Managing perceptions when blogging

... and now for something completely different.

One of the most fundamental of all marketing principles relates to perception. When a guy sees a pretty girl it is all perception – “she must be great, because she looks great”. Overheard whispers in the pews behind me during a church service, suggest that either the minister is going beyond the call of duty or my new electric shaver is making up for the disuse of aftershave. Actually, I just think gals also form first impressions of other good looking guys.

After the initial phase of seeing and meeting, perceptions give way to deeper issues, where they either confirm initial perceptions or fulfill the worst of fears. It’s like letting donkey speak in Shrek, where he should know that its better to be deemed a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

Well, much as that sounds like worldly advice, the fact is that perceptions equate to reality for most people. As flowers smell nice or look beautiful to attract birds and bees, so God made all living creatures vulnerable to perception – Lions do it, Octopi do it, seals do it and people do it. Paul confirms in Romans 8:20 (KJV) that “God made us subject to vanity.”

You know that first impressions are lasting impressions. As your window on the world, your web identity also creates perceptions. Although we may need to engage further to discover what you stand for, fact remains that it’s the initial experience and perceptions around that, which induce us to inquire further. I was similarly taught, in Toastmasters, to get and hold audience attention with a strong opening.

A site must be true to its themes, because initial perceptions will affect different people in different ways. It must tell me, almost within the first 5 seconds, “What is this site about, does it suit my needs and am I interested in reading further?” That means your header must be unambiguous, clear, bold and appealing.

In the next 10, breathless seconds before the golden-moment passes, it must say as much to confirm your stance as can be said in 10 breathless seconds, which means that your initial communication is generally symbolic. It is true in human relationships too. If someone shambles instead of walks, wears ill-fitting clothes and has unkempt hair – you will assume the worst, without one shot of real communication being fired. That is why you must take responsibility for the image and presentability of your site.

Once they have come through the door, connect quickly. People tend to browse and move on fairly quickly, so like a good Indian salesman in Delhi, make eye contact before they go next door and buy from your sister's brother half uncle. That means your goodies, the richness of your offering, must load quickly, present well and be easy to navigate.

Finally we get to the soul of your blog – the content. That is where you will confirm all that went before. If you portray yourself positively don’t throw it away with badly edited content, long posts, ill-formed ideas, complex logic, or any deviations from the objectives of your site. Your content is what will bring them back again and again - if it fulfills their needs.

So … what first impressions put you off a site?
And … what first impressions have drawn you to sites?
Also … are you initially drawn to style or content?
What can you tell about a site long before reading any content?
What gets you to look under the hood and find out what is really going on in a site?
If a site can suffer from limited impact, how can an overdressed site also lose audiences?
What do you expect to find or experience when you first enter a new site?

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net
Image source: http://informedvoters.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/blogging.gif