first place, right? If not — ignore all the stuff I just said.
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True, ugly websites can be such a turn off and scare visitors away. The importance of the visual presentation of the information on a site should never be underestimated. The first impression to your audience should be strong and memorable whether it is good or not.