How to get more people to read your content online
Latest posts | By Mark Brownlow | 17 Comments | Licence this content
What your content looks like when you use long paragraphs:
What your content looks like when you use short paragraphs (aim for 5 lines or less):
That’s it.
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Permalink | June 15th, 2011 | 17 Comments »
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17 comments on “How to get more people to read your content online”
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Great. I’ve added this to my ‘a website is not the same as an academic paper’ link list for clients. I’d add: use headings/signposts everywhere too so you know what each few paragraphs is about before bothering to read it.
Agree…and bullets, bold etc.
Simple change ~ Huge results! Thanks for the great info!!
I clicked through on the post title expecting a thorough analysis (broken into digestible bits, of course!) of what drives engagement and reduces website bounce rates, complete with data from Jakob Nielsen and references to other studies and advice.
Imagine my surprise…
Way to get the point across beautifully, Mark. Good stuff!
Justin – lol. Well, I tell you what, THIS post took a lot less time to write. I could get used to it…
This is hilarious and informative … and case-in-point. Well done, sir.
Thanks Rory!
Even five lines is too long. Two and three with the occasional four is best.
And make sure 75 percent of your words are five letters or less.
Writing is not about the writer showing how bright they are. It’s about delivering information to the reader.
Great way to illustrate a point that is spot on, though.
I need to pin Ken’s third line up above my desk.
Great advice. I bet you could of actually squeezed the entire article into a tweet though lol.
Ironically Jamie, it first appeared as a tweet! Here.
Nicely
done
Mark
So simple – So True
the smallest things indeed do make the biggest difference.
So true… great illustration!
Brilliant – sometimes the most complicated of messages can be summarised in a top diagram. Simple yet effective and totally agree with it for a general content building rule of thumb.
So what you’re saying is.
1/. My pre-amble ramble (subject line and pre header text) needs to be clear and concise?
2/. My calls to action can no longer be a completely unintelligible sales proposition that makes me seem knowledgeable and a little mysterious?
(I learned most of these from the display boards at Internet World shows in the 1990’s).
But how will they detect the value and richness of my message without a 3 page scroll down?
(Bad) joking aside – brilliant Mark – so very true – and so often missed.
My remarks on one of your previous posts supported brevity – but not to the point of appearing not to care about delivering value.
But Robin, I’ve built my whole existence on appearing to be knowledgeable and a little mysterious!
The brevity/value balance is a real critical point, and I’m going to have to write about that sometime.