The “F Shape”: The Most Important Concept in Creating and Maintaining Blog Traffic!

Blogs, aka Web logs, are revolutionizing internet marketing especially in the real estate market. A very effective concept in creating a successful blog is the “F Shape” a common reading pattern people employ to read a blog article. Real Estate Tomato’s Chris Hotz wrote a fantastic article on the “F Shape.”

“A recent study using eye-tracking equipment demonstrates how internet users navigate their way through search engines, websites and online data. After tracking how 232 users read thousands of web pages, one common attribute became apparent, an F-shaped reading pattern. This pattern is characterized by three common attributes:”

3 Common Attributes

Attribute #1: People reading your articles will begin by reading in a horizontal left to right movement across the top of the site. This becomes the top line of the “F” pattern. Consequently this is usually the “Headline” area.

Attribute #2: People read-browse down a bit and then move left to right across the page. This pattern fills in the lower section of the “F”shape and is usually where a writer wishes to make their “Killer Opening” statements.

Attribute #3: People will browse the left side of your article in a vertical up and down pattern looking for “Keywords.”

What Does The F Shape Theory Mean?

According to Hotz, this pattern teaches bloggers that readers do not read “everything” written in an article, the first two paragraphs of an article should contain the article’s most important points, and keywords need to be employed at natural breaks ie. bullet points-new paragraphs-sub headers-bold sentences.

The goal of most bloggers is to write articles which inform, provoke thought, and create return readers to the blog. By studying the “F Shape”, bloggers will have a better understanding how to make this concept a reality.