At least, that’s what the statistics say. Studies show that only 16% of people actually read websites and blogs word-by-word. The rest of us simply “scan” websites. With this in mind, it’s important to do anything and everything to keep your reader engaged in your blog and/or website.
You’re only Reading This Because It’s A Headline.
Headlines and sub-headlines are one of the most important ways to draw the scanning reader back into your article. Yet sub-headlines are rarely seen in blogs! Think about it for a moment. When you pick up the Sunday newspaper, what is the first thing you do? You read the headlines. It’s because you are looking for information that interest you. People approach a web page or post the same way. A website visitor will scan your blog or website until the information compels them to focus in.
I Read Your Blog… At Least the Parts That Are Bold
When you take a look at the first two paragraphs, you can clearly see the “take-a-way” information from each paragraph. That’s because we have trained ourselves that anything in bold must be important. Because of this, readers (or more accurately, “scanners”) will focus when they see something bold. But be careful with this, using bold too much can lower its impact. As a good rule of thumb, only bold the one nugget of information from each paragraph.
Three Things About List
Lists are another great way to keep readers engaged in your post. Below are a few of the many benefits of incorporating list into your website.
- List are easy to read
- List help break up the amount of text on a page
- List incorporates much needed “white space” that allows the readers eye to rest
The Design of Your Copy
Strangely enough, the overall appearance and layout of your copy can greatly determine how many readers will take the time to read the information. Long paragraphs with no break in content can overwhelm the reader. However, content made up of headlines, short paragraphs and lists is most inviting to the reader and gives the page more breathing room.
Information Overload
One of the biggest reasons for scanning online is the vast amount of information. So even if you think that your blog is different, see if you can relate to these two scenarios…
- Cheryl Johnson posted a list of Active Rain bloggers that she subscribes to. (Thanks Cheryl for including me on your list!) What’s amazing is that there are over 60 people in her subscribe list! My guess is she is not reading every word in every post on her list!
- I often see comments that say something to the extent o f “Great Post, I have bookmarked it and will read it in more detail a little later.” This leads me to believe that these “readers” are scanning and not reading every word.
So the next time you have a great idea for a featured post make sure it’s “scanner friendly”.
Update: I just found out that Jeff Turner did an excellent post on this same subject. It's worth a read!
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