Are your website visitors skimmers or readers?

I’ve been working with a client on her new site recently, and she asked me to remove one of the frequently asked questions because the answer was the same as another question.

On face value, you’d say ok, sure.

But looking at it more closely, the second question—even though it had the same answer as the other question—was a different question.

Again, you might wonder what the big deal is.

The big deal is that the majority of site visitors don’t go to your website and read it from top to bottom. They skim read it—looking for the sections, headings and bullet points that answer their questions.

Now a visitor to this site with the second question in mind, may not see the answer they’re looking for because the FAQ topic that matches her question isn’t there.

Small elements of duplication doesn’t matter as much as answering your customer questions.

I hope that’s a little food for thought for you next time you’re reviewing your website.