You Might Not Get a Second Chance to Make a Last Impression

We’ve all heard that making a first impression is very important, but what about making a last impression?

Research shows that people remember both first impressions and last impressions and mostly ignore the “middle”. Think about it. When you walk by a new store and you have a positive first impression, it will undoubtedly affect whether or not you decide to walk inside the store and look around. A lot of businesses focus a lot of their attention on making a good first impression.

So let’s say you’re in the store and you like what you see, the store made a very good first impression on you, and you decide to make a purchase. Now you’re ready to check-out and leave the store. So you make your way to the check-out registers and let’s say that you have a horrible experience.

The cashier is a slow, rude, inconsiderate teenager that hates their job and looks completely miserable. They cram everything you bought into one bag which is clearly going to break on your way to the car, ring you through, throw the receipt in the bag and then yell to the manager that’s walking by “Is it my break yet?” just as you were attempting to say “Bye.”

What good is a great first impression if the last impression was a disaster!? Think about it. How many businesses do you no longer frequent because your LAST impression was horrible? Probably a lot more than due to a bad first impression.

Now, when it comes to websites and Blogs, a user’s last impression is just as important. A lot of us focus our efforts on the first impressions – creating a fancy logo, having a nice site design, and basically taking care of everything “above the fold”. But what about your footer?

What is the last thing your typical user sees prior to leaving your site? What will their very last impression be?

I have to admit that I’ve definitely paid a lot more attention to the top of my site than the footer, but that’s going to change very soon. I want to clean some things up on the bottom of my site to make it a bit more streamlined and to leave a more positive last impression. I’ve done some things right, but I also see a lot of things I could improve.

Have you looked at your sites lately? Are they leaving a good last impression? Or have you been so focused on first impressions that you forgot about last impression?

Share

Save