Marketing and advertising agency in Millburn, New Jersey. http://www.newfrontier.com/7-second-homepage-assessment/ Looking for a way to improve your website? Here’s a quick way to see if your homepage needs an overhaul...

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The 7-Second Homepage Assessment
Wednesday 4th Jun 2014
Looking for a way to improve your website? Here’s a
quick way to see if your homepage needs an
overhaul. (You’ll need an assistant for this – someone
who’s unfamiliar with your website and your business
platform. Feel free to contact us if you can’t find one –
we’re happy to play along!)
Ready? Here we go:
Step One: Ask an assistant or colleague to pretend that
he/she is a potential client who has never seen your
website before, and have them interact with your
homepage for 7 seconds.
Step Two: As soon as the 7 seconds are up, close the
browser, and see if they can answer the following four
questions:
What’s the name of the business?
What’s the core product, service, or benefit?
Is this site for me? (hint: if they’re a potential client, the
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2. answer should be, “yes”)
What should I do next? (clear call-to-action,
navigation, and contact information)
And that’s it! If your assistant nailed all 4 questions after
7 seconds on your homepage, you’re in good shape. If
not, then you’ve just identified a key opportunity area for
your marketing plan. Fustrated? Confused? Don’t be!
There’s a logical explanation as to why this information
needs to be processed so efficiently:
First, research shows that consumers don’t read
homepages – they skim them. Which means all of that
detailed information and storytelling you’ve written into
your homepage is likely being glossed over. Eye tracking
studies (like this one) show that readers tend to scan
pages in the shape of the letter “F”, horizontally from left
to right, focusing initially on the triangular area in the
upper left-hand corner. Lesson learned: Determine what
the most important/relevant takeaways are about
your brand and your business, and make sure they
are:
skimmable – key headlines, bullet points, and
simple graphics work best
not buried in the lower-right hand corner of your
site, or (gasp!) below the page fold.
If consumers can’t find a reason to stay on your site
while in this skimming pattern (which is estimated at 3-5
seconds), they may not be getting your message, and
you run the risk of losing them.
Second, a homepage needs to deliver an amplified level
of instant gratification. A consumer that visits your
homepage is on a mission to find content that satisfies

3. or interests them. And if they don’t find it on your site
within a few seconds, there’s a good chance they’ll keep
clicking until they find it on someone else’s. (Other
mediums such as print, TV, and radio allow for a slower
build and more creative freedom due to their interruptive
context and indirect points of engagement). Remember:
transition graphics and slow-revealing messages can be
captivating marketing tools, but unless they help the
consumer immediately find what he/she needs, they
shouldn’t hold a dominant presence on your homepage.
Third, you can resist the temptation to fill your
homepage with all of your product offerings and detailed
service information, as the immediate purpose of your
homepage should be to provide an overview of your
brand, tone, and context, and to provide a gateway to
the rest of your website. Once the consumer decides
they’re in the right place, they’ll expect to be able to drill
down to find specifically what they are looking for, and
learn about these products or services in more detail. It
should be noted that a clear navigation architecture is
imperative, as 76% of consumers say the most
important factor in a website’s design is “the website
makes it easy for me to find what I want”. (source:
HubSpot, 2011).
Finally, the technical details (search optimization, page
coding, tags, etc.) are important, but they shouldn’t
come at the expense of a consumer-friendly interface.
Example: It’s more important to provide the consumer
with relevant information, a positive brand image, a
pleasurable navigation experience, and a compelling
call-to-action, than to stuff a page with SEO-friendly
keywords that might cause the consumer to stumble and
go elsewhere. A savvy web designer or marketing
agency can help to ensure that your site is optimized for

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both search engines and consumer interaction.
The good news: Home pages aren’t carved in stone –
they’re flexible and fixable. And sometimes even the
slightest adjustments can bring in positive results for you
and your business. You can learn a lot in 7 seconds!
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