Day One: And so it goes. I’m writing a blog every day for the next 30 days about website design, development, search engine optimization, content and the kitchen sink. Uninterrupted. Undeterred. Unencumbered. I have a few guests from Madison who will join me along the way – they’ll be riding shotgun, doing a little color analysis, acting as wingmen (women), ombudsmen (ombudswomen) and arbiters. My love of sports, show tunes and vegetables might seep into the discussion, therefore the kitchen sink and the fridge.

Let’s talk about words, word counts, and Jakob Nielsen, the famed website usability consultant and principal at the Nielsen Norman Group. NNG did a wonderful study that reached a telling conclusion that the average web guest reads 28% of what’s on a web page. So, even the greatest of writers and storytellers should take note, writing for the web is not like print, broadcast or journalism. In a separate study, NNG discovered through eye movement technology and other research applications that we lose interest at the 250 word mark. By the end of this sentence, I’ll already be at 192 words. Do I still have your attention?

With web visitors having the attention span of an adolescent, this means you better use devices like pull quotes and bullets to grab some attention.

"The average web guest reads 28% of what’s on a web page. We lose interest at the 250 word mark."

And that’s my promise to you. No website design and development post will exceed 250 words, not including the pull quote. Over and out at 250.