The 8-Second Challenge

The window of opportunity for marketers to engage their web visitors has shrunk drastically.

According to a 2015 study by Microsoft Corp., our attention spans have been whittled down to just eight seconds. The culprit? Our digital lifestyles. Thank emojis and thank Twitter for their 140 characters limitation, and TikTok for their quick dopamine hit.

Eight Seconds. Yes, that’s one second less than a goldfish. And we’re all in same fishbowl; the decrease was seen across all age groups and genders in the study. There was an upside though: our ability to multitask is increasing.

As marketers, what do we do with this information? What can we do in eight seconds, to draw our web visitors in? Here are some tips to help you pass the 8-second challenge:

• Don ’ t make them wait. Make sure you website loads quickly. 40% of people will abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load.

• Make your content easy. Easy to navigate. Easy to read. Easy to scan. Put the most important information upfront and outline your content with numbers or bullet points. Drill down your key message and say it outright and quickly. There is no need to make them wait for it.

• Keep it short. Too much content will distract readers from your key messaging, so split detailed content out into secondary pages for readers who are interested. Tell the reader what they need and want to know, and no more. A difficult, but important rule to follow.

• Utilise visual content. We process images 60,000 times faster than we do text. Use images that convey your key messaging and be strategic about where you place those images. Choose a place that will draw the customer’s eye as they move down the screen.

• Tell the reader what to do. If the purpose of your website is to convert visitors, you need to make the path clear. Present clear action items for the visitor who is ready to buy and for the visitor who is intrigued, but still not sure (an important, and often overlooked, segment).

Now it’s time to take the challenge. Set your stopwatch for eight seconds and type in your website URL. Does you messaging get through before the buzzer goes off? Is it compelling? Does it inspire action?

This simple exercise will most likely get you thinking about you website design, layout and key messaging. Hopefully, it will inspire you to make some strategic changes.

And for those of you that have made it through to the end of this blog post, give yourself a pat on the back!