Do you know who is the biggest loser on the web? It is the traditional media. It is still to learn how to write for the web.
Since the early days of the web, the traditional media has been publishing content that has been generated for the print or the television. It has never tried to develop content which is meant for reading on the web.
Pioneering studies done by the Nielsen Norman Group over the last two decades provide deep insights as to how readers read on the web. The studies are an eye opener. They establish firmly that most readers do not read on the web. They scan.
You too must browse the study reports. They will show you the right way to write on the web.
Here are seven important findings gleaned from the Nielsen Norman reports:
Finding 1
As many as 79% readers scan the page instead of reading word for word. In other words, four out of five web readers are not reading what you have written.
Finding 2
Users skip over sentences and paragraphs if they don’t appear to be relevant. The lesson to be learnt here is that writings must be kept short. You should stick to the main points. Do not try to pad content.
Finding 3
Reading from a computer monitor slows you down by 25%. This is not a surprise. The backlight on the computer screen induces fatigue. Your eyes get strained, and you read slowly. When you do so, you read less because your eyes are getting tired.
Finding 4
The average time that a web user spends on a page is less than a minute. How much do you expect him to read in this short span?
Finding 5
The average amount of text that a web user reads during a visit is about a quarter. In other words, almost three-fourths of what you have written is likely to be skipped.
Finding 6
The average number of words that a web reader reads per visit is a poor 120. The remaining words lie unread.
Finding 7
The user attention drops sharply as he moves down the page. The first paragraph is looked at by 81% readers; the second paragraph by 71% readers; the third by 63% readers; and the fourth by 32%.
This is why most writers are realising that writing for the web is a great challenge.
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