Millions of websites blanket the internet. Web designers have the unenviable task of making their site stand out amongst the potentially thousands of other sites with similar content. Regardless of purpose, content, or design, the goal of a website is to get visitors to stay: to peruse the pages, read the content, and if offered, purchase goods or services. To do that, a website has to make a good first impression. Just like wearing a suit to an interview, dressing up a website professionally helps it stand out in the crowd. Given the ephemeral nature of the net, you have literally seconds to convince a customer that your site is legitimate. Otherwise, they instantly click back to Google or Yahoo and the search continues. You get the point: appearance counts. So what does your site say? Does it scream bad used car lot or BMW dealer? Corner garage sale or Sotheby’s auction?

Recent research by the Carleton University in Ontario confirms that a professional online image leads to more sales. In the study, researchers discovered the brain makes a judgment on a website in as little as a 20th of a second—much faster than previously thought. As part of the research, the Canadian team showed volunteers websites in quick flashes lasting only 50 milliseconds. The volunteers then had to rate the websites based on their aesthetic appeal. The researchers discovered that these swift conclusions closely correlated with opinions of the same websites that had been made after much longer periods of examination.

The study substantiates a phenomenon known as the “halo” effect. Basically, it means that if people have a positive impression of a website, they’re also likely to believe that quality will be reflected in other areas of the website as well, such as the content or the products and services offered. This cognitive “confirmation bias” is human nature—if people have a gut reaction that something is good, they’re likely to seek confirmation that they’re right and disregard information to the contrary. A professional appearance increases the likelihood that visitors will read your content, make purchases, and come again.

Aesthetics then, at least initially, trump content. It doesn’t matter if your site has comprehensive and authoritative pages if people don’t stay long enough to read it. The University of Ontario Study concludes: “...the strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to draw attention away from usability problems. This suggests that aesthetics or visual appeal, factors may be detected first and that these could influence how users judge subsequent experience.... Hence, even if a website is highly usable and provides very useful information presented in a logical arrangement, this may fail to impress a user whose first impression of the site was negative. ”
The Stanford Web Credibility Research Site, hosted by the Stanford Persuasive Tech Lab, lists 10 suggestions for boosting a website’s credibility. The findings are based on 3 years of research involving over 4500 people (www.webcredibility.org/guidelines).

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site. You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site. Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site’s credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide. Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site. The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.
5. Make it easy to contact you. A simple way to boost your site’s credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose). We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site’s purpose.
7. Make your site easy to use—and useful. We’re squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently). People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed.
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers). If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don’t mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem. Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running.

While there’s no magic verbal or graphical formula equating to website success, there are several points that will enhance the chances visitors will linger, shop, and return, to your site. When designing your website, remember your target demographic. People have different backgrounds, tastes, and desires. That’s why there’s Neiman Marcus and Walmart. Those stores know their target market and cater to them. So should you—there’s more than one way to make a positive impression. Besides the advice above, be sure that your site adheres to a few basic principles:

Home page design. How quickly does your main page load? The home page should be clear and simple. Visitors should immediately know where they are. Logos typically go in the upper left-hand corner and important information and graphics should appear in the upper 1/2 to 2/3 of the page—the less scrolling the better. All other pages should have the consistency of background, color, font, and layout established by your home page.

Page design. The taxonomy, or information architecture, of your site can determine how long visitors stay at you website. Make sure your site’s architecture is clear and consistent. Each page should have company logos and consistent menu set-up, fonts, and colors to let them know where they are. Users should be able to easily link back to main pages.

Download speed. Information should load as quickly as possible. A slow download time can result in visitors going back to the search engine. Load time depends on individual system capabilities, so it’s helpful to know your target market and their computer tendencies (e.g. are they the type to use high-speed internet on the latest computers or do they use dial up). Pages load at different rates depending on the computer and the internet connection. This should also govern the selection of your graphics—larger files take longer to load, so images should be simple yet professional.

Relevant and useful content. Once the aesthetics of your website persuade users that your site is professional and credible, your site’s content should further confirm that impression. State your unique selling point, which can be done with a slogan or tagline, and provide helpful resources and articles. The more interactive the better. Be sure to use effective web copy techniques. The text should be concise and broken up if possible. Use bold copy and bullets.

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