Consideration of the attention span when designing websites

It's no longer a secret to most people: attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, which is particularly evident when you're dealing with different generations. A 2015 study by Microsoft Canada found that the average attention span is 8 seconds - one second shorter than that of a goldfish. In today's reality, it's probably even shorter.

There are several factors that contribute to this, but social media and platforms like YouTube (with short films) and TikTok play a big role. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at how you can take this into account when designing and creating your website and how you can retain as many users as possible.

Different generations have different attention spans, and these are decreasing

Attention spans vary by generation and are decreasing.

In general, Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, has a shorter attention span than Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, whose average attention span is 12 seconds. Users are increasingly staying in the ecosystem they are familiar with and searching for products, services and other things directly on social media, for example, rather than via search engines such as Google. On such platforms, they are inundated with information, so their attention is engaged by a constant stream of new content. This is a development that needs to be taken into account.

Make your website available as quickly as possible

The first action point you can use to grab the attention of websites is the loading speed of your website. If your website already takes 5 seconds to load, there is little time left to invite the visitor further to your website. With the hosting packages from MijnHostingPartner.nl, your data is stored exclusively on SSD disks. This provides the right basis for this. It is up to you to also switch your website to caching and ensure that your website adheres to certain speed guidelines. This includes compressing and optimizing images and reducing the overall size of your website.

Under 1 MB per page is the standard here. Would you like to read more tips on how to make your WordPress website as fast as possible?

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Mobile compatibility

Just take a look at your Google Analytics data and see what your target group uses most often to visit your website. Probably more than 50 percent of them come from mobile devices.

So having a website that isn't mobile-friendly or doesn't work properly on mobile devices can mean you're missing out on a lot of opportunities. Research thoroughly how you want to set up your website, and if you're working with a content management system, make sure it offers themes that are suitable for mobile devices. Then test this yourself for your website on multiple mobile devices. Most website creation methods already take this into account, but it's still important to test it thoroughly yourself.

Above the fold - make sure your image is fun and engaging

To keep visitors on a page and invite them to read on or take some other positive action, it's important to add images. Many do this with a cover image or an image that relates to the content of the page. And that holds the initial attention. Think of a beautiful product image, a landscape you want to talk about, or another theme that applies here. Above the fold means that this image is visible without the user having to scroll.

Offer interactivity and calls to action

When it comes to the content of your website, you should also make sure that it is not a large block of text. Among other things, make sure that you leave enough white space in your text, always use images and emphasize points in bold. In addition, call-to-actions are very important to ensure that your goal is clear. Buttons that prompt the visitor to take the next step ensure that the goal can be achieved through the content. No content is written and created just for fun, there is always a reason for it.

Remember to make your content available in other formats too

To ensure that your content is also accessible to other generations, it is often essential to adapt to this. For example, make a YouTube short film from an existing piece of content, or take a new approach to reach the younger target group.

Of course with a link and an invitation to read or discover more on your website. As a website manager and content creator, you should always evolve and not stick with what worked in the past. No matter how much time and effort you put into your website, if no one lands on it or visitors click away immediately, it will contribute little to the success of your blog, business or portfolio.