Studies show that the typical Internet searcher, clicking on result pages in an Internet search service, will spend 5 to 10 seconds determining if the site has what they want. The average is 7 seconds.
This sounds like a very short time, but compare this to your television viewing habits. If a commercial does not catch your attention immediately, do you watch it or tune it out? How many commercials do you watch simply because they are entertaining, visually appealing, or are advertising a product you might be interested in? How many magazine or newspaper advertisements catch your attention because they are appealing but not necessarily a product or service you are interested in?
The Internet has an advantage over television or print ads – the visitor is often actively looking for information about something, possibly something your business offers. The website visitor may be further along in their buying or information seeking decision process than a television viewer or magazine reader.
Average American is bombarded with over 1600 advertising opportunities each day. While that number sounds outrageous, think of the amount of time we spend listening to the radio, watching television, reading newspapers and magazines, sorting through our mail and email, driving down the highway (billboards), reading paper placemats, and closing popup ads on the Internet. Advertisers are even taking advantage of the blank wall men stare at in the rest room. Everyone wants to sell us something.
How does a small business grab the attention of a potential customer, client, or information searcher in the midst of this cacophony of advertising messages? We can benefit from marketing concepts that have been successful for big businesses.