5 Tips To Help Grab A Bride's Attention

Sometimes you get so hung up in "the look", or that FLASH is "cool", or fill-in-the-blank, that you lose sight of two very important objectives:

(1) Getting a bride to stay at your website once she's found it.

(2) Getting her to click to the next most important page.

Obviously, you'll want to add:

(3) Conversion: Inquiry, phone call, or take-away.

You only have a few seconds to grab a bride's attention once she gets to your website.

Online marketing folks call it the "3 Second Rule" and I believe it.

Here are five tips to grab a bride's attention and interest and keep her from heading for the back button on her browser.

1) Make Sure Your Homepage Loads Quickly

If your homepage takes more than 5 to 8 seconds to load you risk a "bailout". If you don't believe me, go take a look at your logs and see how many people are looking at one page and then leaving your website. One way to reduce this problem is to make sure your home page loads quickly (and without errors). Flash presentations or large graphics that take 10 to 15 seconds to load can create serious problems and adversely impact the results you get from your website.

2) Get To The WIIFM (What's In It For Me Message)

Brides want to know what you can do for them, what you've done for others, and "what's in it for them". If you don't open your homepage with that message what message ARE you delivering? Give a bride the information she came looking for immediately at the top of your homepage. THEN... and only then will she keep on reading.

3) Avoid Using Odd Colors and Background Images

When it's hard to read the information at your website brides will just leave - it's just that simple. Use black or dark blue text and avoid funky colors or background images that can distract attention from your marketing message (i.e. WIIFM).

4) Use Navigation Links That People Can Clearly See

Your links to sub-pages and other features at your website should be VERY CLEARLY identifiable. I shouldn't have to mouse-over them to see they are a link and they shouldn't be light colored in such a way they blend in to none-linked text.

5) Use Bullets To Highlight The Most Important Value/Benefits

People tend to scan web pages first before they make the choice to read the rest of your page copy or even to visit other pages. Using quick-and-to-the-point bulleted items you'll actually get them to READ about the value, benefits, or special and unique features of your services or products.

6) Important Content Goes Above The Fold

Put your MOST important information up front and "above the fold" or visible on the first screen with minimal scrolling. In other words, get to the point! When was the last time you visited a website and kept reading down a page (or clicked to another page) when the first paragraph of copy didn't DIRECTLY address the reason you clicked to that page in the first place?