Did you read the rest of th..?

If you're like most people, you don't read on unless you're engaged by the first few words in a web headline, according to new Eyetrack III research conducted by the Poynter Institute.

While not an exhaustive study, this research does reveal some interesting points about where the eye goes when we're "consuming news" on a website. I definitely saw myself in their testers' eyes—preferring shorter paragraphs, scanning larger type, paying more attention to ads that are close to the stories I'm interested in. 

Somewhat surprisingly, based on what we may think we know about design (and web design, in particular), the Eyetrack III study found that "Text rules on the PC screen—both in order viewed and in overall time spent looking at it." 

While this research focuses on news sites, there are important points any organization can take away when designing and updating a website:

Engage quickly. According to the study, "People typically scan down a list of headlines, and often don't view entire headlines. If the first words engage them, they seem likely to read on." 

Don't rely too heavily on video or images. In a mobile world, they can be unreliable, but I'm also finding more and more people are complaining about video-only options, particularly when a video autoplays without warning.

Sharp headline-writing "below the fold" catches attention. People are willing to scroll but once they do, they're looking for something to interest them and keep them there. In the study, a headline about the clothing company FCUK caught people's attention. I'm guessing it's not because the testers had a particularly strong interest in the fashion business.

Shorter is better. Disregard the rules you learned in ninth grade English class. When you're writing for the web, more paragraph breaks translate into greater readability and engagement.

Bigger is better. While images may not be the first thing to capture the viewer's attention, the bigger the image, the more time testers took to look at it.

Good writing is still the barrier to entry. No matter how smart your design, it still won't compensate for bad writing, boring content and industry gobbledygook.