Only 19% read word-by-word
This just in: “Readers” actually don’t do much reading.
Indeed, just 19% of participants in a Harris Interactive poll read articles word-by-word.… Read the full article
Scannable web copy
‘Readers’ are skimming and scanning online
Web visitors spend only a few seconds on a webpage
Tick tock. Visitors spend less than four seconds on 25% of the web pages they visit, according to a study by University of Hamburg and University of Hannover researchers.… Read the full article
Do people skim, scan, read emails?
Just 19% of email newsletters get read thoroughly
Your email recipients aren’t reading your message. They’re scanning your emails.
Indeed, according to the Nielsen Norman Group’s latest eye-tracking study, email recipients:
- Skimmed 69% of the e-zines they received
- Thoroughly read just 19% of e-zines
- Read the majority of the content of 6%
- Glanced at but did not read at all 6%
So here’s the reading technique for emails: Recipients scan pieces of information quickly, speed reading to find specific information.… Read the full article
Skimming, scanning and close reading
Get the word out to lookers, skimmers & readers
Online readers read shallow and deep, according to The Stanford Poynter Project: Eye Movement on the Internet, a study by Stanford University and The Poynter Institute.… Read the full article
People skim through the text of blog posts
They read 3.5% of the words on the page
Consider the numbers:
- 43% of people skim blog posts instead of reading them, according to Hubspot.
- 55% of people spent fewer than 15 seconds on an article, according to ChartBeat.
How people read on the web
They don’t; so make webpages scannable
Here’s the title of one of usability expert Jakob Nielsen’s earliest articles on writing for the web:
How Users Read on the Web
The first paragraph:
They don’t.
… Read the full articleEye tracking online shows where people look
Change how your reader sees your page with 6 eye gaze patterns
Here’s a paradox: 1) Reading is the No. 1 thing people do on websites.… Read the full article