Website pro tip from neuroscience: Dress for success.

Your website should be your most valuable sales rep. Regardless of the kind of marketing and sales engagement strategy you have, your prospect will eventually end up there.

So it’s important to get it right.

That’s why so much attention is made on creating a clear and compelling value proposition, having great testimonials, and outstanding content.

Dress for success.

But as important as great content is, neuroscience would say it may make little difference without great design too. So, don’t forget to dress for success.

Why is that? Everyone knows you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Yes, and all that glitters is not gold. And beauty is only skin deep, too.

Our culture is filled with plenty of warnings about making decisions based on appearances. They are, after all, only skin deep. Even the Bible makes the observation that “man looks only on the outward appearance.”

That wisdom may give you some comfort when it comes to your website design. It’s all about the content, after all.

But knowing that shouldn’t relax you one bit. In fact, it should do just the opposite. It should motivate you to reevaluate the effectiveness of your website design.

We’re wired for first impressions.

Here’s why. And here’s where neuroscience comes in.

The very reason for these cultural warnings is that our brains are preconditioned to do the very thing that those sayings warn us about. That may explain why there are so many variants of the same warning about making snap decisions.

We are literally wired to judge a book by its cover and to be drawn to the glitter–all within seconds (seven, in fact).

Consider these well researched examples:

People who dress for success are more likely to be considered successful. In fact, according to research by hiring experts, 71% of all companies reject an applicant if they aren’t dressed appropriately (source). And customers are 25% more likely to trust a well-dressed salesperson (source).
Taller people earn more than similarly skilled shorter people. An NIH study revealed, “a one-inch increase in height is associated on average with a 1.4 percent to 2.9 percent increase in weekly earnings, and a 1.0 percent to 2.3 percent increase in average hourly earnings.” (source)
Those of us with larger, rounder eyes are more often perceived as more trustworthy and approachable. This may be because large eyes are associated with youthfulness and innocence, leading to positive associations.
Even color evokes different emotions and influences decision making. Warm colors create a sense of urgency and promote faster decisions. Cooler colors induce calm and reflectiveness.

The reason we’re inclined to make these quick associations (what neuroscientists call heuristics) is to conserve energy. While our brains account for roughly 3% of our body weight, it consumes 20-25% of our daily energy supply. And so, our brains have become highly efficient in detecting visual cues and making inferences from them.

If we had to deliberate on every piece of information our brains received, we’d literally burn ourselves out. That’s why we create these shortcuts, as much as we may be warned not to place too much value in them. As the renowned neuroscientist Gregory Berns so eloquently put it, our brains are a “lazy piece of meat.” And for good reason, it’s necessary for our survival.

You’ve got one chance to make a first impression.

The upshot of all this is that, while you may be spending time to make sure you have great content on your website, your prospects may not read it if the proverbial book cover is unattractive. The design of your website matters more than you might think.

Think about some of the ugly websites you may have visited recently. What impressions did they leave you about the company?

Likely, not favorable ones. One of the first impressions you may have had about them is that they were small and outdated. And that’s because you naturally associate a well-designed website with those of larger companies that already listen to neuroscience.

Of course, you might argue that the Berkshire Hathaway website doesn’t do this and yet they are among the top 10 companies in the world. Yep. That’s true. And everyone who visits their website–that they care about–already knows about them. They have a well formed impression about the company from their vast reputation in the market. There’s a reason Warren Buffet is also among the top 10 wealthiest people in the world.

But those features are not true for 99.99% of other companies, including yours.

Can I trust you?

When people visit your website, it may literally be the first time they form an impression of your company. And one of the first questions our brain tries to answer in those formative few seconds is, Can I trust you?

Trust is essential to forming a relationship and especially so for companies offering high value, complex products and services. Unfortunately, good design is clearly lacking in many of the websites of these same companies.

That’s a missed opportunity to make a powerful first impression.

A well-designed website does three things:

Creates visual priority for your most important messages. Remember, our brains process visual data extremely fast. A well-designed website will draw visual attention to your most important messages.

Speeds the user to take action. A clean website design (and navigation) makes it easy for a prospect to not only know what you do, but how to engage with you. Quickly. Just as would expect from your best salesperson.

Communicates the character and promise of the company. In the age of quick websites and templates, this is one of the most overlooked benefits of a well-designed website. In the way that a person’s clothing choices reflect their character, your website design reflects the character of your company.

As Will Rogers once said (or possibly Oscar Wilde), “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” And with your website, it may be the only impression you get to make.

Now that you know what neuroscience says, shouldn’t you think about dressing up your best sales rep?