Scan-ability is a measured, objective, scientifically proven criterion
of successful written web content. While making content
easier for users to scan rather than read word-for-word
involves a number of factors, simply re-structuring
web content into sections and lists can yield stunning
improvements.
Proven Web Content Success Factor: Scan-ability
I've found that scan-able content written with web publication
in mind seriously out-performs content that was written
as though for print:
* Greater conversions (sales or leads).
* Fewer visitors leaving the web page as soon as they
arrive ("bounces").
* Longer average visits.
* More reprints (of distributed content), meaning greater
exposure and links--especially impressive considering
that most reprint article directories only allow plain
text, meaning that the formatting features that help
to make content scan-able are not available.
User tests have repeatedly demonstrated that a majority
of web users scan the page rather than read word-for-word.
In such tests, optimizing content for scan-ability has
been proven to make web content more successful--at
least, for a few measurable criteria, mainly reading
speed, comprehension, and retention (recall of what
was read). While humor, style, empathy, persuasiveness,
and other classic characteristics of good writing can't
be objectively measured, the scientific evidence shows
scan-ability is a strong foundation on which to build
strong content.
Based on the evidence, the web usability expert Jakob
Nielsen wrote guidelines for successful web writing
in the mid-late 1990s. Today, those guidelines are still
the basis for most of what's written about web content
writing, including this article.
Scan-able Web Content Example
Look at the two versions of the same content, below.
Ask yourself: which version would you be more likely
to pay attention to if you came across it?
-----------------------
Version one (traditional text mode):
Who scans website text? A large majority of web users
prefer scanning for main ideas over reading word-for-word.
Nearly all fully literate users scan--and web users
disproportionately tend to be fully literate. Even highly
literate users who are inclined to read a page word-for-word
will scan it first to make sure it will repay their
investment of reading time.
Less-literate visitors (i.e., those for whom reading
is a slow chore) cannot scan content because they simply
cannot parse text (i.e., make sense of it) fast enough.
Yet I firmly believe that scan-able content will usually
be easier to read word-for-word than traditional writing.
Scan-able content places important ideas first, so someone
reading word-for-word will comprehend more even if he
or she doesn't make it all the way to the end of the
text. Scan-able content avoids superfluous niceties
that would waste a slow reader's time.
--------------------------
Version two (scan-able mode especially for the web):
Who Scans Website Text?
A large majority of web users prefer scanning for main
ideas over reading word-for-word:
* Nearly all fully literate users scan--and web users
disproportionately tend to be fully literate.
* Even highly literate users who are inclined to read
a page word-for-word will scan it first to make sure
it will repay their investment of reading time.
* Less-literate visitors (i.e., those for whom reading
is a slow chore) cannot scan content because they simply
cannot parse text (i.e., make sense of it) fast enough.
Yet I firmly believe that scan-able content will usually
be easier to read word-for-word than traditional text-style
writing.
* Scan-able content places important ideas first, so
someone reading word-for-word will develop greater comprehension
even if he or she doesn't make it all the way to the
end of the text.
* Scan-able content avoids superfluous niceties that
would waste a slow reader's time.
----------------------------
Scan-able Web Content Structure: Sections and Lists
In the above example, the differences between version
one and version two, which use the exact same text,
are purely structural. There are other features of scan-able
content, such as keywords, sentence structure, and word
choice, but that's for another article. For now, just
look at the powerful improvements in web content you
can get simply from structural improvements, which take
two basic forms: sections and lists.
* Sections. Any web content longer than 250 words should
be divided into sections based on main ideas, with each
section having a descriptive heading. Even briefer content
can be divided into sections, though most commonly,
the simplest way to organize shorter content is with
lists. Content over 500 words can put one or two sections
each on separate web pages.
* Lists. Multiple facts, ideas, items, or any multiple
anything that have any kind of logical relationship
among each other should be placed in unordered (bulleted)
or ordered (numbered) lists if they have any importance
at all. For instance, this list of features of scan-able
web content merits a list, while "facts, ideas, items,
or any multiple " was less important and so was just
written out.
The most exciting part of optimizing content with sections
and lists is that you can optimize existing content
without changing a word: no pencil-chewing over the
right word to use, no consultation with the legal department,
no readjustment of keyword densities (though adding
headings might shake things up a bit).
To make content as scan-able and successful as possible,
you need to go deeper into issues such as logical organization,
keywords, sentence structure, and word choice. But siimply
re-structuring content into sections and lists will
provide a big boost.
About
the Author: Check out Joel Walsh's in-depth guidelines
for scan-able web content |
