We all know that we are living in an ‘instant gratification, no-time-to-waste’ age. This impacts most aspects of our daily lives – including how we read.



We spend ages scanning the web to find articles and information relevant to us, but do we actually read these articles once we’ve found them?

As content marketing is growing rapidly and online content is increasing, someone has to be reading, right? People distinguish between ‘good’ content and ‘bad’ content; this is the deciding factor when choosing which pages to stay on and which to close. But how exactly do people read? Sure, they’re on your page but are they actually engaging with your content? 

A Matter of Seconds

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely – Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen is a web usability consultant and has been called "the king of usability" and the Chicago Tribune wrote that he "knows more about what makes websites work than anyone else on the planet". 

Nielsen analysed data found by a study entitled Not Quite the Average: An Empirical Study of Web Use. What he found was that although people spend more time on web pages with more information, they only spend 4.4 seconds more for each additional 100 words. He concluded that when adding more waffle to a page people will only read 18% of it.

There is, in other words, no need to fill a page with nonsense simply for the sake of filling the page. 

Some other findings include:

• On an average visit, users read only half the text on pages with 111 words or less.
• People do not read every time they visit a page. A lot of time is spent looking at images and getting comfortable with design and navigation features.

Making Visitors Stay

• Important Information Should Look Important

Use bullet points, headings and subheadings to help visitors identify the most important elements of your site.

• Left or Right?

Aligning text to the left has proved to have higher reading rates.

• Images

Images can improve readability as they get higher levels of attention.

• Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

Using bold form and hyperlinks will make important keywords stand out.

• Plain and Simple

Short sentences and paragraphs are easier to read and don’t seem as daunting as heavy text. Language should be simple as users should be able to understand exactly what you are trying to say, straight away. 

• Be Straightforward

Important information should appear in the opening sentences of paragraphs as this is what skimming readers will read first. 

Between all the pop ups and notifications, multiple open tabs and all the information readily available, it is difficult not to become distracted when reading online. If you’ve made it to the end of this article you are one of a rare bunch of visitors who actually read a whole article. Average visitors spend 2.6 seconds on a page before focusing on a particular section. If you keep the above points in consideration you can easily lead readers to exactly where you want them and in no time at all. 

Do you read or just skim? How do you ensure that visitors actually read your content? Share your thoughts with me here or on Twitter



Sound Idea Digital is a full digital marketing agency. For more information, contact 012 66 44 227 or email to info@soundidea.co.za

Carina Claassens is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital l carina@soundidea.co.za l @SoundIdea l www.soundidea.co.za