The first impression checklist for your website

A visitor decides whether to stay on your website before reading a full sentence. In those first seconds they answer four questions, mostly without noticing: Do I understand what this is? Do I trust it? Does it look professional? Would I stay? If one of the answers is "no", they leave. This checklist goes through each question and what to look at on your homepage.

How fast is "the first seconds"? In a well-known study, people rated the visual appeal of web pages after seeing them for only 50 milliseconds, and those snap judgements largely matched their ratings after a longer look (Lindgaard et al., 2006). The first impression is formed long before anyone reads your copy.

1. Do I understand what this is?

A visitor who can't tell what you offer within a few seconds has no reason to look further. Check your first screen for:

A headline that says what you do, in plain words. "Bread from our own oven, delivered tomorrow" beats "Passion for quality".
Who it is for, if that isn't obvious. A tool for accountants should say so.
One main message. Three competing headlines, a slider and a pop-up leave nothing clear.
An image that supports the headline, not a generic stock photo that could be on any site. See stock photos or real photos.

A quick test: show your homepage to someone for five seconds, then ask what the company does. If they can't say it in one sentence, your headline isn't doing its job.

2. Do I trust it?

Trust decides whether someone leaves their details, their money or even just their time. Visitors look for signals that a real, reliable business is behind the site:

Contact details within reach: an address, phone number or at least a clear contact link in the menu.
Proof from others: reviews, ratings, recognisable client logos or a short testimonial, preferably on the first screen.
A secure connection: the padlock in the browser, and no warnings.
No surprises: prices that are easy to find, no aggressive pop-ups asking for an email address before anything else.

3. Does it look professional?

Visitors judge the quality of your business by the quality of your website. Small flaws add up to "this looks abandoned" or "this is a hobby project":

Nothing broken: no missing images, overlapping text or error messages.
A cookie banner that doesn't take over the first screen, especially on mobile.
Consistent type and colours: two or three fonts at most, and colours that belong together.
Readable text: enough contrast, and a font size that works on a phone. See readability and contrast.
Up to date: no "© 2019" in the footer and no news from years ago on the homepage.

4. Would I stay?

The first three questions add up to this one. Even a clear, trustworthy and polished page loses visitors when it doesn't tell them what to do next:

One clear next step: a single prominent button, worded as what happens ("Order for tomorrow", "See the menu"), not "Submit" or "Click here". See button text that gets clicked.
Something worth scrolling for: a glimpse of what follows below the first screen.
Fast loading: a blank page for three seconds is a reason to leave before your design even appears.

Check it on a phone, not just your laptop

Most people judge your site on a phone first. Things that fit easily on a laptop, like a headline, a photo and a button side by side, end up stacked on a phone. Then your button often disappears below the first screen. Always check the first screen on both. The above the fold checker shows both side by side.

Why you can't judge your own website

You know what your company does, so your headline always makes sense to you. You know you're trustworthy, so you don't notice the missing reviews. That is why first-impression problems are so easy to miss, and why the most useful feedback comes from strangers who see the site for the first time.

That is how StayOrBounce scores websites: real people see a screenshot of your homepage and answer these four questions in about 30 seconds. Many quick votes give you a reliable average instead of one person's opinion.