Make your e-zine interesting, relevant, easy
What’s the secret to a successful e-zine? Make ’em laugh; make ’em think; make ’em Skimm.
In other words, make it interesting, relevant and easy.… Read the full article
Web writing
Improve your fact-to-fluff ratio
Aim for a 1:1 proportion
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
Mobile makeover for depression post
Communicator transforms piece for the small screen
Make mine to go.
More than half of your audience members now receive your emails, visit your webpages and engage with your social media channels via their mobile devices, not their laptops.… Read the full article
Better you than me
Stop tweeting about yourself
In a recent “Dilbert” cartoon, Dilbert and Wally beg their pointy-haired boss to keep them constantly updated on all his daily activities via Twitter.… Read the full article
Format links for clicking
5 ways to draw eyes, fingers
Your most important links are calls to action, writes HubSpot’s Kyle James. So how can you increase the chances that they’ll get clicked?… Read the full article
Pass the 1-2-3-4 Test
Put the hot stuff up top
People spend 84% more time above the fold than below it, according to the Nielsen Norman Group.[1]
So don’t blow your top.… Read the full article
Screen reading hurts your brain
Problem solving + divided attention = cognitive overload
It’s been proven in the lab: Online multitasking temporarily lowers your IQ more than smoking weed. (And, from what I’ve read, is a much less interesting way to get stupid.)
That’s according to a 2005 study conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London and funded by Hewlett-Packard.… Read the full article
Too close for comfort?
Save readers from ‘screen-sightedness’
Reading a blog post on an iPhone is like reading War and Peace through a keyhole — with a flashlight shining in your eyes.… Read the full article
Avoid online ADHD
Embed links carefully
Where do you put your links?
Embedded links are distracting.
Embedded links like this one can cause problems. Among them:
- They’re distracting. Because they capture eyeballs, embedded links “foster a kind of attention deficit disorder, creating casual, easily distracted surfers instead of committed, engaged readers,” writes Jan H.
A link is a promise
Don’t disappoint readers
A suitor asks you on a date but doesn’t show up. A parent says she’ll play a game but never does. A link on a website says Products & services but opens a registration page instead.… Read the full article