They don’t; so make webpages scannable
Here’s the title of one of usability expert Jakob Nielsen’s earliest articles on writing for the web:
How Users Read on the Web
The first paragraph:
They don’t.
“People read paper,” says TJ Larkin, principal of Larkin Communications Consulting. “They use the web.”
In fact, people read word-by-word online just 16% of the time, according to eye-tracking studies by Dejan Marketing. That’s the same percentage Nielsen came up with in his eye-tracking research.
How much do they read?
Your web visitors read about 20% of the words on the page, according to a Nielsen Norman Group analysis of 50,000 page views that European computer scientists, psychologists, sociologists, engineers and other highly educated professionals completed while going about their daily lives.
So which words do they read? The microcontent, or online display copy.
What they don’t read: The paragraphs.
Are you putting your messages where web visitors’ eyes are?
How can you reach readers where their eyes are?
Web visitors spend 57% above the fold, or on the first screen of a web page, according to the Nielsen Norman Group. They spend 74% on the first two screens.
Find out how to reach visitors where their eyes are at Reach Readers Online — our web-writing workshop starting Oct. 23.
There, you’ll learn how to stop dropping the best-read element on your web page … how to avoid getting your headline cut off on smartphones … how to get found with Ann’s simple tricks and tools for SEO … and how to overcome the obstacles to reading on the screen to get the word out on mobile devices.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.
