Are Online Readers Grasping All Your Ideas?

Ever feel that someone stopped listening before you stopped talking? This problem extends to the web. Here’s why – and how you can increase the chance that readers will remember what you wrote.

Write So They'll Read it on Their Screen

Here’s a harsh wake-up call. As Jakob Nielsen notes, according to recent eye tracking and other research most people read just 20% of what you wrote in that blog post or online article. This is especially true if you have “above-average intelligence.” So, do you go for dumber readers or shorter articles and posts?

Tips for Those (Like You) Who Are Writing for a Smart Audience

1. Be brief
2. Outline your topic
3. Headline or otherwise separate subtopics
4. Present items in bullet and/or numbered format.
5. Skip “fancy formats” as they tend to look like advertising and thus ignore.

Do I still have your attention? (Presumably so since you’re quite smart.)

More Evidence: Why It DOES Pay to Be Brief

Hints:
#1: Although we spend more time on pages with more words and more information, we only spend 4.4 seconds more for each additional 100 words.

# 2: When one adds more words to that screen page, people will only read 18% of it. Ouch.

Tip: Like the pyramid style in good newspaper writing, include in the first paragraph the why, who, what, when and how.

Alternatively:
• Put your best example in the first sentence, followed by your summary sentence.
or
• Encapsulate your summary in the first sentence, followed by your best example in the second sentence.

Jacob offer more tips on writing for the web here and here and here here.

Considering the eye tracking research (and your smarts), I fear I may losing you so I’ll stop.
But first this confession. I must be in the dumber category because I enjoy the “feast” of reading longer posts and articles – when they are well-written – even online.

Comments

[Shel Horowitz]

Kare, I agree with you so often that it's a shock to find something I flat out disagree with.

You wrote, "I must be in the dumber category because I enjoy the “feast” of reading longer posts and articles – when they are well-written – even online."

Now, I know your tongue is deep into your cheek on this one, but others may not get the subtlety. But the simple reality is "dumb" and "Kare Anderson" simply DO NOT go together. You are one of the smartest people I know.

--Shel Horowitz, award-winning author of Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and six other books

[Mohsin]

Now, to prove to myself that I'm smart, do I have to skip reading the 80% of all posts and articles? ;)

[kare Anderson]

Shel,
Golly thanks.. .and Mohsin, an apt point. In the current issue of The Atlantic there is a fascinating article, suggesting that our extensive "scanning" time on the internet is reducing our capacity to read longer "texts' such as, well, books. gulp. The article is entitled, "Is google making us stoopid?"