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How people read on websites

We read differently on the web.

Collection of sources on how people read on the web.  This should guide how we write for the web.  I collected from various sources and take not credit for the work.

Writing for the Web

  • Write clear, simple and effective content. The content of your site should be easy to read for everyone, preferably in a conversational style.
  • Front-load your text. Put the most important content on your page in the first paragraph, so that readers scanning your pages will not miss your main idea.
  • Chunk your content. Cover only one topic per paragraph.
  • Be concise. Write short paragraphs and minimize unnecessary words.
  • Write in active voice instead of passive voice. (Ex: ‘Tim taught the class’, instead of ‘the class was taught by Tim’.)
  • Choose lists over paragraphs. When possible, use lists rather than paragraphs to make your content easier to scan.
  • 300-700 words is a reasonable average length for any online content.
  • Make sure all main pages are easily scanable.
  • Keep your visitors’ interest by making your headlines and navigation items obvious and relevant.  Use appropriate text formatting, such as bolding and italics to draw the eye to important points.
  • Don’t hide your links to other content by changing the color or removing the underline, These cues help visitors quickly find what they are looking for.

Links

  • Write clear links. Don’t create links that use the phrase ‘click here.’ Write the sentence as you normally would and place the link anchor on the word or words that best describe the additional content you are linking to.
  • Between one and five words is the ideal length for an effective hypertext link.

People online:

  • Read 20% slower vs. print.
  • Are task focused rather than looking for an immersive experience.
  • Scan the page rather than read every word.

Goals should guide your content creation process

Goals focus your efforts and inform what you should create, keep or delete. Answer the following questions to guide this process. It’s best to answer all of these questions with the key stakeholders present.

  • What are the communication goals of this page?
  • Who is the audience?
  • What are the key calls to action?
  • What is the utilitarian function of this page?
  • Can this content be shorter or more skimmable?
  • Can you eliminate redundant content?
  • Is all the content relevant?

Heat maps tracking readers’ eye movements indicate where readers focus first; they focus mainly on the left side of the page, as well as on the first few sentences of each paragraph.  So what does this mean?

  • Put your most important content at the top of the page.
  • Use sub-headers throughout your text for improved scannability.
  • Make the first two words of your headers the most important

Sources

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-little-do-users-read/

http://www.nyu.edu/employees/resources-and-services/media-and-communications/styleguide/website/writing-for-the-web.html

http://readwrite.com/2012/03/16/best_practices_for_writing_for_online_readers.

http://chapterthree.com/blog/how-write-web