Credibility and the First Glance
A small business friend complained the other day that his website really isn't worth the small amount of business it brings in. There are some estimates that say the majority of all small business websites fail to make money. Clearly there is a major problem in this early era of small business websites employed as sales tools.
The culprit is at the first encounter with a company website at a time which is crucial if the customer is to go on and buy something. The problem in a nutshell is the lack of trust in the company behind the website. This trust is missing at first glance.
Credible Company Logos Add Website Trust
Recent research (1) has concluded that the company logo can increase (or decrease) conversion rates at first glance on the company website. For most first time visitors to a new website, the company logo embodies the company brand image. The company logo on the home page (aka landing page) must communicate trust or the visitor will leave almost immediately.
In fact, most websites loose visitors rather than convert visitors to customers at first glance. Small business company websites, which are generally unknown to the visitor, loose over 90 percent or more visitors within a few seconds upon landing on a website.
New Google AdWords research concluded:
"So, you've refined your keywords, optimized your bids, and written AdWords text ads that pull in tons of targeted clicks, but after looking at your Google Analytics reports, you realize that your landing page has a bounce rate of 91%. Which means that 91% of the users coming to your site are quickly glancing around and leaving, deciding immediately that this site isn't for them. Recent research suggests that users decide to stay or leave your site in 8 seconds or less."
Further research by the author concluded that credibility-based logos will increase conversion rates over four times compared to logos which are not considered credible. With a credibility-based home page designed to non-verbally communicate company credibility consistent with the company logo, conversion rates are even more so. Company logo and home page design is a new opportunity for website effectiveness.
Websites at First Glance
What happens when visitors first click on a website? In this short time frame, visitors don't have much time to read anything about the site. Like most perception at an early stage, website impressions are a visual thing. What is going on? Research on website credibility by Stanford University's Dr. BJ Fogg concludes that people want to know whether the company behind the website is credible or not in an instant. Visitors are looking for expertise on the Googled subject and trust that the company can deliver. In a blink of the eye!
First Glance Web Optimization
Enter "first glance web optimization" where a credibility-based company logo communicates "trust" AND "expertise", the two requirements of credibility persuasion. Trust and expertise together mean "credible" which is important when it comes to website persuasion goals. Just being "liked" isn't enough when the goal is making a sale.
Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and most recently, Blink, calls first glace impressions leaping to conclusions as "adaptive unconscious" or "thin slicing." Adaptive unconscious studies examine how we draw conclusions intuitively in an instant as apposed to careful deliberation and analysis. Thus the term "thin slicing." The author reminds us of meeting someone for the first time, interviewing someone or being interviewed, or reacting to a something new. We use our adaptive unconscious mechanisms to make judgments at first glace. It is our "gut feeling" about something or someone. On a website, this is "first glance" web turn on, or turn off.
Website First Glance "Thin Slicing"
Like other first time encounters, the visitor and vendor on a website do not have a personal relationship history. The visitor makes a first glance evaluation on what information, most often visual, is available. This is primarily based on the company logo, and the design of the home page. Otherwise, the vendor is faceless.
Credibility-based Logo Design
The company logo can be a credible face if planned and designed appropriately. Expertise and trustworthy define the two import credibility traits for a given company. Take Housen Painting, a small house painter in New York. House painting is the company's business. This is the company's expertise. The main symbolism in the company logo then is "house" and "painting". This is the "expertise" dimension in the Housen Painting logo.
The "trustworthy" dimension is communicated in the overall design. The Housen Painting logo above communicates "trustworthy" traits non-verbally through design with a clean contemporary style communicating efficient, cutting-edge and on-time. These credibility traits are also how Housen Painting operates, so substance and logo image are comparable. Specific company credibility traits communicated in a company logo is credibility-based logo design.
Credibility-base Home Page Design
The company home page must also be designed to communicate the same credibility traits as the company logo. Logos and home pages are perceived almost simultaneously. Thus, the company credibility-based logo design and the home page design must have a consistency in design. For example, the logo cannot have a contemporary design and the home page a dated design.
In Summary
The bottom line with first website impressions is that the visitor perceives a credibility-based logo and home page so the visitor continues the website experience. First impressions are key to credibility building and continued visitor conversions toward being a customer.
Stanford University has been researching web credibility for several years under the leadership of Dr. BJ Fogg. The research has concentrated mostly on web credibility from functional perspectives such in ease of navigation, no errors, and showing company credibility with an address and owner photo.
New research supports (1) that first glance web optimization can increase conversion rates applying a credibility-based company logo and matching credibility-based company home page. Further, the research concludes that at least four times as many visitors become customers when there is a credibility-based logo and home page compared to company logos and home page design which are not credibility-based. Using the company logo to communicate credibility is the new niche in website design.
(1) Research conducted by Dr. Bill Haig as part of his 2006 PhD thesis, How and Why Credibility-based Logos are Effective in Marketing Communication in Persuading Customers to Take Action: A Multiple Case Study Toward a Better Understanding of Creativity in Branding.`
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