What does it mean to ‘scan’ web content?
Trying to use numbers to settle an argument today at work I found this (somewhat old) Jakob Nielsen column about how much reading most people actually do on the internet. The answer? Of the words you write, about 28 per cent on average get read.
Google Analytics will tell you your average time spent on a given page, and you need to factor in about a 25 second familiarization period of a sort wherein the reader checks the surroundings for clues that this is her or his page, and then you can assume 200 words per minute or about three words every ten seconds.
So make those words count. Remove the verbiage. Haul out the bullet lists if you want to be heard.
