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USERS DON'T READ BUT SCAN ITEMS ON WEBSITES. 

And they scan following an F-shape pattern: left to right across a page, then another but shorter left to right scan a few lines down, and then a vertical sweep down to the lower part of the page.

What does this mean for my website? It means a different kind of writing, and a different way of formatting text.

Which means I have to:
  • write "scannable" text
  • highlight keywords
  • use subheadings
  • use bulleted lists (like this)
  • have only one idea per paragraph
  • use the inverted triangle news format
  • cut by half the words used
It helps too if I follow the rest of Jakob Neilsen's advice (from his website, where I got these practical ideas):
  • use an objective tone
  • avoid "marketese" or promotional language
Hmmm. Useful advice indeed. Let's see how users ('cause they definitely aren't "readers") will scan this post.
 


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