I look at websites alot. People I am recruiting, companies I interact with, even just for professional curiosity. One of the key things I look at is the text. I look to see if the text is written for web readers or for someone else. My guideline is to make the text simple, sparse, to the point and colloquial/informal.
I recently had a chance to watch some people test a website using eye tracking software. It was fascinating watching the eye read. When a user is reading, you can see the eye go word by word by word. When they get bored, you can see them start skipping words and then eventually skim/skip entire passages. It’s like the brain is saying, “Yadda Yadda…I’m bored! Moving on!”
Even certain words literally would have the eye of the user refuse to finish the word. Some simple-ish word like like “elaborate”. The brain was like “E-lab-oh forget it I am moving on.”
If you want people to get value from your website, write your sentences shorter. Get to the point. Dumb it down with fewer big words. Eliminate the happy talk.
Whatya think?