B2B buyers aren’t reading your homepage carefully. They’re making rapid-fire judgments based on pattern recognition, past experiences, and subconscious signals. In the first 10 seconds, they’re asking themselves a series of questions—most of which they’re not even aware of.

Understanding what buyers look for in those critical first seconds is the difference between engagement and bounce.

Question 1: “Is This Relevant to Me?”

This is the first and most important filter. If buyers can’t immediately determine whether your product is for someone like them, they leave.

What they’re scanning for:

  • Job title or role mentions (“for engineering teams,” “built for finance leaders”)
  • Industry markers (healthcare, fintech, e-commerce)
  • Company size indicators (enterprise, SMB, startups)
  • Problem statements that resonate with their daily reality

Red flag phrases that kill relevance:

  • “For businesses of all sizes”
  • “Everyone can benefit from…”
  • “Suitable for any industry”

These signal you don’t actually know who you serve.

The fix: Be exclusionary. When you say “for mid-market B2B SaaS companies,” you’re telling enterprises and B2C companies to leave. That’s good. Specificity feels more relevant to your actual target.

Question 2: “Do I Trust This Company?”

Trust assessments happen instantly and largely subconsciously. Buyers are looking for visual and contextual cues that signal legitimacy.

Trust signals they scan for:

  • Recognizable customer logos
  • Professional design quality
  • Current copyright date in footer
  • Secure connection (HTTPS)
  • Real company contact information
  • Team photos or About page

Trust killers:

  • Stock photography (especially the classic handshake photo)
  • Typos or grammatical errors
  • Broken images or links
  • Generic template design
  • No clear company location
  • Only a contact form, no real info

You have maybe 5 seconds before they make a trust judgment. Professional execution matters.

Question 3: “What Problem Does This Solve?”

Buyers need to understand your core value proposition immediately. Not your vision. Not your technology. What problem do you solve for whom?

They’re looking for:

  • Clear headline that states the outcome
  • Pain point they recognize from their own experience
  • Specific use case that matches their world

They’re not looking for:

  • Your company’s mission and values
  • The story of how you were founded
  • Detailed feature specifications
  • Technology stack descriptions

Save those for later in the journey. First 10 seconds = problem clarity.

Question 4: “Is This Professional/Serious Enough?”

Enterprise buyers especially have a sophistication threshold. If your site looks like a consumer app or a hobby project, they’ll assume you can’t handle enterprise needs.

Markers of enterprise readiness:

  • Security and compliance badges
  • Enterprise-tier pricing or custom plans
  • Integration ecosystem
  • Dedicated support options
  • Professional case studies
  • Technical documentation depth

Red flags:

  • Only showing consumer-grade pricing ($9/month plans)
  • Casual or overly playful tone
  • Lack of business-focused content
  • No mention of enterprise features
  • Missing security/compliance info

Match your presentation to your target buyer’s expectations.

Question 5: “What’s the Catch?”

B2B buyers are professionally skeptical. They’re looking for warning signs that indicate:

  • Hidden costs or complexity
  • Vendor lock-in
  • Implementation nightmares
  • Security risks
  • Stability concerns

They’re scanning for:

  • Transparent pricing information
  • Clear implementation timeline
  • Migration/exit strategy
  • Track record and customer base
  • Funding or company stability signals

Proactively address concerns:

  • “No long-term contracts required”
  • “Export your data anytime”
  • “2-week implementation with dedicated support”
  • “SOC 2 certified, enterprise-grade security”

Don’t make them ask. If it’s a common objection, address it upfront.

Question 6: “What Do I Do Next?”

After determining relevance and basic trust, buyers need a clear next step. Ambiguity at this stage kills momentum.

They’re looking for:

  • Obvious primary CTA
  • Clear indication of what happens when they click
  • Appropriate next step for their stage (not too high commitment)

Conversion killers:

  • Multiple competing CTAs with no hierarchy
  • Vague CTAs (“Learn More,” “Get Started”)
  • Unclear process or timeline
  • High-friction first step (30-field forms)

Make the path forward obvious and low-risk.

The Subconscious Pattern Matching

Beyond these explicit questions, buyers are also doing subconscious pattern matching:

“Does this look like other tools I trust?”

  • If you’re selling to developers, does it feel like developer tools they use?
  • If you’re selling to enterprises, does it look enterprise-grade?
  • If you’re selling to startups, does it feel modern and agile?

“Does this feel current or outdated?”

  • Design trends matter (unfortunately)
  • Copyright dates matter
  • Blog post recency matters
  • Product screenshot modernity matters

“Does this feel substantial or superficial?”

  • Depth of content accessible
  • Quality of writing
  • Thoughtfulness of explanations
  • Evidence of real experience

These are gut-level judgments, but they’re based on real patterns buyers have learned to recognize.

The 10-Second Test

Pull up your homepage. Set a timer for 10 seconds. In that time, could a cold visitor answer:

  1. Is this relevant to me?
  2. Do I trust this company?
  3. What problem does this solve?
  4. Is this professional enough for my needs?
  5. What’s the catch?
  6. What should I do next?

If any answer is unclear, you’re losing qualified buyers.

Why This Matters

These first 10 seconds aren’t fair. Buyers should give you more time. They should read carefully. They should give you the benefit of the doubt.

But they don’t. Because they don’t have to. There are dozens of alternatives available, and their time is limited.

Your job is to pass their rapid-fire evaluation and earn the right to make your full case.

Want to know what your homepage actually communicates in those critical first 10 seconds? Get an expert audit that evaluates your site from a B2B buyer’s perspective. Learn more at hmpgr.com.