Part 4: How do users read on the Web

Posted by Craig Cochrane on 15 November 2011 | 1 Comments

Tags: Web site users, reading, eye tracking, writing for the web

When it comes to understanding how users read on the Web, the simple answer is:

They don't.

People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. Internationally acclaimed expert on Web Usability Jakob Nielson conducted extensive research on how users read web content. His studies found that 79 percent of test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.
With this important discovery in mind, it would be logical to conclude that Web pages have to employ scannable text.
Scannable text consists of the following attributes:

• highlighted keywords: hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; others include  using typeface variations like Bold  or underlining, and a change of colour
• meaningful sub-headings : these should be relevant to the information contained on the page, and designed to help people find what they are looking for quickly – using "clever" subheadings achieves nothing when it comes to enhancing scannability)
• bulleted lists: like this one here assists with rapid absorption of key information
• one idea per paragraph: users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph. This also helps greatly in segmenting page content into key groupings for linking to other pages on the site.
• the inverted pyramid: this is a paragraph style, starting with the conclusion and following with the most important information, followed by supporting or background information. Journalists have used this method for decades to convey the most information as early as possible in an article. Those who are truly interested will read on or follow links to get the details.
• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing. When it comes to the content on the page, less is more. As with the inverted pyramid paragraph, keep things concise with the most relevant information presented in a shorter section of text. Remember: those who want more information are happy to link elsewhere on the site to find it.

Combining all these points to achieve good scannability will make your webpages more effective at conveying information to users. The next topic covered in this series goes into more detail on what people are looking for when they use the web, but for now it is enough to know that Scanning text is an extremely common behaviour for experienced web users.
According to Jakob Nielson, the dominant reading pattern for web users looks somewhat like an F and has the following three components:

• Users first read in a horizontal movement, usually across the upper part of the content area.
• Next, users eyes move down the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement that typically covers a shorter area than the previous movement.
• Finally, users scan the content's left side in a vertical movement.

If you apply the F scan idea, then the highlighted text will catch the eye as it scans, and the information in headings, followed by the first line or two of text is more likely to be read. After that, it is the left hand menu bar or a list of bullet points that is likely to get the attention. Nielson concludes that users typically see about 2 words for most list items; they'll see a little more if the lead words are short, and only the first word if they're long.
To read more on this subject, here is a link to Nielson’s eyetracking studies data.  
If you wish to learn more about creating more scannable content on your website using key words relevant to your business, send me an email or give me a call.
Craig Cochrane
Web Tonic