User Interaction
Many websites are used as a medium for customer engagement. Therefore, it is imperative that users remain engaged and interested in a website. This is no easy task, as users have proven to be very difficult to interest.
Reading vs. Scanning
As unfortunate as it may be, very few readers read a web page in its entirety. They often quickly skim over a page to find what they think is most relevant, then read that portion only. A perfect example of this is when people perform a Google search: users typically skim the first few results, often clicking on the first one that looks similar to what they're looking for. Few users will take the time to search through pages of results to find exactly what they're looking for.
User reading patterns can be seen with an image called a heatmap. These images are built around user reading patterns, and show the areas most viewed on a particular page. An example of a heatmap for a Google search is below.
Caring
Unlike the designer, very few users actually care about the website itself. Instead, they care about the information that the website can give them. This means that designers must build websites that are functional before they are beautiful.
Patience
Many people can claim that they browse the web. Of course, browsing the web is much easier than scouring the web. Most users will not spend time searching through pages of a website for more than a few minutes if they believe that they can find the same information somewhere else much faster. This means that the most important information should be near the top of the page, while details that may be of interest to some readers should be pushed down the page a bit.
That being said, there are pros of having users go through several pages to perform an action or find something. However, the benefits of increased website exposure only come about if users enjoy their time there and don't feel frustrated about having to go through several pages. If needed, include simple directions for finding what they need.
That being said, there are pros of having users go through several pages to perform an action or find something. However, the benefits of increased website exposure only come about if users enjoy their time there and don't feel frustrated about having to go through several pages. If needed, include simple directions for finding what they need.