Whether it’s reading the newspaper online or looking for a service you need in your job, your search usually starts with a screen.
Of course, it wasn’t all that long ago that the written word on paper was king! But now, most of us can’t imagine living without our screens.
So, when you’re communicating with people online, is there something different that you should be doing to keep them reading?
Some researchers believe people use different skills to read digitally. Often their reason for reading online is different.
Where reading requires deep comprehension of a text, researchers found students tended to print out the material to make it easier to read, understand and take notes.
But for businesses selling their products or services you’ve got a much shorter time to catch their interest.
People scan online
When writing your website, you’ve got to get to the point – and fast!
User experience research has found that people only read 28% of the words on any given web page.
There’s no time for waffle. You’ve only got a short time to catch their attention.
How to make it easier for people to read your message online
The biggest challenge for businesses trying to communicate to their audience is to make their message easy enough for people to read.
Successful communication satisfies these two requirements:
It’s not too painful for the audience to read your message
There’s something ‘in it for them’
Reduce the barriers for easy online reading
According to the user experience (UX) experts The Nielsen Norman Group These are legibility, readability and comprehension.
Make your online message legible
Legibility is all about making your information easy to see. You do this by using a clean typeface, a large enough font size and a good contrast between the letters and the background.
Make your information readable
To improve your readability, you should avoid jargon and use plain words.
Use short sentences and paragraphs.
You should write in an active voice.
For a mainstream audience, aim at using language suitable to students in 8th grade. For a more specialised or educated audience, you can take it up to 12th grade.
Make comprehension easy for your reader
Be brief and to the point.
Use language that’s familiar to your audience. Or use specialised language if that’s who you’re speaking to.
Use pictures to explain your message.
Use an inverted-pyramid writing style – starting with the conclusion first so people understand where you’re going.
Chunking information can help comprehension. This means you should break up your content into smaller chunks of information.
Using bullet points is also a good way to make it easier for people to scan your text. Plus, it helps with comprehension by not bombarding them with information – just the key points.
