There are a lot of questions to be answered during the design phase of a web development project: What is the most effective homepage layout? When and where is multimedia beneficial? Should you use Flash? Where should ads be placed and how does that affect the eventual design? Should ads even be used?

The findings of this eye-tracking study conducted by the Poynter Institute reveals some interesting insights on how users read web copy. Although conducted with print media in mind, the study also has valuable advice on how to present website content and ways to improve a website’s layout.

Some highlights of the study include:

• Users pay attention to lists longer. Lists are a good way to break up paragraphs and present information in an easy-to-read format.
• Font size affects viewing behavior. Use a larger font size to encourage scanning or a smaller font size to encourage focused viewing.
• The top left portion of the page receives the most attention. You might consider integrating some teaser content here. This might also be a good place for the company logo or ads.
• Keep it short, simple and sweet. The study suggests users will not read large blocks of text regardless of how well-written or informative the content is. Break up large blocks of text into short paragraphs instead and consider using bullet points or lists (see #2).
• Function over form. Users pay more attention to one-column layouts than they do to multi-column layouts. Multiple columns will more than likely by ignored by users, so eliminate clutter from the get-go.
• Headlines draw attention. Users gravitate toward headlines, so use this to engage users and draw them into spending more time on your site.
• White space is good. To ensure an enjoyable user experience, leave some visual open space so you don’t overwhelm your users.

Want more? You should checkout 23 Actionable Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies from the information-packed Virtual Hosting blog.

Jakob Nielsen also has more on eye tracking research and writing content for the web.

Another good read is Seth Godin’s post-mortem on an eyetracking study of Squidoo readers: “What I learned from eye tracking.”

See Also:

• The Best of Eyetrack III
• Eyetools Research and Reports Eyetools is a software company that specializes in eye tracking analysis. The resources on their research page and their blog, Eyetools Eyetracking Research are great resources on website layouts.
• EyeTrack III – Can It Really SEE Your Visitors Thought Patterns?

Key lesson: “If you want people to scroll down and view the content that you have near the bottom of the page, make sure that ALL of your content flows towards the bottom. Try not to break it in any way. The more flow you have, the more people will browse down.”

Free Download: “Eye Tracking Survival Guide”

-FT