The 3 Second Rule

The 3 Second Rule is the first and biggest hurdle your site has to overcome in order to win over your visitors. This article is about how the 3 Second Rule works and 3 ways to win by using it to your advantage.

What I really like about SEO is that it makes us cut the clutter and get to the point. Visitors want you to get to the point. Your visitors have a LOT of search results to go through, and if you don't make a great case for your product or service really fast, the visitor is GONE and will probably NEVER return.

Here's how the "3 Second Rule" works. A visitor that lands on your site must be able to do the following in 3 seconds:

• Find what they're looking for
• Find a way to get what they're looking for
• Find something more interesting than what they were looking for

If your visitor cannot do one of these things in 3-5 seconds, they will LEAVE your site, and they will probably NEVER return.

If we want to win, we MUST RESPECT the 3 Second Rule. Here's how to win:

1. Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Your visitors can't do any of the 3 tasks they need to do if they can't figure out how your site works.
   
   
2. Whitespace is good thing. You don't have to use every single pixel of your site, and cram everything together. In fact, that's how you get a crowded looking website. Who wants to spend time on a site that makes them feel clausterphobic?
   
   Why is Google the most popular website in the world? Is there ANY question as to what to do with Google's site? Does Google use EVERY single pixel on their website to cram in more content and links, or do they use all the empty whitespace on the page to draw attention to the single most important thing on the page? I guess what I'm saying is, don't worry about how much stuff you have on your page. Your page looks best when the things you want your visitors to do are given plenty of breathing room.
   
   
3. Drop the "classic" marketing talk. Newspapers used to give lots of "cutsie" and "clever" headlines in their papers. Newspapers are created for casual browsers, but the internet is full of ACTIVE SEARCHERS.
   
   If a visitor is looking for a story about Mr. Potatohead by searching for "mr. potatohead", and your story about Mr. Potatohead has a headline like "The Spudman Sputters Out" there's a good chance the visitor will leave without reading your story. Why? They searched for "Mr. Potatohead". When they went to your site, they didn't see "Mr. Potatohead". Visitors quickly scan a site that has words or pictures that relate to what they looked for. If your visitor does not quickly see their search words or a picture of Mr. Potatohead, why should they stick around looking for something that isn't there? Remember, this visitor has 1,070,000 sites in the search results.

How does YOUR site stack up with the 3 Second Rule? Being honest about your own work is relaly hard, because we're on the inside looking out. This is where having a 3rd party's opinion is REALLY VALUABLE.

In summary, respecting the 3 Second Rule is just respecting your visitor's time. If you just get to the point, make a site layout that is easy to use, and you have good relevant content, users are going to find your site, and they're going to LOVE visiting your site!


Cheers,
Chris

Why SEO?

If I meet a potential client who already knows that I do SEO, say because of a referral, I immediately have to deal with the question: Why should I pay for SEO?

That's an important question, in fact, I don't sell SEO services until I have already answered that question. Even if my potential client didn't ask, I'll tell them anyway, because it's important they understand the full value of SEO. Phone book companies have lost 85% of their market share to search engines! Paying for space in a phone book is now almost pointless. Personally, I'm glad for it. I've always hated the phone book, because I could never figure out the right way to look something up. In the end, I could rarely find what I was looking for, let alone in a timely manner. Google, Yahoo, and Bing (MSN) get the same job done a lot better and a LOT faster!

In summary, search engines are the new phone book. Now, instead of buying space in a phone book, you buy space in a search result, or you optimize your site to "organically" come up in the searches. SEO is the key to getting organic search results in the new phone book.


Cheers,
Chris