Websites at "First Glance" Optimization

Another excellent article from Dr. Bill Haig, expert on credibility in logo and web site design:

The Logo and Home Page Credibility Requirements

By Dr. Bill Haig, Powerlogos Design

When visitors land on a website, the first thing they do is mentally evaluate in an instant whether they can trust the information on the site enough to continue. Like all information, this is a matter of whether or not the source of the information can be trusted to overcome perceptions of risk and uncertainty. Trust or no trust happens during the visitor's initial impressions or "first glance" at a website when visitor is still unfamiliar with the vendor.

Savvy website owners have two easy opportunities to look credible and boost visitor website trust at "first glance" to increase conversion rates:

 1.   Show that there is a real organization behind the website, as an honest trustworthy company. This is done most effectively with a credibility-based logo designsm representing the company.  The credible company logo is usually in the upper left hand corner of the website. Perception theory in communication persuasion suggests that people immediately want to know the source of the message which follows. Just like when we often look first for the name of the person on an envelop or post card. 

Similarly, visitors to a website look at the company logo, or search for the company name if there is no logo, at "first glance." 

Then, simultaneously,

2. Show that there is a credible organization behind the website with an appropriately designed home page. A company website home page must be designed with the same appropriate credibility traits as in the company logo. This will also give consistency in credibility traits important to the company behind the website. 

Logos and home pages are perceived almost simultaneously. Thus, the company credibility-based logo design and the home page design must have a consistency in credibility design "look." For example, the logo cannot have a contemporary design and the home page a dated design.

The bottom line is that the whole visitor perception, logo and home page, must communicate credibility to assure the visitor continues at this initial web experience --- at "first glance." These first impressions are key to trust building and continued visitor conversions toward being a customer.

Powerlogos Design and Dr. Bill Haig:

Powerlogos Design is the only creative and research based logo and home page design firm using proven principles in source credibility in communication persuasion to optimize online visitor to customer conversion rates. We call this Website Optimization at First Glance. The process we use is termed credibility-based logo design and credibility-based website design.

Started as an online firm in 2001, Dr. Bill Haig maintains the philosophy that logo and home page design apply proven source credibility principles in communication persuasion. The result is that clients have the assurance that their company logo and home page will be successful at "first glance" giving trust to the website company. 

Dr. Haig has over forty years experience in logo design and recently obtained his PhD applying his logo knowledge to website credibility and online testing. He developed a unique online logo and home page testing methodology during three years of university supervised research. 

How logo and home page credibility works in graphic design is further explained in several articles on his website, www.powerlogos.com and Dr. Haig's book on credibility-based logo designsm, The Power of Logos: How to Create Effective Company Logos, NY: Wiley, 1997. Dr. Haig can be reached at

bill@haigbranding.com

or by phone at 808 922 4042 (Hawaii Time.) 

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I have designed a few websites and I am also a strong believer in having a clean and easy to read logo that you can understand quickly. Sometimes the website design hinges on how good the logo is. You can have a really good website design but if the logo is hard to read or just plain bad, it can really effect the entire site.