How Users Read On the Web

>>>In essence, users do not read on the web word for word, but rather scan for key words and sentences to sum up the story. This is why it is important to use good web writing techniques. As outlined in the article,"How Users Read on the Web" by Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen outlines the specific web writing techniques journalists should follow when writing a story online so that your audience may get the important facts.

• highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
• meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones)
• bulleted lists
• one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
• the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing

>>>