You took the leap. You set up a website to display your important message. Congratulations! As in life, first impressions are important on the web. Web researchers found that you have about 2 minutes to make that first impression a good one. Visitors will judge your site in those few seconds on its professionalism and appropriateness to what they are looking for. In fact, a website can lose about one-third of its potential customers due to poor design, according to a recent user study conducted by Jakob Nielson, Ph.D., a principal of the Fremont Calif.- based Nielson Norman Group. 

Take a long hard look at your site. Or ask a friend to give you a brutally honest review of your site. Does it pass the test of professionalism? Are the graphics of good quality and clear? Is the formatting, font size and font colors consistent throughout the site? Or does your site commit design mistakes that speak AMATEUR as soon as it loads? 

There are some common mistakes website owners make that may cause visitors to leave early. Correct these top 5 mistakes to make sure your visitors stay long enough to read your important message:

Mistake 1 

They use large, squeezed or out of proportion graphics. 

Beginning website owners mistakenly post large graphics that seem like a good idea but usually will bloat the website. Large graphics will slow your page load and turn away impatient web surfers before they have a chance to read your message. Even so, do use them for graphics and photos help illustrate your communication and sell online. 

Solution: Use optimized, web-ready photos and graphics. Web Wit Tip: If a larger image is needed to help illustrate your message, add a link that says, "Click here to see larger image." That way large images that slow your page load will only be displayed by people who really need to see a larger image. 

Mistake 2 

They use distracting elements that blink, bounce, scroll or turn circles. 

Most novice websters are sure this will get the attention 
of their visitors. It's true visitors may enjoy the cutesy 
elements or flash presentations. But they may never focus 
on your important message as well. Unless the flash 
empowers your presentation, use the adage "Less is More." 

Solution: Limit or eliminate any distracting elements from your website. 

Mistake 3 

They use too many different formatting styles 

Unless your formatting is consistent throughout your site, it will spell UNPROFESSIONAL to its visitors and may cause them to leave early. Inexperienced site owners change formatting with too many different size, colors and styles of fonts throughout the site. They create text blocks that are out of alignment. 

Solution: Use a consistent style and size of text 
throughout website. CSS style sheets are helpful. Learn basic HTML and explore CSS style sheets; it will improve your command of webbing for profit.