On the web, people rarely “read”, they scan.

If a visitor lands on your page and sees a dense “wall of text” (long paragraphs with no breaks), they will bounce immediately. To keep them engaged, you must structure your content to match human scanning behaviour.

Leverage the “F-Pattern”
Eye-tracking studies show that users typically scan screens in an “F” shape. They read the headline (top horizontal bar), scan down the left side (vertical bar), and occasionally read across a sub-headline (second horizontal bar).

Place your most important keywords and “hooks” at the very beginning of your headlines and paragraphs (front-loading).

Do not bury the lead. If you are selling “Emergency Plumbing,” start the sentence with “Emergency Plumbing…” rather than “We are a company that offers…”

Use a Strict Heading Hierarchy (H1, H2, H3)

Headings are the signposts readers use to navigate your content. They should be descriptive, not clever.

H1 (The Main Title): Tells the user exactly what the page is about. (e.g., “Boiler Repair Services”).

H2 (The Main Sections): Breaks the page into major topics. (e.g., “Our Prices,” “Common Faults,” “How to Book”).

H3 (The Sub-sections): detailed breakdowns within an H2. (e.g., under “Common Faults,” you might have “Leaking Pipes” and “Low Pressure”).

Keep Paragraphs Short (The “1-3 Rule”)

Web paragraphs should be significantly shorter than book paragraphs.

Aim for 1 to 3 sentences per paragraph.

White space is your friend. It gives the eye a “rest” and makes the content feel less intimidating.

Use Bullet Points and Lists

Lists are the most effective way to break up text and present data.

A bulleted list is processed 70% faster than the same information in a sentence.

The Formatting:

Use Numbered Lists for steps or sequences (1, 2, 3).

Use Bullet Points for non-ordered items (features, benefits).

Highlight Key Phrases (Bolding)

Use bold text strategically to guide the scanner’s eye to the most important parts of a sentence.

Bad: “We offer a wide range of plumbing services including emergency boiler repair and leak detection.”

Good: “We offer a wide range of plumbing services including emergency boiler repair and leak detection.”

Do not bold entire paragraphs; it defeats the purpose of highlighting.

“Scannability” Increases Usability

Jakob Nielsen, the world’s leading expert on Web Usability, proved that users only read about 20% of the text on an average page.

How Little Do Users Read?

“On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely… Users will read about 20% of the text on the average page.“

Write for the 20%. Ensure that if a user only reads your Headings and Bolded text, they still understand your main message.