Writing for the Web

To attract online readers, focus on text, not graphics

by Ann Wylie, president, Wylie Communications Inc.

The answer is: text.

The question: Where do readers' eyes go first after firing up a screenful of online news?

That insight might be discombobulating to people with a background in print, where it's often the graphics that grab readers' attention and pull them into the text. This is just one example of how online communications differ from the printed word.

This counterintuitive information comes from the "Stanford Poynter Project: Eye Movement on the Internet," an ongoing study by Stanford University and The Poynter Institute.

The Stanford-Poynter team used eye-tracking equipment to record where participants' eyes stopped to absorb information while they were viewing news sites. Nearly 608,065 eye fixations and 24,530 mouse clicks later, the initial findings are in.

Where did their eyes go?

Participants' eyes fixated on:

• Briefs or captions first. Study participants looked at briefs 82 percent of the time and articles 92 percent of the time. Then readers looked at photos and graphics — but sometimes not until they'd returned to the first page after clicking to view the whole article.

• Banner ads only 45 percent of the time, and then for an average of only about a second each. That's not long enough to perceive the ad.

• Graphics other than banner ads only 22 percent of the time, and then also for only about a second — not long enough for perception.

• Photos 64 percent of the time, for an average of 1.25 seconds.

The bottom line, according to the Stanford-Poynter researchers: Your first chance to engage your reader online is through text, not graphics.

Need more techniques for creating a structure that makes your copy easier to read and write? Check out Ann's workshops and learning tools.

About the author

Ann Wylie runs a company called Wylie Communications Inc. Ann works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out. To learn more about her training, consulting or writing and editing services, call Ann at 816/997-8753 or e-mail her at ann@wyliecomm.com. Get a FREE subscription to Ann's e-mail newsletter at http://www.wyliecomm.com/newsletter_signup.shtml.

Copyright © 2002 Ann Wylie. All rights reserved.

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