The average attention span today is 9 seconds! Try counting to 9 right now just to see how long/short that feels. That’s how long you have, whether in person or online to capture someone’s attention.
Within that short window, you have the opportunity to create fascination in them – a feeling of intrigue and positive vibes in order nurture a curiosity to hear more….or you’ve lost them, and it will take double or triple the efforts later to have the same opportunity again another time.
Sally Hogshead from the Fascination Advantage tells us that it is vitally important to use that “golden window” of time intentionally. When you are reaching out to a prospect or connecting with a referral source, you want to be ready to share exactly how you are going to add value to their business or life. You want to make it “short, sweet, and easy to understand.” Use clear, strong language. Let your conviction and passion come across with positive emotion in order to be memorable. Make sure you have eye contact to see how your words are being received.
When designing your website, you want to make sure that you offer the right information in a clear, beautiful way that would only take 9 seconds for a visitor to glean if perusing your site for the first time.
They should get an accurate impression of your service and brand from your images, your headlines and article topics. If they don’t need your service or product immediately, they should have a clear picture of what you do and know that it is easy to connect with you. If you are really intriguing and memorable, they may want to sign up for your newsletter or follow you on social media so that they can be sure that you stay on their radar until needed.
9 seconds. Can they see, read, and click to where they want to go within that amount of time?
Contact me if you are interested in updating your website in order to use those 9 seconds to fascinate well.
Sonya Dalrymple 