One of the main keys for an effective ad agency blog is to understand how people read on the web.
And how do users read on the web? The answer is, they don’t ... they scan.
Nielsen Norman Group ’s research found that 79 percent of their test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.
For your agency’s blog to be effective, your text must be scannable.
Jakob Nielsen offers this advice:
- highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
- meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones)
- bulleted lists
- one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
- the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
- half the word count (or less) than conventional writin
Nielsen’s research also found that users detested “marketese”; the promotional writing style with boastful claims.… Continue reading
