First impression test
What do people think of your website in the first few seconds?
Visitors judge your website almost instantly. Run a first impression test with real people and get a score for each part of that judgement: clarity, trust, professionalism and whether they would stay.
First impressions are hard to measure
You can't unsee your own site
You know what every part of your homepage means. A first-time visitor doesn't, and that gap is exactly what you can't judge yourself.
One opinion isn't a measurement
A single reaction depends on the person. You need many quick reactions to see a pattern.
Recall tests miss the judgement
Asking what people remember shows whether the message came across, but not whether they'd trust you or stay.
How it works
Give thirty seconds, get an honest verdict back
Review other websites
Look at a screenshot and answer four questions. Every review earns you a credit.
Put your own site in line
Choose how many votes you want. Priority or a target audience gets them faster or more focused.
Read the verdict
A stay score, a rating per question and short comments. Unreliable votes are filtered out.
Four questions
A first impression, broken into four scores
Instead of one vague impression, every reviewer rates four questions from 1 to 5. Together they show which part of your first impression is strong and which lets you down.
Do I understand what this is?
Clarity: is it obvious within seconds what you offer?
Do I trust it?
Trust: would a stranger feel safe leaving details or money?
Does it look professional?
Quality: does the site look cared for and current?
Would I stay?
The verdict: would this person stay or bounce?
How the test works
You add your website and choose how many votes you want. Reviewers see a screenshot of the first screen, on a laptop and on a phone, for at least five seconds before the questions appear. They rate each question from 1 to 5 and can leave one line of feedback.
The result is your stay score: the share of reviewers who would stay. Next to it, you see the average per question, so you know where to start improving. Read more about how we score.
When to run a first impression test
- Before launching a new website or redesign
- When analytics shows visitors leaving quickly, but not why
- After changing your headline, images or layout, to see if it helped
Want to check the basics first? Start with the first impression checklist.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from a five-second test?
A five-second test hides the page after five seconds and asks what people remember. A StayOrBounce test keeps the screenshot visible after at least five seconds and asks for a judgement on four fixed questions, so results are comparable across reviewers and over time.
How long does one review take?
About 30 seconds. That's why a website collects votes quickly.
Do reviewers see the live website?
No, they see screenshots of the first screen on a laptop and a phone. That way everyone judges exactly the same thing.
