It’s a sad fact that in modern times, people are starting to read less and less. This is particularly true when it comes to online content. It’s very rare that people actually read until the very end of an article or a piece of content. Most people either skim through the text or read about halfway through. It’s thought that only around 65% of people actually read two-thirds of a text, and even then it will have to have been something very interesting for them to get that far.
The fact that patience for reading is going down is something that you have to take into account when you are writing your website content. Here we will look at the reasons why less is more when it comes to written content, and how you can make what you have seen comprehensive and informative.
How Long Content Effects Your Site
Because so many people are reading less, along with people who are considered “non-readers,” having lots of written content is considered quite harmful if you are looking for an audience reaction out of your copy. For example, if you have an about us page that is quite long and goes into detail about how you founded your website or business, people may start switching off and turning to something else.
It is now generally considered that 300 words are the amount you should be aiming for in order to keep people interested. If the text is well written and tightly edited, then you can get all the detail needed for an about us page into 300 words.
What Should Be Reduced?
If you are looking to reduce the amount of web content you have, then you need to think long and hard about what you want to remove. There is nothing wrong with refining the site, but you have to be careful not to remove content that is helping to generate traffic. Your SEO optimization could be severely harmed if you just cut out pieces of text where your keyword appears often.
If you do want to cut down text but you really like the content, there are ways in which you can post it in a different form. For example, you could change the text into some form of the infographic so then it appears as an engaging photo instead of just plain text. You could also try and turn the text into a YouTube video that you can embed onto the site.
There are many websites that have cut down their content to such an extent that they only have one page. This has worked for some sites, but there is no guarantee that it will for you. If you think that you can attempt something like that, then you should seriously think about it before you start cutting text. If you take away too much, then you site’s status could be seriously damaged. If it’s done properly, however, it could make your site more popular than ever.
Try To Create Sound Bytes
Sound bytes can have a very positive effect if they are executed properly. If you can come up with good use of words, then it can really improve your chances of turning a website visitor into a lead. It is also a great way of cutting down some of the content you have and replacing it with something that will help grab people’s attention.
This is why politicians use sound bytes all the time. They are the comments that are most likely to be quoted by newspapers and the rest of the media, mainly because they are so memorable and noticeable. If you use sound bytes in your content, they will be the phrases and sentences that people are more likely to remember. This is particularly true of non-readers who do not like to be sitting reading through big blocks of text.
Avoid Repeating Yourself
It’s very easy when you are writing content to start repeating yourself. You can find yourself going over the same points over and over again but with different words. To avoid this, you need to read through your content and see if you repeat any of the same information again.
When you do look at your content like this, you do find that you repeat yourself more often than you think. When you do find repeated content, you may also find some words or phrases that you think can still have a very good effect on your audience. If you do, then you can always try and turn them into effective sound bytes, thus dealing with two issues at once.
If you are able to follow these methods, then you should be able to create website content that is effective without being too long and drawn out. However, you must proceed with caution when you are editing content that has been bringing in many visitors. If you fail to edit properly, then it could harm the reach of your site and its search ranking. Done properly, however, and you should be able to reap the benefits of having a leaner and tighter website that is more appealing to people who either don’t read or like to skim through content.
