A poorly designed web site undermines your credibility. The research is clear.

Three studies were conducted to ascertain how quickly people form an opinion about web page visual appeal. In the first study, participants twice rated the visual appeal of web homepages presented for 500 ms each. The second study replicated the first, but participants also rated each web page on seven specific design dimensions. Visual appeal was found to be closely related to most of these. Study 3 again replicated the 500 ms condition as well as adding a 50 ms condition using the same stimuli to determine whether the first impression may be interpreted as a ‘mere exposure effect’ (Zajonc 1980). Throughout, visual appeal ratings were highly correlated from one phase to the next as were the correlations between the 50 ms and 500 ms conditions. Thus, visual appeal can be assessed within 50 ms, suggesting that web designers have about 50 ms to make a good first impression.

50 milliseconds. That’s it. You literally have an instant to make a good first impression. But how do you make a good first impression?

The Standford University Web Credibility Project spent three years and interviewed 4,500 people to find out. The project offers a Top 10 List of design factors that influence credibility.

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).
7. Make your site easy to use — and useful.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.

Only two — items 6 and 7 — are specifically related to visual design. But we know these two factors have an outsized influence because users tend to base their initial impressions on what they see. Fifty milliseconds is not nearly enough time to read. Quite simply, bad design (like bad photos) makes you look bad. You’re better off with nothing.