Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [96]
, , , and so on, as contextual indicators of the important content. However, as HTML 5 amasses wider adoption, the code will become much more semantic and logical, using similar tags such as or to denote the layout elements.Bullet Points
Bullet points, when used wisely, can increase readability and retention by readers. To make them more effective, any benefit information must be placed in the first few words of the bullet point, because visitors will also scan bullet points, usually only the first few words.
Bullet points go wrong when too much information is packed into the bullet point, making it more than a short sentence, or when more than four or five bullet points are used. Stacking more than five bullet points creates a repetitive layout block, which makes it very easy for readers to ignore.
Text Links
Text links within the content are an important navigation resource to the visitor. By placing them in the content, the contextual value of the text link is much higher than when presented in the typical navigation elements. While readers are scanning the content, the text link is an element that gets their attention, because the color and underlined element is the universal sign for a link. This is also why I recommend that link attributes (color, underlined) be clear in a website design.
Everyone knows what blue underlined text denotes. Now, I am not saying that all link text on every website needs to be blue and underlined; I am simply stating that every web user learns very quickly what blue underlined text will do. Every degree that your design varies from blue underlined text links is another degree of adaptation you are requiring of your visitor to understand your design. Be aware of the color and attributes of the links in your design, because it may be difficult for users to immediately recognize the text links.
The words used in a link point to the information contained on the linked page. Readers are particularly focused on these links within the content, because they help them quickly determine whether the information they need is on this page or on the next page, on the other side of the link. As such, text links within content have a very high relevance for information, and users depend on them.
One of the first tests I ran when I first had access to ClickTracks, a visual analytics program, was the click overlay report. This report showed which links were clicked by visitors on a specific page. I could easily see which links received no activity and which links were clicked the most and then compare the different link activity. I consistently observed that website visitors clicked the text links within the content more frequently than the links in the navigation. This supported the idea that visitors were scanning the content, not the navigation, and found the link that contained the information they needed.
Layout
By building a good heading structure and bullet points to support the logical outline of information, the page will start to build itself with a logical layout. Similar to the old grammar-school writing technique of building an outline of a story, a web page is most effective when there is a logical development of information.
Heading size, with the most important headings used as a headline and then ordered sequentially in smaller fonts, helps the reader perceive the importance of the text headings. Differentiating the headings and the important features from the regular text helps readers distinguish important benefit statements and the structure of the content. The structure of the information is as important as the information itself.
By creating an outline of information on the page, the reader can quickly determine the relationship of the content. Ideally, the size and font of the headline are immediately noticeable. The subheadings related to the primary information are all consistent in style and weight, allowing an easy visual pass over the
, and so on, as contextual indicators of the important content. However, as HTML 5 amasses wider adoption, the code will become much more semantic and logical, using similar tags such as or to denote the layout elements.Bullet Points
Bullet points, when used wisely, can increase readability and retention by readers. To make them more effective, any benefit information must be placed in the first few words of the bullet point, because visitors will also scan bullet points, usually only the first few words.
Bullet points go wrong when too much information is packed into the bullet point, making it more than a short sentence, or when more than four or five bullet points are used. Stacking more than five bullet points creates a repetitive layout block, which makes it very easy for readers to ignore.
Text Links
Text links within the content are an important navigation resource to the visitor. By placing them in the content, the contextual value of the text link is much higher than when presented in the typical navigation elements. While readers are scanning the content, the text link is an element that gets their attention, because the color and underlined element is the universal sign for a link. This is also why I recommend that link attributes (color, underlined) be clear in a website design.
Everyone knows what blue underlined text denotes. Now, I am not saying that all link text on every website needs to be blue and underlined; I am simply stating that every web user learns very quickly what blue underlined text will do. Every degree that your design varies from blue underlined text links is another degree of adaptation you are requiring of your visitor to understand your design. Be aware of the color and attributes of the links in your design, because it may be difficult for users to immediately recognize the text links.
The words used in a link point to the information contained on the linked page. Readers are particularly focused on these links within the content, because they help them quickly determine whether the information they need is on this page or on the next page, on the other side of the link. As such, text links within content have a very high relevance for information, and users depend on them.
One of the first tests I ran when I first had access to ClickTracks, a visual analytics program, was the click overlay report. This report showed which links were clicked by visitors on a specific page. I could easily see which links received no activity and which links were clicked the most and then compare the different link activity. I consistently observed that website visitors clicked the text links within the content more frequently than the links in the navigation. This supported the idea that visitors were scanning the content, not the navigation, and found the link that contained the information they needed.
Layout
By building a good heading structure and bullet points to support the logical outline of information, the page will start to build itself with a logical layout. Similar to the old grammar-school writing technique of building an outline of a story, a web page is most effective when there is a logical development of information.
Heading size, with the most important headings used as a headline and then ordered sequentially in smaller fonts, helps the reader perceive the importance of the text headings. Differentiating the headings and the important features from the regular text helps readers distinguish important benefit statements and the structure of the content. The structure of the information is as important as the information itself.
By creating an outline of information on the page, the reader can quickly determine the relationship of the content. Ideally, the size and font of the headline are immediately noticeable. The subheadings related to the primary information are all consistent in style and weight, allowing an easy visual pass over the
Bullet Points
Bullet points, when used wisely, can increase readability and retention by readers. To make them more effective, any benefit information must be placed in the first few words of the bullet point, because visitors will also scan bullet points, usually only the first few words.
Bullet points go wrong when too much information is packed into the bullet point, making it more than a short sentence, or when more than four or five bullet points are used. Stacking more than five bullet points creates a repetitive layout block, which makes it very easy for readers to ignore.
Text Links
Text links within the content are an important navigation resource to the visitor. By placing them in the content, the contextual value of the text link is much higher than when presented in the typical navigation elements. While readers are scanning the content, the text link is an element that gets their attention, because the color and underlined element is the universal sign for a link. This is also why I recommend that link attributes (color, underlined) be clear in a website design.
Everyone knows what blue underlined text denotes. Now, I am not saying that all link text on every website needs to be blue and underlined; I am simply stating that every web user learns very quickly what blue underlined text will do. Every degree that your design varies from blue underlined text links is another degree of adaptation you are requiring of your visitor to understand your design. Be aware of the color and attributes of the links in your design, because it may be difficult for users to immediately recognize the text links.
The words used in a link point to the information contained on the linked page. Readers are particularly focused on these links within the content, because they help them quickly determine whether the information they need is on this page or on the next page, on the other side of the link. As such, text links within content have a very high relevance for information, and users depend on them.
One of the first tests I ran when I first had access to ClickTracks, a visual analytics program, was the click overlay report. This report showed which links were clicked by visitors on a specific page. I could easily see which links received no activity and which links were clicked the most and then compare the different link activity. I consistently observed that website visitors clicked the text links within the content more frequently than the links in the navigation. This supported the idea that visitors were scanning the content, not the navigation, and found the link that contained the information they needed.
Layout
By building a good heading structure and bullet points to support the logical outline of information, the page will start to build itself with a logical layout. Similar to the old grammar-school writing technique of building an outline of a story, a web page is most effective when there is a logical development of information.
Heading size, with the most important headings used as a headline and then ordered sequentially in smaller fonts, helps the reader perceive the importance of the text headings. Differentiating the headings and the important features from the regular text helps readers distinguish important benefit statements and the structure of the content. The structure of the information is as important as the information itself.
By creating an outline of information on the page, the reader can quickly determine the relationship of the content. Ideally, the size and font of the headline are immediately noticeable. The subheadings related to the primary information are all consistent in style and weight, allowing an easy visual pass over the