Have you been wowed lately? More to the point: when was the last time you wowed your clients? No, WOW is not a new tech acronym. It’s the good old-fashioned process of impressing someone and eliciting an enthusiastic response.

The “wow factor” has been a staple of the marketing industry for years, usually paired with the adage that “you never a get a second chance to make a first impression.” It may seem old hat, but study after study confirms that people form first impressions in only a few seconds or less – some indicating that visual impressions are made within a fraction of a second. In a culture driven by instant access and visual overload, every business needs to ask if its print and web graphics have what it takes to attract and hold attention from the get-go.

Strong design is essential. It may take a few minutes to mentally assimilate all the visual elements, but that first-glance aesthetic opinion is the key to keeping customers’ eyes roving your webpage, brochure or sales sheet until their conscious mind catches up to the retinal “hit”. This concept is far from new, and is used daily by graphic designers. Yet bioengineers and neuroscientists are spending a good deal of time on scientific studies of how the human brain responds to visual stimuli and forms an opinion about it. Their studies confirm what marketers and art directors have known all along: first impressions are not easily reversed. It takes a lot more to un-do a negative reaction than reinforce a positive one from the outset. Instantaneous first impressions can be misleading, of course, but for better or worse they color all of our perceptions that follow. Once a positive or negative association is made, it’s indelibly linked to the experience. We can override it intellectually but the initial “spark” is already set. Moreover, it is set visually. Numerous studies have shown that visual information plays a huge role in how we perceive people, places, events, and even concepts. Before we’re aware of it, our brain is processing visual cues that shape our conscious perceptions. What this means for your website, graphic design, and even your professional image is that visual appeal has a huge impact on how you are perceived. Obviously there’s more to truly “wowing” your audience than first impressions. Novelty may get your foot in the door, but it wears off rather quickly. The “wow factor” has deeper implications, especially for web design and content. According to a joint study by scientists at the University of California Irvine and Universtiy of Southern California, the element of surprise or novelty affects our interest level.

In her article in New Scientist magazine, “Model of Surprise Has ‘Wow’ Factor Built In,” Linda Geddes writes that the scientists conducting the study have pointed out that their findings could have “wide-ranging applications. For example, it could be used to rank Web sites for interest, as those providing more original content would stand out, while spammers, copycats and aggregator sites may be classified as boring.”

Again, this confirms what web designers and others already know: original content and outstanding presentation work together to make a website engaging and useful. Many Web sites have good colors, bold images, and eye-catching design, but usability is a huge factor for Web users: getting their attention counts, but keeping them there is what makes a Web site lucrative. In the industry, a good site may be described as “sticky,” meaning it makes people “stick” around, come back, mark it as a favorite (bookmarking) or even better: share it with other people. Whether or not you sell anything online, if you’ve invested in a Web site then getting a financial return requires that people see it, use it, refer to it, talk about it and return to it. From a marketing perspective, there’s nothing better than the seduction of a good campaign. From a consumer perspective, particularly online, there’s nothing better than an eye-catching, easy to navigate Web site that gives you the information or product you need in an enjoyable, aesthetically pleasing, hasslefree transaction.

Ideally, you want a Web site that grabs the user’s attention and piques their curiosity – if you can leave them awestruck, so much the better. At that point human nature takes over and your customers will want to investigate further, discovering what else the Web site has in store. Whether you’re trying to attract focused customers or appeal to random curiosity seekers, the goal is to give viewers a subconscious “rush” they’ll want to sustain by exploring the Web site. Unfortunately there’s no magic formula, since everybody responds according to individual experience, associations, attitudes, etc. Yet a little bit of research combined with your own knowledge of your field will indicate what’s expected or unexpected, and good taste will determine how far afield your Web site design can go to grab attention.

What you can count on is that if your content is boring, uninformative, difficult to navigate, slow to load, filled with error messages and broken links, cluttered with confusing advertisements and other visual or functional annoyances, Web users will quickly navigate away from your Web site to another one - probably one of your competitors. Clear typography, relevant and tasteful headers, appealing color combinations, good image quality and overall coherence (aesthetic as well as functional) are all ways to make sure that a positive first impression carries through to the final sale and, ideally, return Web site visits.

The bottom line is that advertising and marketing materials, whether print or online, require conscientious planning, targeted placement, and good design. While estimates range from 1/20th of a second to the classic “7 second rule”, first impressions are hard to shake. A good one will get you to the pitch, and a lasting “wow” will get you the sell. In order to get the most out of your Web site investment, make sure you hire a designer that understands the full impact of the “Wow Factor” and how to work it into every level of your Web site, from that instantaneous first impression to a loyal customer who returns again and again.