People rarely read online content from beginning to end.
Maybe it is because of a limited internet connection or it’s because there are thousands of articles on Steemit vying for attention.
Research has even proven that reading from screens takes 25% longer than paper.
There are a lot of reasons that may cause this, but it is important that you take a new approach when writing for an online audience.
Digital writing differs significantly from writing traditional paper text.If you expect people to pay more attention to your content then you need to improve your digital writing skills.
In my early Steemit days, I didn’t know this. I had an eye for visual appeal, but I was unsure of how this actually applied to blogging. Poor me blogging everyday without thinking of how people viewed my articles.
Thanks to research, I now have a better idea of how people interact with written content online.
And I have been testing what I learnt and people have been interacting more with my content, two days ago @stellabelle went through most of my posts and upvoted them all increasing my pending payout by $37 (I totally love the 7 day payout period :) )
It’s about creating scannable content.
Research shows that 55% of people spend fewer than 15 seconds actively on a page
This means that you have a small window to grab their attention and motivate them to read your content. And they may not read the content to the end.People tend more to scan content online.
And the fact that your content gets shared or resteemed doesn't mean that your post engagement will increase.
What is Scannable Content
Scannable Content is simply:
content that is short sweet and straight to the point, with brief sentences and paragraphs. Bold text and bullet points to highlight keypoints with links to content that provide readers with supplemental information
This writing format is vital in the 21st century where readers primarily read content on a screen as opposed to a book or any other print publication.
It is meant to fully engage them with the content at hand
And it works.
How To Create Scannable Content
Write short paragraphs
You might have noticed it by now that I prefer to use short paragraphs in my posts
And they are really short, most of the paragrapghs are a single sentence in lenght.
That’s not by accident.
This is perhaps the most important technique when it comes to creating scannable content. Creating a post that is just an ugly block of text will only make readers skip no matter how good the content is.
The key is to include only one idea per paragraph and make it a maximum of four sentences. However, I try to stick with just one to three.
That white space is your friend, so use plenty of it to break up text into smaller chunks.
Keep your sentences short
There’s no reason to drag your content out by writing long sentences and using Big words only professors will understand.
You need to keep it in mind that your audience will consist of a lot of different readers with varying levels of education and vocabulary
Dumb it down if you have to, but keep the value high.
Sprinkle in images
Images help serve two distinct purposes.
First, they always serve as an eye candy and helps fulfill your reader’s subconscious desire for visual stimuli.
Second, they provide periodic breaks between blocks of text.
Both help keep readers on your blog for longer periods of time and encourage them to engage with your content.
Use Sub-headers
Sub-headers are powerful if you know how to use them (an entire post on subheadings is coming soon)
The fact is that most readers won’t be interested in every single point of your article.They may prefer to bounce around to seek key information that may interest them.
This desrie may be accomodated by including several sub-headers throughout the body of your content, this helps you content flow
Sub-headers serve as a quick and easy way to locate main points and accelerate the scanning process. Just make sure that each subheader summarises what the following paragraphs cover.
Also remember to keep your subheadings simple and practical.
Use bullet points and Lists
Everyone loves bullet points they breakdown information and easily put key data in the front of your readers eyes.
Rather than droning on and on create a bullet list, and your readers will love you for it.
Lists help you to break down content in a logical, sequential order which makes it satisfying neat and tidy.
If you really want to maximize the scannability of your content, use plenty of lists.
Lists are a great weapon to have in your arsenal because they lend themselves to being scanned naturally.
Conclusion
Creating scannable content is getting more important as time goes on, by accomodating the online reader and presenting information in a neat format, you improve the reader's experience.
The end result is happier readers who spend more time on your site and who are more likely to follow you
If you scanned this post, go back and read it word for word :)
If there are any techniques you use, let us know in the comments below?
@stellabelle went through most of my posts and upvoted them all increasing my pending payout by $37 (I totally love the 7 day payout period :) )
@ogochukwu