Add words, reduce readership

Longer stories lose readers faster

Size does matter.

Everything else being equal, your readers would rather read a short piece than a long piece.

Of course, all things are never really equal. Given more space, you can do a better job of making your copy more valuable and entertaining, which encourages readership.

But everything else being equal, your readers prefer a short piece to a long piece.

Here’s evidence that readers want less:

rur_130600_ (7) — **THE SHORT AND THE LONG OF IT** More people read further when the story is shorter rather than longer.

The shorter the story, the more they read.

The longer the story, the more quickly readers stop reading.

That was one of the findings the “father of communication studies,” Wilbur Schramm, made in this 1947 study of newspaper readers.

For the study, he interviewed 1,050 readers about what they read, how much and why they stopped.

He found that:

A nine-paragraph-long story lost three out of 10 readers by the fifth paragraph.
A shorter story lost only two.

Bottom line: Length itself affects readability.

How long should your message be?
Would your message be twice as good if it were half as long?
Yes, the research says. The shorter your message, the more likely readers are to read it, understand it and make good decisions based on it.
So how long is too long? What’s the right length for your piece? Your paragraphs? Your sentences? Your words?
Find out at Rev Up Readability — our tight-writing workshop, which starts Feb. 22.
There, you’ll use a cool (free!) tool to analyze your message for 33 readability metrics. You’ll leave with quantifiable targets, tips and techniques for measurably boosting readability.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.