Summary: They don't. People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.

In research on how people read websites we found that 79 percent of our test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.

We found that credibility is important for Web users, since it is unclear who is behind information on the Web and whether a page can be trusted. Credibility can be increased by high-quality graphics, good writing, and use of outbound hypertext links. Links to other sites show that the authors have done their homework and are not afraid to let readers visit other sites.

Web users are busy: they want to get the straight facts. Also, credibility suffers when users clearly see that the site exaggerates.

promotional language imposes a cognitive burden on users who have to spend resources on filtering out the hyperbole to get at the facts.