Do You Have a Few Seconds?

Test Your Website's Content & Usability with this 5 Second Challenge

Research indicates that the average web user's attention span is about 30 seconds.  This means that from the time users enter your website, you have half a minute to capture their interest, promote your business and tell them what services you offer.  If your content is strong, intriguing and organized, you stand a chance of turning a curious user into your next big customer. 

Unfortunately, the opposite also holds true, as users are very likely to exit a site if the content is poor, unstructured or irrelevant.  Users will also click out if a site is "too cluttered" or if they cannot find the information they want right away.  All you have is a few seconds and a few clicks, if you don't make them count, your user will go to your competitor's website.

So, how can you prevent this from happening?  The key is testing your website's information architecture.

One way you can test your website's usability and content is by performing the 5 second test as suggested by User Interface Engineering.  The company performs this test for web owners by having users look at a website for 5 seconds.  After 5 seconds has expired, the users are asked to jot down what they remember about the website. 

The company claims that by "paying careful attention to users' initial impressions, we can identify whether the content page is clear and concise. If the page is understandable, users will easily recall the critical content and accurately identify the page's main purpose."  If users are unable to describe the purpose of the website, the site is categorized as unclear and improvements are suggested.

If you want to test your content and see if your website is user-friendly, why not try the 5 second test? 

Simply ask people to look at your website for 5 seconds and have them tell you their general impressions.  If they can tell you about your website's objective and recall information you posted, you are on the right track.  However, if they do not recollect much or are struggling to recall your purpose, it may be time to make some changes.

Remember, you only have 30 seconds to make the right impression!