Do you know about eye tracking? This is the way it’s described on the poynterextra.org website:

Eyetracking is research that tracks where a person’s eyes look while reading, then analyzes the data to reveal patterns. By combining and reviewing data from multiple individuals during testing, you can discover representative patterns that apply to most of the population.  

Several studies have been conducted related to eye tracking, and Seth Godin has posted an excellent summary of the results on his blog.

Having this information can be extemely helpful in knowing what your site visitors are looking at when they arrive at your website, and how long they spend on the different areas.

For example, did you know that the top left corner is the first place your visitors look? Or that they ignore large blocks of text? Or that they spend considerable time looking at your navigational menu?

These are just some of the areas to consider when laying out your website. Even if you don’t do your own website, always remember ‘you’re the boss,’ so make sure the person you hire follows these eye tracking tips.