Web writing

How to get the hyperbole out of your web page

Improve your fact-to-fluff ratio

Readers are busy. Fluff takes space. Space takes time. So let’s cut the fluff and get on with it.

To cut the fluff, aim for a fact-to-fluff ratio of at least 1:1.… Read the full article

Stop wasting web visitors’ time with puffery, hype

Web visitors ‘get visibly angry’ at verbose sites

Here’s an interesting dichotomy: Killing time is the killer app for mobile devices. But mobile users are in a hurry and “get visibly angry” at verbose sites that waste their time.… Read the full article

What lede (or lead) should you use for web content?

4 types of web leads to try — and 3 to avoid

Lede or lead?

You won’t find it in the Oxford English Dictionary. But the alternative spelling lede was supposedly created during the linotype era so as not to confuse lead with the strip of metal that was used to separate lines of type.… Read the full article

Reading paper vs. computer screen

Reading online hurts readers’ eyes, their bodies, their brains

I don’t know about you, but one of my goals in life is to never write anything that makes my readers throw up, resign or forget where they parked their car.… Read the full article

What are the problems with reading on mobile devices?

Mobile reading costs time, attention, understanding and action

You may have heard that social scientists recently added a new item on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The classic model of what drives human nature looked like this back in the day:

Self actualization: the feeling of doing what you were put on this planet to do
Esteem: feeling good about yourself and what you do
Social needs: having love, a tribe, companionship
Safety and security: not being afraid of getting eaten by a tiger
Physiological needs: food and shelter

Our modern world has revealed another, even more basic human need …

… Wi-Fi.… Read the full article

‘Readers’ are skimming and scanning online

Web visitors spend only a few seconds on a webpage

Tick tock. Visitors spend less than four seconds on 25% of the web pages they visit, according to a study by University of Hamburg and University of Hannover researchers.… Read the full article

Frontload your web page headlines

Get to the point faster by putting the topic up top

When it comes to web heads, focus on the front.

That is, place your topic words at the beginning of your headline.… Read the full article

Why get key content above the fold [statistics]?

And where is the fold, anyway?

“Instant gratification takes too long,” said Carrie Fisher, the late actress, author and wit.

When it comes to interacting with websites, she was certainly correct.… Read the full article

Do people skim, scan, read emails?

Just 19% of email newsletters get read thoroughly

Your email recipients aren’t reading your message. They’re scanning your emails.

Indeed, according to the Nielsen Norman Group’s latest eye-tracking study, email recipients:

Skimmed 69% of the e-zines they received
Thoroughly read just 19% of e-zines
Read the majority of the content of 6%
Glanced at but did not read at all 6%

So here’s the reading technique for emails: Recipients scan pieces of information quickly, speed reading to find specific information.… Read the full article