How Little Website Visitors Actually Read

It is a well known fact that website visitors don’t read all the text on each page. The average is somewhere between twenty and twenty eight percent. We have known for years that visitors scan pages rather than read them, only stopped to actually read something once they are intrigued enough to do so. In a recent study, German academics found that seventy nine percent of web users only scanned the pages they read. Only sixteen percent read it word for word.

Someone writing for the web has to bear this in mind and use subtle tricks to grab attention and retain it. Having this information available enables writers to target information and use short, snappy sentences and paragraphs in order to maximize its readability. Attention has to be paid to formatting and composition, more than any other type of media. How the copy is organized on the page can make quite a difference to how much a reader engages with it.

Good web content will guide visitors through the website in a purposeful way, just like a newspaper. An interesting, or better, captivating headline is the first and most important piece of copy on a web page. If the heading doesn’t interest a visitor then they aren’t even going to read the body text.

Short sentences break information down into bite sized pieces suitable to the web audience. They work well with the scan style reading of most visitors. Short paragraphs forces the writer to reduce the word count while still putting across the same message. On a sales page, the copy has two functions. Firstly to push the reader to the next sentence or paragraph. Secondly to add to the pitch by describing feature and benefits or explaining the deal or bargain. If the words don’t do both of these, they need to be deleted.

On an information page or site, the copy needs to still draw the eye to the next line or paragraph. This time however it is so it can impart the next piece of the information. The writing has to be ordered and logical, while still being concise and to the point.

Tone is important in all cases of web copy. For example a link that says “Click here now!” says something different to “Click here for more information.” Careful use of tone can entice visitors to action without making them so tired of seeing it that they don’t bother. Save the exclamation marks for when you really need them.

Good web copy works with the overall design and nestles comfortably within images and the navigation. It guides the visitor to follow the direction we want, to the offers or page we want while entertaining them on the way. The copy plays as much of a role in directing the visitors navigation as the actual navigation functions do. Crafting the words to illicit a desired response is the whole point of sales copy, and the sign of a good website.