Can you grab people’s imagination in just 10 seconds?

If not, your charity could be losing out.

According to Nielsen Norman Group, “Users often leave Web pages in 10–20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer. To gain several minutes of user attention, you must clearly communicate your value proposition within 10 seconds.”

This doesn’t mean that you need to get everything across immediately – but you do need to organise information in such a way that those first 10 seconds get people to stay interested.

With this in mind, here are 3 tips on making those first 10 seconds lead to action.

1. Create a headline. It seems obvious, doesn’t it? But many web pages we come across are not organised with a clear and direct headline. Consider the differences in these two sites, for example. Although both sites probably contain a wealth of information, one of them immediately communicates what their vision is – and the other doesn’t.

Creating a headline can be trickier to create than it sounds. It requires a commitment to editing; and for people who run an organisation, it can be hard to make the distinction between what is important to you and what is important to your audience. It might feel like you are oversimplifying. But just remember – the headline just needs to draw people in. Make it punchy, and ensure that it considers the motivations of your audience.

2. Prioritise secondary information thoughtfully. If you’ve hooked someone with a headline, you’re ready for them to read on. But don’t just put everything else on the page with the same level of importance. Use a visual hierarchy to ensure that people read through your information in the right order, and pay careful attention to what you can highlight. Most people skim read, so this is a crucial point to consider.

3. Be clear about what you want them to do. So you’ve had the headline, and you’ve gone into more detail. Next – ask them to take action! Without a clear ask, they will likely do nothing. They shouldn’t need to put in any work to understand how they can follow up on your offer. If you’ve got numerous things that you could ask them to do, be brutal and pick the most important. In most media, you should repeat your ask a number of times – just as we do on this website when we ask people to ‘Talk To Us’. If it doesn’t grab them the first time, give them another chance!

Want to get noticed? We can work with you to clarify your key messages so they make an impact. Get in touch and we can set up a call to discuss your goals.