Depending on what type of website you have, and what type of content you serve, your average visit length is likely between 30 seconds and 5 minutes.* That’s an awfully short time to focus someone’s attention. Most websites have dozens of pieces of visible content on each page, and often over a hundred links. It’s no wonder companies like Google focus so much on usability (sometimes even to a fault). When you limited time to convert a customer with a very short attention span (hello, internet!), you have to focus your user.
*Some web forums and sites with heavy engagement may have a longer length of visit. Also, if you’re Facebook, disregard everything I say here. The average length of visit for Facebook is measured in hours, not minutes.

Every user that visits your site, whether through search engine, grassroots marketing or an advertisement, is a potential customer. They came to your site for a reason that was (hopefully) somehow related to your core of business. If they leave your site without even knowing what you are offering, you’ve failed. Once you know what it is you want from your user (and just as importantly, what your user wants from you), it’s a matter of carefully crafting the message. Since not all customers are the same, you probably want to offer a different message to certain visitors rather than others (that’s part of what we’re developing). No matter how you do it, though, take advantage of your users’ attention while you have it.

There are a number of tactful ways to do this. For instance, on Neil Patel’s blog, he draws attention to QuickSprout Pro, a service that he’s selling. Or take a look at the Google.com fade in that they’re testing – which emphasizes Google’s focal point even more while calling attention to its other services with an unobtrusive fade. Alternatively, look at an article on The Seattle Times. Where are they trying to drive you? In what way are they trying to convert you into a customer? Even though it’s an ad revenue-based business, they’re wasting an invaluable resource: their user’s attention, and getting nothing out of it. Are you?

When a user visits your website, there is a very limited time to convert that user into an customer (email subscriber, sale, whatever a customer means to you). Even if you can convert just 1% of those lost visitors, that’s often enough to make a significant difference. You owe it to yourself, and to your business, to do whatever you can to take advantage of your users’ attention. Before they’re gone.