You’ve Only Got 10 Seconds

to impress or your visitors will fade away…….

Make no mistake about it.  It doesn’t matter if you have a powerful arsenal of promotional techniques, if you fail to impress and engage your visitors in 10 seconds or less, you’re most likely to lose them to your competitors.

Point is masses of traffic is pointless if you fail to convert them into subscribers, leads or sales.

That’s the truth. Nothing but the truth.

The question is how do you impress and engage them the moment they arrive? How do you convert them in 10 seconds?

Here are 10 tips to make a lasting impression in 10 seconds.

1. Clear Objective

The central focus of your blog could be summarized in one single line and that’s what blog description is for.

A simple yet clear description gives your visitors an idea of what your blog is all about and what they can expect from you. For obvious reason, to confuse them is to lose them.

If you can’t be clever, be absolutely clear.

2. Don’t Take Blog Design for Granted

It holds true that your blog design could either make or break your blog. You might have good copywriting skills but in 10 seconds or less, if your design sucks, who cares?

Don’t overlook the design aspect of your blog. At the very least, you should invest in a well-designed logo that stands out from the pack.

Need a makeover? Here’s 10 Tips for a Blog Design Makeover

3. Write a Powerful Teaser

I’m a firm believer of using a teaser on a homepage. I honestly believe a well-written and compelling teaser is an effective method of capturing your visitors’ attention right away.

Who likes to be teased anyway?

Open your first paragraph with a “BANG” and strike while the iron is hot. Though it takes a bit of skills to pull it off.

4. Craft the Most Catchy Headline

Did I impress you with my headline above? I’m sure I did. It’s amazing how a simple headline could make a whole world of difference.

The other day I read an article, Could a Monkey Post Your Blog? and I thought it’d be nice if I share it with you what Sheryl wrote,

“you need to put in more time to write it than it takes me to read it and bookmark it.”

So the next time you think of your headline, think hard and remember you’ve only got 10 seconds.

5. Flaunt Your Most Popular Article

If you’ve got it, why not flaunt it? Put your best article above the fold. This is when showing-off isn’t a crime.

Probably now you’ve come to realize the importance of featured section, which is among other things, being the most common feature in a blog design.

6. Proper Call to Action

If you don’t call your readers to action, they are far less likely to take it. The rule is simple. You’ve got to make it easy and achievable for your visitors to take action. In post or after post calls to action usually works the best.

Positioning is everything. See for yourself how a change in call to action positioning increased my subscribers by 60 in 7 days.

And the number keep growing at a rate I’d never have thought possible.

7. What’s in It For Them?

In most blogs I’ve come to know, subscription comes with ‘enticing’ incentives, usually in the form of an ebook, free email course or plain giveaways.

This is what I call ‘the feel good bait‘.

Though I don’t offer anything here, it doesn’t mean that I don’t advocate the use of it. I just don’t have anything to offer yet at the moment.

Does it work? Yes, it does absolutely….

I can’t remember how many times I push that ’subscribe’ button just for the ebook. Of course, no offense, most of them are just BS.

8. Image Speaks a Thousand Words

You’ve heard it too many times. It’s one of the time-tested magic formulas to engage your visitors. Aesthetic values asides, images certainly play an important role in grabbing and keeping the attention of your visitors.

If your headline is to attract, the image is to engage.

9. Video Blogging

First it was blogging, then podcasting and now video blogging. There is no telling where video blogging is gonna be in the future. One thing is certain, video bloggers are already making regular video posting online.

Unless you are camera-shy like me, you can easily differentiate yourself from the crowd though video blogging.

Is video blogging the future?

10. How Fast is Your Load Time?

This is pretty much self-explanatory. If your site loads longer than 5 seconds, you’ve got less than 5 seconds to impress. You do the math.

Oh, check out the coolest ever website load time tester.

Final Thought

The above tips are not revolutionary but they should give you a bit of food for thoughts.

All in all, don’t be obsessed with how much traffic you have, what matters most is the conversion.

Most importantly, whom you convert in that 10 seconds.

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