The harsh truth is that you don’t really have a lot of time to impress your viewers, in the cut throat world of website design. If you are designing a website, you will need to keep in mind the fact that the people coming to your site, the viewers, have very little attention span and therefore, you will need to do everything you can to hold the viewer’s attention, quickly.
As can be imagined, this is not something that is easy, but it can be accomplished if you set your mind to do it. You will need to think innovatively and focus on ‘viewer captivation’, if that is your objective. Every thing else that can distract the attention of the viewer must be done away with.
Let’s take a look at 5 great ways that will help you hold your viewers captive, as soon as they enter your website.
Image Shock
This is one of the simplest and the most effective ways of captivating your viewers. Give them an image that they least expected to come across on your site. Something that blows them away, something so good that they are forced to keep looking at it for some time! Give them an imagery that puzzles them so much so that they want to keep looking at it to make sense of it.
But while doing so, it’s important to remember, that viewers like to be shocked, but in a good way. You must use relevant images to shock your viewers and not something that has no relation to your website or the information offered on it.
Slam Dunk Catchphrases
Nothing works better than a creatively written catchphrase that has been written with the specific purpose of creating impact. The thing with words is that you don’t have to go anywhere to look for them. There are already in your head, all you need to do is get them out of your mind, on to your website.
Think along the lines of what a viewer wants to see on your website, and give it to them in the form of a few well chosen words. Words are like arrows, if you use them well, they are going to hit their mark. In order to create an impression, you not only need to understand the purpose of your website inside and out, but you must also have a deep understanding of your audience. You need to know the words that they are most likely to respond to, and give them these words arranged in a manner to give the maximum impact.
Colors Create a Riot of an Impact
Don’t underestimate the use of colors in website design to create a huge impact on the viewer. The right color, used in the right manner helps bring out the right emotion out of the viewer. Each color means something and brings out a different feeling; this is why you need to be very careful when you choose a color.
For e.g., the use of primary color red, can bring out a feeling of passion, love, and even anger or can be used to show importance. If you want to provide accents, then red should be the color of your choice. A bright red color is also a great way of energizing the viewer to go through the website.
If you use a color likeOrange, it can help you represent change, and vibrancy. If your design has visuals that showcase movement, then this can be your color of choice. As can be seen, each color brings to your website a different meaning, and can help create a captivating impact.
Story Telling
If you think the information that you are going to provide is boring and needs some pepping, up then why not weave a story around your layout. Yes, don’t offer your visitors information in the same old boring way. Do something unique, that they least expect on a site like yours.
Create suspense, which will make them want to finish browsing the web page; right at the onset when they open your website for the first time; they need to be to be motivated to take a closer look at your web page. Even something as simple as a huge Question Mark can get a viewer interested. You need to find the right trigger that can make the viewer want to go through the “story” on your website.
It really doesn’t matter whether you offer legal services or something else that a reader viewer find boring; if information is presented in an interesting manner, it is always captivating.
Keep it Simple
Agreed, this is something that contradicts everything that I have said earlier, but think about it carefully. Why does keeping it simple conjure up images of boring website design? All I am saying is that by keeping it simple you will ensure that your website visitors understand everything that you are putting before them; so if you want to surprise them, they get surprises and if you want to excite them, they get excited. You get the response you want.
Therefore it’s important not to over think your design and not needlessly complicate things. This is what keeping it simple is all about!
To Conclude
Some of these tips will come across as very simplistic, but the fact is, most tips are simple to read, but very difficult to implement. So, don’t take it lightly, you will need to conceptualize an impact generation method, and keep reworking it to make it perfect. Only then should you implement it. Test the ‘captivation quotient’ of whatever you do to ensure that you choose the right tactic to captivate your viewers quickly. Good Luck!
March 3, 2014
