First Impressions: Understanding the Importance of Online Business Appearance

First Impressions: Understanding the Importance of Online Business Appearance

Everyone knows how important first impressions are in developing relationships with people. This is especially true when it comes to developing business relationships, including customers. Many times, the first impression a person will have of your company is your website. Most people look up a company online before they decide whether they want to shop there or use their services. Here are some ways your online business appearance can positively or negative affect you. 

Ease of Use/Access of Information 

People need to be able to use your website easily. They also need to be able to find the information they need quickly and easily. Finally, the website needs to load quickly. If the page wont load quick enough, someone will go to a competitor whose website will load more quickly. 

To ensure the quality of your website, ask random people to act as testers. Give them some information to find and ask for feedback on their experience. 

Reviews 

Reviews can both increase and decrease the first impression people get about your business. The better the reviews, the more people will be inclined to try your store. People also look to ensure there are a large number of reviews to get a good sample. 

Negative reviews dont necessarily need to be a bad thing. In fact, you can use them to turn things around. Reach out to the people who leave negative reviews to see if you can develop a relationship (and a lifelong customer) by resolving the issue. 

Placement in Search Results 

Think of the phrases people might use to search for your business. Examples include women clothing stores in Franklin Park, Illinois or pet stores in Boston, Massachusetts. Whatever best applies to you, enter it and see where you are in the search results. The higher you are, the more likely people will look at your website. If you are low in the results, hire a SEO company to help increase your results. 

Attractiveness  

People will peruse a website that looks good longer than an unattractive website. Stay away from being too plain. Include plenty of pictures, graphics, and colors that suit the image you want to portray. You can also use interesting formatting to help it look good. A minimalist approach can still be quite good-looking if that is your preference. 

When people see your website, they will make a decision on whether to go with you and your services or not. Make a good impression! 

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