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How do we read online? It’s a good question for designers to ask when blogging or creating content for a website. Since a monitor is obviously not like the printed page, we need to be careful not to make assumptions based on former reading (and writing) habits and figure out how best to take advantage of the medium.

Over the summer, Michael Agger wrote a tidy little piece about the topic, paraphrasing the work of usability specialist Jakob Nielsen, who used eye-tracking studies and other experiments to determine how we read online.

Nielsen says that users are “selfish, lazy, and ruthless.” When they arrive at a page, they are not prepared to read it. They scan it for information and if they don’t see what they need, they leave.

To summarize his suggestions, writing online should address:

Scannability

Make it easy for users to get into the piece and get out if they need to.

• One idea per paragraph (users skip large blocks of text)
• Highlighted keywords (prevents skimming)
• Meaningful sub-headings
• Bulleted lists
• The inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
• Use half the word count of conventional writing

To this, I would add: Graphics are another good way to help users scan. Consider having at least one image to anchor every piece. I don’t have any data to back this up, but pages without pictures are extremely boring.

This image makes it easier to see what Nielsen is talking about.
Ironically, he is famous for having very few graphics on his site.

Credibility

Writing that contains hyperlinks carries greater authority. Users consider this when judging whether to stick with a site or move on to another.

Don’t use links in lieu of explanations. Do use them to verify claims.

Simplicity

“Promotional language imposes a cognitive burden on users who have to spend resources on filtering out the hyperbole to get at the facts.”

More simply: Readers prefer facts, not filtering through market-speak.

Conclusion

These lessons may seem obvious, but I don’t think anyone begins writing this way naturally, so it’s a helpful list to have. Content is king, but we can all stand to make our writing a little more usable.