How to Craft Content That Resonates with Modern Readers

According to research performed in 2015 by Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, people only read 20% of the words in a web article. Yes, 20%. This means that over 80% of the words here are going to be skimmed through. To make it easier for your readers to absorb the message, follow these 3 tips:

1) Be Concise and Objective

You might be tempted to throw everything but the kitchen sink into your articles, but trust us when we say that it’s useless. If customers really want to know about your products, they will search for it directly, so keep your information concise. Focus on benefits or a couple of selling points to make your products attractive. Use expressive verbs instead of adverbs (“giggled” instead of “laughed silently”) to create interest. Remember to provide proof or sources to help build your case.

2) Be Active

The easiest way to get your readers to pay attention is to talk to them directly. Use the active voice to sound confident and to-the-point, but pepper it slightly with passive voice so that you sound objective and never sales-y.

3) Write For Scanners

Finally, don’t fight the people who are going to skim through your article. Appeal to them by making your text more “scannable”; use subtitles and bullet points to break up the wall of text. Make sure your subtitles give a good overall view of the elaboration text below, so that readers can look through specific points. Also, don’t be afraid to use bolding or underlining to bring the eye to specific points.

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