When magazine ads were the highlight of the advertising industry, more and more focus was put into psychology. Experts were interested in what consumers would be seeing and where their eyes were drawn. While there were many conclusive studies, the art of understanding what catches people’s eye has evolved. With the advent of modern technologies, not only are we able to create new marketing tools but we are now able to monitor them in a way and on a scale we have never been able to do before. Unlike our magazine ad creating forefathers, we have programs that allow us to eye track. Meaning we can collect data on where people’s eyes spend the most time when using the computer. This means that Website Design Services are more important than ever.
The goal of each website is different, you have certain pages that you would like visitors to end up on and certain information you would like them to get from their visit. While some of this information is common knowledge for web designers, you may not be sure why. While there is no definitive way where the eye moves, there are a few places that are attractive to the majority of web users. People tend to read in a “Z” pattern. It is important to note that these results are from studies on western, English speaking people and are not representative of the global population.
We Like to See headlines
While this may seem like a no brainer, the fact is people more often look at headlines than images. Titles that catch interest or illustrate a point are important for your web page.
We Follow Visual Cues
We like to look at people, specifically in the face. People very often and instinctively follow the visual cues of people (sometimes animals) pictured. So if you have an image of a person looking or motioning towards a body of text, users often will be drawn toward that text. Your brain wants to know what everyone else finds so interesting.
We Like Pictures
If you’re reading about web design, you’re probably already aware that people look at images. It is important to know that the captions of images are very often read. It is important to describe the image and briefly include any information that could get visitors to continue reading the information you would like them to read.
We Like Short Widths of Text
Oddly enough we read long widths faster, but are more likely to read short widths of text. This may be because short widths of text are seemingly more approachable. So it’s a good idea to have short width text to begin with that is offset by a picture and then once the reader is hooked have the text change to long width.
About the Author
Evan Wright is the Digital Content Manager at DigitalParc, a Minneapolis based internet marketing and web design company. He specializes in content creation, SEO, and other aspects of online marketing.