In a nutshell: A website is built to be scanned, not read — headings, images and buttons guide your eye and your click, so its design does much of the persuading.
You land on a homepage and decide in two seconds whether to stay.
A big heading, a smiling photo, one bright ‘Sign up free’ button. You don't read it — you scan it, and your eye is steered exactly where they want it.
A web page persuades through layout: what's biggest, what's a button, what speaks straight to ‘you’.
What to look for
Headings for scanning
Short bold headings let you skim; you rarely read every word.
A clear call to action
A bright button — ‘Start now’, ‘Buy’, ‘Join’ — is the click they want.
Direct address
‘You’ and ‘your’ everywhere, speaking to each visitor personally.
Image + layout hierarchy
The biggest, top-most, brightest thing is what they want you to see first.
The key move: Ask ‘where does the design send my eye — and my click?’ A web page persuades through hierarchy and calls to action, not paragraphs.
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Why it matters in the exam: A web page can appear in Paper 1. A strong answer analyses the design choices — headings, buttons, direct address, what's placed first — and how they steer the visitor.
Analyse how this charity homepage uses design and words to persuade visitors to give.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: Don't analyse a web page as if it were an essay to read top to bottom. Analyse how the design guides scanning — what's biggest, what's a button.