How users read The Web

Well, I have to tell you that recently I happened to bump into an interesting piece written by Jacob Nielsen about how users read on the web. And I will present you a summary of what he is saying.

They actually DON'T !

People don't read the web pages word by word, but they scan the page, looking after keywords that will make them understand quickly whether that page is worth their time or not. People rarely have the time to deeply search for the information they want.

Jacob Nielsen has done a research on how people read and how they expect to find information. He found that 79% of the subjects always scanned any new page they came across, while only 16% read word-by-word.

In order for a text to be scannable, it has to use :

• highlighted keywords - like the one you are reading now
  
• meaningful sub-headings - with information instead of word games
  
• bulleted lists
• one idea per paragraph
  
• the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing

Another feature that is important, according to this study, is credibility, as it is not always clear who is stating the information on the web page. Credibility can be increased by high-quality graphics, good writing, and use of outbound hypertext links. Links to other sites show that the authors have done their homework and are not afraid to let readers visit other sites.

Users detested "marketese" - that style of writing where everything is glamorous, the hottest, the best, your only chance, very much used throughout the web today.

So, your keywors are : CONCISE, SCANABLE and OBJECTIVE.