What A Billboard Can Teach You About Your Website

(The following is a guest post from Te-ge Bramhall)

When I was in college, I took a class called the Psychology of Advertising. Of all the ideas shared in that class, one in particular struck me when I first heard it. The professor was talking about billboards and commented that a good billboard only tries to convey one thing to the people reading it because people only have seconds to read and process what the billboard is advertising.

Be memorable

On our way down the east coast this weekend, I thought about that class again while I watched the billboards flash by. Since I was in the passenger seat while my husband drove, I had time to read the longer boards too. Again, I was struck by how accurate my professor had been. As a passenger, I had more time to read...but even so, the ones that stuck with me were the boards that only tried to convey one idea.

As a passenger, I had maybe 5 - 10 seconds while we were traveling down the highway, to read a billboard and focus on what it said. How long do you have to read a billboard when you're driving? Surely no more than 1-2 seconds. What does this have to do with your website?

Did you know that the average reader stays on a web page for around 2 seconds? If you have 2 seconds to make a good impression how do you do it? Do you put everything you've got on the front page, hoping that it attracts someone's attention? Or, do you take one idea. . . one thought. . . one picture, and create an impression on the reader that will call to them to explore your site more in depth?

Are YOU memorable?

Teeg is a social media enthusiast that originally started her journey with a Stumble Upon fascination on her blog; SU Comments. More recently she's been writing for a variety of blogs including Social Media Mom and my other haunt, Collective Thoughts. You can find her on Twitter chatting up all things social media and yes, she is memorable...hehe.