Reach Readers Online in our writing-for-the-web classes

Overcome the obstacles of reading on the small screen

You’ve read the numbers. You know that more than half of your audience members are receiving your emails, visiting your webpages and engaging with your social media channels via their mobile devices, not their laptops.

Problem is … reading on a smartphone is as different from reading on the web as reading on the web is different from reading print. Reading your web content on a smartphone cuts comprehension by 48%, attention by 50% and reading speed by 20% to 30%.

“Simply life changing!”

— Jose Romero, technical product manager, NXP Semiconductors
Read more rave reviews

In this environment, how do we reach readers online?

The good news is, best practices for web and mobile copywriting can help. In fact, just three simple tweaks have been proven in the lab to boost usability more than 124%.

In writing coach Ann Wylie’s web-writing workshop, you’ll learn how to write online content that:

• Gets to the point faster: Because web visitors spend 74% of their time on the first two smartphone screens, according to the Nielsen Norman Group.
• Master Webpage Structure: It’s been proven in the lab to be more effective than the form you’re using now
• Cuts Through the Clutter Online: Because “short is too long for mobile”
• Lifts Ideas Off the Mobile Screen: Reach nonreaders with display copy

Agenda

	Get To the Point Faster Web visitors spend 74% of their time on the first two smartphone screens — just 26% on all of the other screens. So how can web writers write web copy that reaches readers where their eyes are? In this session, you’ll learn content strategies you can use to: Pass the 1-2-3-4 test. Put your message where web visitors’ eyes are. Write effective web heads. (Tip No. 5 is the most important thing you can do to improve the ROI of your site.) Optimize webpages for search engines and humans. Note: If you’re still using search engine optimization tricks you learned in the ’oughts, Google may be penalizing your pages. Plus: How to use ChatGPT to write copy for websites
	Master Web Structure The good news is, there’s a structure that’s been proven in the lab to grab readers’ attention, pull them through the piece and leave a lasting impression. The bad news is, chances are, you’re not using it. In this session, you’ll learn how to: Avoid three leads that reduce online reading — including one that’s been proven in eyetracking studies to make people skip your first paragraph. Tap three secrets of successful subheads. This “may be the most important thing you do” to improve usability of your webpage, according to the authors of How People Read on the Web. Get mobile visitors past the first screen of their smartphones with best practices for mobile menus.
	Cut Through the Clutter Online What’s “slightly annoying” on a desktop can be “overwhelming” on a smartphone, according to the authors of User Experience for Mobile Applications and Websites. How do you avoid overwhelming mobile visitors? In this session, you’ll learn proven-in-the-lab best practices for increasing webpage usability up to 124%. Specifically, you’ll learn how to: Pass The 1-2-3-4-5 Test for online paragraphs. Tip: Test it on your smartphone for best results. Increase usability by 58% with one simple step. Use a cool — free! — tool for testing your webpage’s clarity. Get a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of ways you can measurably increase readability.
	Reach Readers Where They Look Web visitors read, on average, 20% of words on the page, according to an analysis of 50,000 page views of European computer scientists, psychologists, sociologists and engineers. So how do you reach nonreaders on the small screen? In this session, you will learn to: Write links that get clicked with five simple steps. Bust the myth of page view time: Measurably boost understanding, memory, satisfaction — while costing readers 50% less time. Pass The Skim Test: Make sure even flippers and skimmers can get the gist of your message — without reading the paragraphs.

“Not a tiny tweak but a new form of writing.”

— Eve Gelman, APR, director of marketing, communications, events and business development, Peddler’s Village Partnership

I’m ready to boost my web-writing skills!

I’d like to:

• Book Ann to train your whole team in an in-house training program.
• Attend Reach Readers Online, Ann’s public web-writing master class.
• Browse Ann’s other Master Classes: Build your writing skills when you attend one of our public writing workshops.

Questions? Contact Ann.