Friend and colleague
Chris Amorosino recently dug up some statistics and sent them out in his e-news blast. And I Quote "People spend twice as much time looking at the left side of your web page as they spend looking at the right. According to "the king of usability," Jakob Nielsen in an April 2010 study, web visitors spend 69% of their time viewing the left half of the page and 30% viewing the right half. Nielsen recommends keeping navigation to the far left; placing the main content a tad further from the far left; and showcasing your most important content between one third and halfway across the page. That's where users focus their attention the most.
Here's an area where it doesn't pay to be creative. We train people to pay attention to certain spots on the page because most sites place their key information there. Break with the conventional layout and you risk breaking down your readership."
Chris (and the Nielsen folks) clearly "get" what's going on here. Conformity where appropriate, ease of use, and making use of what naturally works will help get your message read.
For the details on Nielsen's study, go to
www.useit.com/alertbox/horizontal-attention.html.
Jeffrey Cohen is the director of New Business Development at
ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been providing state of the art web development solutions for 10 years. ImageWorks can provide web solutions for both large and small companies. Visit our
portfolio on our
website. For maximum ROI with your web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace design, on-line marketing, Social Media and Blog design, or for help with web issues, contact Jeffrey at
JCohen@imageworksllc.com.