Your Website Should Save Visitor’s Time

I’m setting up Skype. Skype lets you make free calls over the Internet. It’s free to download and you can add on voicemail for a weenie fee.

I went to download the software and they immediately provided installation instructions for my browser, Firefox. I checked the same link through IE (Internet Explorer browser) and was shown different directions specifically for IE. Pretty slick.

Skype recognized what browser I was using and displayed the directions accordingly. Most websites ask you first what platform you’re running and then give you the options to select.

Don’t Waste My Time

Skype utilizes a simple redirect for each user which saves us, the visitor, time. Though it may only be a few seconds of time saved, these seconds are critical on the internet.

Read “Don’t Make Me Think“, by Steve Krug and you’ll understand.

“…when I look at a Web page it should be self-evident. Obvious. Self-explanatory. I should be able to ‘get it’ – what it is and how to use it – without expending any effort thinking about it.” – Steve Krug

Your website has only a few seconds to attract and capture the visitor. (A new study says it’s even less than a second). Precious seconds trying to figure out your website will only aggravate your visitor into leaving your website possibly forever.

Don’t waste people’s time. It’s our most precious commodity.

P.S. I’ll let you know in future posts about my time with Skype.