1. Text attracts more attention than pictures.
As much as we love photos, the fact is that the majority of people will simply scan them.

2. People start viewing your website from the top left corner.

Make use of this by putting your most important messages in this area and try to make your value proposition clear above the fold.

3. Readers ignore banners. Surprise, surprise.
Banners convert horribly. The modern world took it a bit too far with them at some point and we’ve been trained to ignore them and even develop a bad taste to brands that use them.

Don’t do it.

4. People only scan the lower parts of your website.
After people start scrolling down, the chances are high that they are going to be scanning and skimming your content.

To make the best use of this, make sure to use a ton of headings to summarize your key points. Make these descriptive and it’ll also help with your search engine rankings.

5. Short paragraphs work better than long ones.
Our attention spans are shorter than ever and that’s something you need to take into account.

No one wants to read a wall of text. Keep it short and get to the point.

6. Fancy fonts are ignored.
As “cool” as you think that font is, you’re probably better off not using it. New fonts are hard for people to process and you’re going to lose their already short attention.

7. Big pictures attract more attention than small ones.
If you use photos on your website or landing page, make them count. Big and bold photos will grab their attention and you’ll do well by including a concrete call to action on them.

8. Headlines also draw attention.
Use as many descriptive headings as possible. This is what people use to scan through your website. Once they find something related to their problem, only then do they dig deeper.

9. Visitors spend more time looking at menus and buttons than other parts of your website.
Menus and buttons are generally what lead us to solutions to our problems. Visitors pay extra attention to these as they want to see what the options are as soon as possible.

You should do the same. Pay extra attention to what you put in your menus and how you label your call to actions.

10. Ads, that are placed on the top or left part of your website, get the most views.
Most people will never scroll down to the bottom of your website. If ad impressions or clicks are your main source of revenue, you’ll want to optimize for them to be in the “viewing pattern”.

11. Ads, that are placed inside or below an awesome piece of content, get more views.
Ever get into a state of flow while reading an article and then end up on an entirely different website? The chances are high that this was a well-placed in-content ad.

If you’re creating value with your article, these are often unexpected and thus get a bit more attention.

12. Lists are better at keeping your reader focused than large paragraphs.
Again, the same principle applies. No one wants to read a huge wall of text, especially if they already know a bit about a topic

13. Some people even completely ignore large chunks of text.
Well, at least we know you’re not one of them ?

14. White space is good!
If people get overwhelmed with a ton of text, there’s a good chance they’ll leave.

15. The menu works best when placed in the top part of your website.