Pages for readers who scan

A page can serve readers who want the detail and readers who jump to a particular answer. Its headings, short blocks and visible key points give readers routes through the information.

Quick answers and independent entry points

Online readers often look for specific information, scanning or using the find function to reach it rather than reading the whole page. ^{1, 2, 3}

The topic should be clear immediately, with the most important information first. ^{4, 5} A quick answer should appear near the top, in the introduction or a key-takeaway box, with the detail following; readers who cannot find an answer quickly may return to the search results. ^{6, 7}

Readers may arrive by different routes or jump straight to a section, so some repetition is appropriate: a definition or abbreviation explained at the beginning may need explaining again later. ^{6, 8} Each new page should signal what the piece is about, and writers should check how articles appear on the target website before writing. ⁸

Headings, images and emphasis

Clear headings, broken-up text, lists and tables accommodate both readers who want detail and readers who skip to a section or question. ⁹ Subheadings separate subtopics and convey the main ideas to readers who do not read the full text. ¹⁰ Short words, sentences and paragraphs, interesting headlines and subheadings, and bulleted or numbered lists help readers skim and scan. ^{4, 1}

Eye-tracking illustrations of the F-shaped reading pattern show attention to the main title, some headings and images. ^{11, 12} One blogging practitioner recommends at least one relevant image to break up the text and make the page more approachable; an infographic can restate the information in the post. ^{12, 13} A patient-website writer, by contrast, favours simple, factual presentation and considers elaborate artwork and graphics liable to complicate a site and hinder learning. ¹⁴

Bold type and hyperlinks can make selected words or phrases stand out, but excessive highlighting can look amateurish. ⁸ Using alternative terms, such as “mandible”, “lower jaw” and “jawbone”, can help readers searching the page find the information they want. ⁵

A layout checklist for lay content

Practical advice for making lay content welcoming and easy to scan includes these ten strategies. ¹⁵

1. Add white space between headings and paragraphs to reduce density.
2. Keep paragraphs short, avoiding more than four or five lines; one- or two-sentence paragraphs, including single sentences, are acceptable.
3. Use many subheadings containing key points, helping the text flow logically and readers find information.
4. Keep sentences short, avoiding more than about a line and a half.
5. Use short words, avoiding more than three syllables.
6. Use bulleted and numbered lists, especially for symptoms, causes and treatments.
7. Link to relevant text to continue the reader’s journey.
8. Keep pages clean and minimalist to avoid distraction.
9. Vary sentence length, combining longer and shorter sentences.
10. Use a clear font size and a consistent, legible typeface.

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A worked rewrite of a research passage on loneliness and social isolation illustrates the layout changes: short paragraphs, a two-item list of comparison risk factors, a numbered list of three pathways, and separate paragraphs for subsequent findings. ^{16, 17}

Shorter sections and pages

One recommendation for web pages is to limit each page to one idea, because readers expect small information bites. ¹⁸ A long topic can also be split into a series of online articles. ³ Lines should be short enough to scan; one editing technique is to replace “and” joining two sentences with a full stop. ¹⁹

Three practical priorities for online writing are:

1. Make it shorter.
2. Give clear signposts.
3. Be mindful of tone.

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