No matter how much time and effort you put into a piece of writing, users sum up a web page in a matter of seconds. Understanding how your readers actually read online content will give you a serious advantage when crafting your articles and blog posts. The Nielsen Norman Group did a research study in 2006 that uncovered how readers scan a page online. What they found is now known as the F-Pattern. Using cameras and infrared emitters hidden in a seemingly ordinary computer, the Neilson Norman Group conducted eye tracking on 232 users. Though the types of content ranged from search engine results pages to product reviews, the way users read stayed the same for the most part.
The name F-Pattern comes from the eye tracking heat maps that showed 3 core components of user reading behavior which roughly form the shape of an F.
· First users will typically read horizontally across the top of the page from left to right. (One reason why headlines matter so much.)
· The eye will then move down the page a little bit, again moving horizontally from left to right.
· As the reader moves down the page their eye path stays to the left in a more vertical line just skimming the first bit of the lines.
- Searchability:
o Place top keywords within the heading and follow up with including the keywords in the first paragraph of the article.If possible, make keywords standout more by bolding them or using different fonts.
o Put yourself in a searcher’s toe. Imagine, if you were on Google – what search terms would get your content up. Secondly, think what keywords would bring in more traffic – the headline “ Top five things to do in Shoreditch would certainly be ditched by Google and would be very difficult to find in Google unless someone knew the headline beforehand
“Things to do in Shoreditch” - TNT doesn’t appear in first page. The same page has more chances to be found if London is added in the headline “Things to do in London’s Shoreditch” – The second headline is more informative and does not let the user strain his mind over the location of Shoreditch or whether Shoreditch is a kind of a ditch where one can do some things (assuming web users like being stupid) . It also has more chances to appear when a user searched for London, who would form a wider population than those who search for Shoreditch only.
* Headings: Headings are the most important elements of a web copy. Make it extremely clear what you are going to talk about. It's fun to be clever and cute, but a print heading can backfire. Search engine spiders aren't attuned to puns, clichés, or out of the ordinary slang terms. Web users don’t like a very long headline.
See the BBC list of headlines for "other top stories" read as follows:
· Italy buries first quake victims
· Romania blamed over Moldova riots
· Ten arrested in UK anti-terrorism raids
· Villagers hurt in West Bank clash
· Mass Thai protest over leadership
· Iran accuses journalist of spying
The average headline consumed 5 words and 34 characters. The amount of meaning and keywords they squeezed into this brief space is incredible. However, this is not always easy to achieve. In terms of Searchability and clickability of Online content – the headline “The best of London’s cinemas“ is short of keywords and leaves the user guessing on what aspect of cinema the content is about. “A guide to London’s ten best cinema locations ” might convey a better and fuller message.
· Paragraphs: Be short and sweet. Don't cram as many ideas as possible into one paragraph; rather, use that paragraph to focus on only one idea. Do not intrigue the readers with marketing lingo. Don't inflate your writing with a lot of hot air; keep it down to earth. Put conclusions at the beginning.
o Think of an inverted pyramid when writing. Get to the point in the first paragraph, then expand upon it. Write only one idea per paragraph Web pages need to be concise and to-the-point.
o Try to limit a paragraph to five sentences. Use lists more often.
o Use only the words you need to get the essential information across.
o Include internal sub-headings Sub-headings make the text more scannable. The readers will move to the section of the document that is most useful for them, and internal cues make it easier for them to do this. Make the internal and external links part of the copy, Links are another way Web readers scan pages. They stand out from normal text, and provide more cues as to what the page is about.
- Credibility: Web suffers from big credibility issues as almost anyone can write on almost anything. Build credibility by citing external sources and linking to them as well as to one’s own content. As it increases, the chances of users to return to the site increase.
