The 5 Second Test and How It Can Help Your Website Traffic
May 22, 2018
We all know first impressions are extremely important. When you meet someone for the first time, they will have formed an opinion of you within the first few seconds of meeting you based on your appearance and demeanor. Everyone does it regardless if they’re aware because it’s a part of human nature. These same subconscious judgements are made when someone visits your website, and if a user is not engaged in an aesthetically pleasing design it can be the deciding factor between them reading more and closing the tab.
Clarity is Key.
Clarity is crucial when it comes to your website functionality and design. If the user must consciously work to navigate your page or uncover what you do, it breaks the immersion and pulls their attention away from your content. Your landing page is where clarity is most important, because it’s typically the first page seen by a new user. Ask yourself: if you showed your website to someone for just a few seconds, would people still be able to decipher your product or service? Would they know what your brand is about? Would they easily find your call to action? And finally, where do their eyes draw to first? If you’re unsure, consider running a 5 second test.
What is a 5 second test?
A 5 second test is a usability test, where a pool of users are shown a page for (you guessed it) 5 seconds. The participants are then asked what they can remember about the layout and brand. Typically, before the test is ran, the participant is asked to focus on an aspect of the page, such as determining the product, service, or locating the call to action. The results of the test are then compiled and ranked by prevalence to get the most common interpretations. This tool is a great way to see if your site’s design is working for or against you. If you have various layout options, the 5 second test is a great way to narrow them down to the most intuitive and user friendly. Another big advantage is the ability to gather large amounts of user data in a short timeframe. Since each participant is only shown the page for 5 seconds, data collection from each participant takes on average 7 to 10 minutes.
Give it a try!
The button below will display a screenshot of our landing page for 5 seconds. Before starting to the test, focus on the following aspects:
- What is our name?
- What is our service?
- What does our logo look like?
- What is our target demographic?
If you would like to submit feedback on our 5 second test, you may submit it here
