May 19, 2013

Get Clicked

Overcome the obstacles of reading on the screen

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“Revolutionised the way my communications team and I approach writing for online consumption, both for web pages and for electronic newsletters.”
— Nikki Van Dusen, manager, Internet Communications, Alberta Public Affairs Bureau
Find out what others say about Ann’s Web writing workshops

Online, “readers” don’t read. They scan.

In fact, 50 percent of Web visitors don’t actually read the paragraphs, according to The Poynter Institute’s EyeTrack07 study.

So how can you get the word out on the Web?

The solution is microcontent — or the links, headlines, decks, subheads and other “small” pieces of Web copy that actually do most of the communicating online. In this module, you’ll learn how to write microcontent that reaches “readers” online.

Specifically, you’ll learn how to:

  • Make sure your Web visitors get the gist of your piece, even if they don’t read the text
  • Make your copy 47 percent more usable with a few simple steps
  • Run a quick test to make your Web copy more reader friendly
  • Write microcontent that’s easy to understand no matter where it shows up (After all, if visitors can’t figure out what it means, chances are, they won’t click)
  • Reach Web visitors with the piece of display copy that 95 percent of people read — but that many communicators drop
  • Increase reading for skimmers and those whose attention is beginning to wane
  • Write headlines that help Web visitors find what they’re looking for (“For a company with 10,000 employees, the cost of a poorly written headline on an intranet home page is almost $5,000,” writes Jakob Nielsen, ”the king of usability.”
  • Write links and buttons that get clicked