Web Writing, Continued
I could squeeze out about ten blog posts for you today, but sadly my copywriting duties include more than just blogging. :)
That said, I wanted to do a short follow up to the web writing post from a few weeks back, especially after reading this bit from Jakob Nielson. 
In a new eyetracking study, it was found that most web users scan pages in a F-shaped manner, horizontally reading the upper most part of the content, then moving down a couple paragraphs and to read a second (shorter) horizontal passage. Finally, the user reads the left side of the page in a vertical movement.
Wow, Megan. Big hairy deal, you say.
Back up the gravy train friends, because it is a big hairy deal.
Why? Well, if you're putting content on your web site to attract insurance shoppers (which, ahem, you should be), you'll want to know how people are viewing your page. And because the implications of the Nielson's new eyetracking study point to the following:
- most visitors won't read your content word for word, especially when they're doing a quick comparison between you and your competitor
- your most pertinent information needs to come across in the first two paragraphs to keep the visitor on the page
- subheadings, increased line spacing and bullet points will draw the readers eye to the left-hand side of the page to complement the "F" reading behavior
Of course, not all visitors will read your content in this manner, but the study further emphasizes the importance of concise writing, bulleted lists and the use of white space to highlight your most important points and keep your visitors from becoming overwhelmed by text.
Check out the study here and other web writing tips from Jakob Nielson here.
Comments
There's been a big debate about this eye tracking & Jakob Nielsen stuff in the web design community.
It appears that the site designs have a lot more influence on the heat map than Neilsen would ever let on. I mean, look at the screenshot attached to this post... the heat map completely follows the placement of elements on the page.
Jakob Neilsen is a mixed bag for me. The guy's definitely done a lot to bring usability and user issues into the mainstream discussion, but recently it seems like all he wants to do is toot his own horn to the detriment of people doing design work in the field. He just seems to be trying desperately to maintain relevance in an industry that's finding other ways to be user-centered than the traditional user test that he advocates.
Posted by: jb. | April 21, 2006 11:05 PM
Touché, JB. Thanks for presenting your argument and challenging my post.
I think you're right on as far as Nielsen himself goes (and you make a great point about the "F" eyetracking) but the bigger picture for insurance agents is this:
If agents are going to write content for their sitesâ€â€which they shouldâ€â€it needs to be written in a way which will engage readers and keep them on the page. What Nielsen says about using white space, writing concisely (and in shorter paragraphs) and using tools like bulleted lists are great tips for agents who don't know a lot about web design or writing for the web.
In that sense, I think these things that might be obvious to you and I, might not be so obvious to insurance professionals that don't spend their time writing and designing web sites for a living.
Respectfully,
Megan :)
Posted by: Megan Mahan | April 21, 2006 11:32 PM
I definitely agree with you there. Gotta grab the visitor in the first paragraph and then make the text really easily scannable. Nielsen makes some great points about writing for the web, he just takes things too far now and then.
Posted by: jb. | April 23, 2006 05:21 AM