Studies done by Jakob Nielson
man touted as the, “King of usability” by Internet Magazine showed that people do not read on web like they would normally read offline.So what does this mean to you and why should you care?
Visitors to your web sites are in a rush, they want information you promised and they want it NOW.
If they don’t get information they want they will leave and this means you lose sale, opt-in or whatever action you want visitor to take while at your site.
The following 3 tips will help you give your visitors what they want and in a way that will increase your web sites usability.
1. Concise Text
By keeping your paragraphs down to one single idea you can help speed up how your visitor absorbs your information.
For example, instead of:
“In today’s market place many people tend to become overwhelmed with over hyped and highly charged writing that most web sites employ to gain visitors business. This causes people to be turned off by sites language and ultimately they will click back button on their browser and leave.”
Why not say,
“Today more than ever people are turned off by over hyped marketing language of websites they visit and because of this frustration they will end up leaving your site.”
See how that short, to point paragraph says same thing but quicker?
Go through your home page first and take out long, multiple thought paragraphs and edit them down to be precise. One idea per paragraph once you finish your thought (in 3-4 lines) start another paragraph.
2. Scannable Text
Web site users do not read online text. They scan it.
Use short bold text, for example in form of a hyperlink, to make important information stick out from page.
Bullet lists are an invaluable tool as well. Put your important sets of words in bullets. For example instead of,
“You will learn how to create your own web site, design pages that load faster, pick right color scheme, and improve your sites navigation.”
Use this,
“You will learn:
How to create your own web site
Design pages that load faster
