Eye-tracking studies have been carried out to analyse which areas of web pages web users viewed the most.
The studies found that there were dramatic differences between how people read online content and print. While reading print content, users tend to read line by line, from left to right in Western languages. For digital content, the studies found the predominant reading pattern formed an F shape. First, users read horizontally across the upper part of the page, then move down the page and read horizontally across. Finally, users scan vertically down the left-hand side.
This means that web content needs to be written differently from print content. The most important information needs to go at the beginning of sentences. Users can then decide if this is what they want to read and continue. The way to do this is to frontload content.
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