“Pattern F” is the way people read text on websites, blogs, online stores and other content pages on the internet. It is different from the way of reading printed materials.
When a person sets out to read a book, newspaper, magazine, or other printed material, they usually do so by swiping their eyes from left to right at a moderate, steady pace (without skipping words or phrases). But on the web it's not like that.
On the web, reading most often happens in the "F" shape, as proven by Eyetrack research developed by the Danish computer scientist Jakob Nielsen since 1994.
How are Eyetrack studies conducted?
Nielsen has used cutting-edge technology (special glasses) to map the parts of the screen most viewed by people at the time of web reading. He found that Internet users scroll through the title, then look down the left corner of the page, read the subtitles and topics in between, and finally, aim from the left corner to the end of the text, in a quick motion called the F Pattern.
The following images (taken by Nielsen's team) show what the F-Standard reading from the web looks like. The areas in red are the most viewed:
Given that the F-pattern is the reading style of most internet users, it's important that the layout of SEO content on squeeze pages , landing pages , mobile sites , e-commerce blogs , and other resources of your online store is consistent with it.
In other words, you can create the most marketable content in the world (using Neuromarketing techniques and/or Cialdini's persuasive principles ), but if your text isn't structured in the F-Pattern, few people will read it, and more than that, you won't be able to sell as well as your competitors who use this technique.
But how do you adapt your text for web readers? Keep an eye on the E-Plus e-commerce agency blog , because next week I'll be publishing a post on how to format SEO content using the F-pattern. Until then, friends!
