introduction messages

Just out of curiosity, did any of you say “hello” to my web page when you visited? Maybe a “How do you do?”. No, you didn’t say anything? Yep, well, I didn’t think you would. Most people don’t. In fact, I think it might be a little strange if you did. So why do so many websites say “Hello” to their visitors?

Here is a great looking website, Kansas City Website Design. My first impression, very nice layout. My second impression, cringe. They had the GIANT “hello” introduction on their page. I’m sorry, but I am not going to say “Hello” back.

Many webmasters or websites say “Hello” because I think it is a reflection of the author. They are genuinely nice people, they like to say hello to the people they meet, and when they create something on the web for the world to see they would like to be just as nice. So what do they do first? Yikes, they say “Hello”.

If you are building a website to make money, there really isn’t room for this. You have to remember why people are visiting your site. Are they there because they like you, or are they there because they are trying to buy or find out something. A real killer with the hello message is the fact that it takes up prime real estate on you page. Looking at their site again as an example, you will notice that their hello message is exceptionally large, and in the most looked at part of the screen for any website. Really look at their website, even with squinted eyes, and you will see the most emphasized message on their site is, hello.

Kill Hello

It’s time to kill hello on the web, at least as an introduction message. I really see no purpose for it, even on a personal blog. It’s pointless, and no one is going to say hi back. Use the space, and convey a real message. Tell your new visitors why they are here, and why they should stay. Make your site, and your words essential to them. We visitors don’t liked to be bothered, and we won’t be visiting for long.

Time and clicks really are the issue here. Know that an average visitor is really only good for so much time, and clicks. Time wise, six seconds could be the difference of a visitor staying or going. Saying “Hello” just cost one or two of them. Do you really need it? I don’t think so.

Back in March I wrote an article about introduction messages. I was doing website reviews today on one of my favorite forums, and in one of the threads someone asked for a review of their new webmaster forum. Well guess what? It was just like a thousand other webmaster forums, dead, boring, no members, and little activity. It takes a lot of work to get any kind of forum working, and in regards to a webmaster forum, seriously, good luck.

The site owner asked for a basic review, and after looking at it for just a couple of seconds I saw the header included a small logo, a guy with glasses, and that is it. No tag line, nothing, just the forum below. I mentioned to him he needs to get a tag line, and gave him a few more tips. He replied back with, “Well the basic tag line for th whole site is ‘Web Resource Community’”. Gag. I’m sorry, but that tag line is not going to cut it.

How to Write an Introduction Message or Tag Line

Here is a great way to write a tag line or introduction message. Write a two sentence description of your site. Be as descriptive as possible. Now sit on it until tomorrow. Now edit your two sentence message to make it a one sentence message. You may need to be very selective with your words, and when you are finished, I am guessing you will be very proud of yourself. At this point the introduction message is usually high quality. Now sit on it for a day. Here comes your tag line. Forget writing a whole sentence, and only using the most absolutely essential words from your one sentence create your tag line. Mine is “Site Usability Testing and Web Development Services”. This originally came from an entire paragraph of material. Odds someone will read the entire tag line instead of whole paragraph? 100%. Odds that someone will skip your site if it is not clearly defined in a twenty seconds or less? 100%.

An introduction message in an extremely valuable part of a website, and doing it just right is easier said than done. The message could be too vague, too long, or simply doesn’t make sense. Too often though, I find sites that just don’t have one. Part of a webmasters job is to quickly convey to a new visitor what the site is about. They literally only have seconds to accomplish this, and if they don’t, that visitor may become part of the “Bounce” statistics.

It’s Not Their Site

A big mistake that can be made is assuming a site is just as clear to a new visitor as is it to the creator. It most likely isn’t, and this can start just by looking at the domain name. Let’s use a famous website for example, WordPress.com. If you were to think what the WordPress site was about before visiting, would you think “blog software”, or “blogging community”? I am guessing not, especially if you don’t even know what a blog is. Fortunately though, they have an exceptional introduction message, “Express yourself, start a blog”. You would still need to know what a blog is, but if you do, you instantly know what the site is about.

It Doesn’t Have to be Text

I would always recommend using text when writing an introduction message, but it doesn’t have to be. Take UPS.com for example. Globally known as a delivery service, their introduction message is clear. A picture of a guy wearing their uniform, and delivering a package. Yes, it is clear you are on UPS.com. Sites like this can get away with not having the text message because most everyone on the planet knows who they are. They still need the message though, and this is so visitors can quickly identify that they have landed on the right page.

Abandon Ship!

No message equals bye, bye. The reason I made this post today was because I did a review on a website where the home page was covered with thumbnails of movies. It looked very much like Netflix’s. The site didn’t sell or rent movies though, they reviewed them. There was no indication by domain name that this was a movie review site, nor was there an introduction message. You could only know it was a review site by clicking on the thumbnails. Does this equal a loss visitor? You bet, even if you were a visitor looking for movie reviews. The visitor may see it as a site that sells movies if they don’t click. Point being, make it clear what your site is about, and they easiest way to do it is by having a clear introduction message.

Do You Say “Hi” to Web Pages?

Kill Hello