“In one study reported by Nielsen and Loranger, web users spent on average less than 2 minutes before deciding to abandon a site.” Letting Go of the Words, by Ginny Redish
In another report from this same study, the average home page visit lasted 25-35 seconds. Talk about the “blink” affect… wow, that’s not much time to grab their attention.
I can think of two ways for grab people’s attention when they land on your site, your blog, or any page you’ve published on the web:
- Animated pictures
- Asking questions
The first one means either adding drawings, like a cartoon (which may not be appropriate for your audience) or a video with moving pictures. Let’s face it, even the most serious adult eye is attracted to cartoons and movies.
The other choice for capturing attention is to ask really good questions, like a survey,poll or quiz (and not, how-do-you-like-me? type questions). Everyone has an opinion and wants to express it.
But what’s a busy professional without staff or big bucks to do? Here one suggestion: Use video clips and a survey.
- Get a low-cost professional video service to produce quality 1-minute video clips. iFlashVideo just reopened their monthly membership format which means you can get their services for $50/month. I use them and recommend them, but they’ll close this offer in a couple of days. (In fact, they may be already closed.) Check them out here: iFlashVideo.
- Get a professional survey or quiz created. I use Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert of MySurveyExpert.com.
Here’s an example of a video clip the folks at iFlashVideo can do: