Have you heard of the “8-second rule”?

Sorry, we are not talking about bull riding!

Do you have a long attention span?  Can you stay focused for longer than 8 seconds?

An Exercise

Let’s do an exercise.
 
On a piece of paper, draw the photo of a fish. Leave some space and then draw a smiling face.
 
Underneath the fish write the number 9. Underneath the smiling face right the number 8.

A goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.

A human being has an attention span of 8 seconds.

Design your website so it’s easy to understand and will keep someone’s attention.

Remember you only have 8 seconds.

Hard to Believe!

I know it is hard to believe our attention span is less than that of a goldfish!  But thanks to technology our mind jumps from one thing to another so quickly.  If you desire to learn more, read Humans have shorter attention span than goldfish, thanks to smartphones.

Is Your Site Doing  A Good Job?

Does your site do a good job of grabbing attention and keeping your reader on your site?  Does it hold their attention for at least 8 seconds?

An Example

Here is a website that does an excellent job capturing your attention and holding it for 8 seconds.

Looking to lease storage space? Check out Montgomery Self Storage   www.montgomeryss.com.

User Friendly

This site was designed so from the home page it would be easy to understand what Montgomery Self Storage is offering. With one easy click, you will be taken to one of their 4 convenient storage facility locations.  Contact information for each storage location is readily available.

Don’t know how much space you will need to lease? You can easily click on the number of bedrooms you are looking to store and find the perfect amount of space.

If you are a commercial client you can click on the number of file boxes you are looking to store.

Are you a more visual person? How about a video you can watch to help you organize your storage facility to maximize space?

Designed for the Visitor

The home page of the Montgomery Self Storage site was designed to get their website visitor to
understand what they do and where to go next in less than 8 seconds.

Test Your Site

Try this test on your current website. How quick can your first-time visitor know what you do from simply visiting just your home page? Watch the clock, 8 seconds will go fast.

Tip #10

The 8-Second Rule is tip #10 in my book, 52 Tips to Turn Your Website Into A Selling Machine.