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I studied this in my Business Communications class last fall. The F shaped pattern should not only be used for placement of text, but also in the general layout of a web page. Many sites use this to their advantage. Reading any language from top to bottom left to right causes us to naturally scan the contents of a web page the same way. The best site designs use generalized text at the top with sub menu drop-downs, navigation and other important information down the right margin, and tertiary but useful information in a horizontal fashion across the bottom of the page.

A note: this should all be visible on the first screen, every time without having to scroll to see the second bar of the F. It is just fine to put more information below the second bar, but the objective is to keep the readers attention so they don't navigate away. Clutter and advertising on the first page is a distraction that causes users to navigate away prematurely.

The goal is not just page views in quantity, but page views in quantity with time. The average person spends five seconds scanning a web page when making the stay/go decision. Show people a nice clean house and they will be more likely to stay. Keep a pig sty and watch them run for the doors.