It would be easy to dive right in and begin talking about how to write for the web—things like keep copy concise and scannable, use bulletpoints, and other pieces of “conventional” wisdom that many of us have heard before. But first, shouldn’t we understand how users read on the web? According to Jakob Nielsen: “On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.”
What does this mean?
It means that online, people are:
- Reading fast
- Skimming content, not reading every word
- Looking for pages with less content, because it requires less of a time commitment
People also tend to read in a specific pattern, beginning at the top, moving horizontally and then scanning down. In other words, people read online very differently than they read magazines, books, or newspapers, so it’s important that the content you write for the web acknowledges this and is structured accordingly.
Eyetracking Study
What does this mean?
Yes, it does go back to being short, scannable, and bulleted. But more specifically:
- Use half the number of words you would use to write for another medium
- Keep the number of topics, thoughts, or ideas on a page to a minimum
- Make sure your most important points are at the top, and supporting important points are bolded or bulleted below
- Use sub-heads that describe the supporting content to a tee. Subheads that “tease” but require the user to read on to figure out exactly what they mean don’t work.
Again, it all goes back to understanding that people don’t want to spend a lot of time reading through content online, so be sure to keep this in mind when creating content for web sites.
It’s also important to be credible. People need to feel that they are getting information from a reliable source, so make sure you:
- Pay as much attention to the look of your page as the content itself
- Link to credible external sites that have additional, relevant information
- Source content where possible—and where necessary
- Have plenty of content available. Don’t launch a site with one article.
And lastly, after all the work you have done writing for the web, make sure you are helping people find it. Optimize your content with titles and keywords that will link users from their searches to your relevant results.
