Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 3:41:31 GMT
At the beginning of each Web Writing course, as soon as I enter the classroom, I ask the participants the fateful question: "how long should web texts be?" 80% of my students, despite not yet knowing the rudiments of writing for the web, respond proudly and convinced: "texts for the web must be concise and short!" The "myth of brevity" of texts for the web This response, influenced by what has been read and professed for years, is certainly conditioned by the studies conducted by Jakob Nielsen , master of web usability and founder way back in 1997 of the "myth of brevity" according to which the reader scans the web page in just a few seconds , without reading it carefully and avoiding scrolling. The teaching for generations of copywriters, widely accepted by the undersigned and the subject of this post , was: on the web it is useless to dwell (the reader doesn't read anyway) , it is better to write short texts! Well. In this article I will go into detail (yes) and explain to you why brevity has remained , in fact, only a myth... Jakob-Nielsen The longform era has begun I was lucky enough to attend the 2016 edition of C-Come , an event dedicated to writing and content for the web, and to follow Luisa Carrada 's enlightening speech "Writing long texts (and taking the reader to the end)" .
In support of the longform , the long article typical of magazines and highly Paraguay Phone Number appreciated in the United States, Luisa Carrada cited numerous examples including the article “What ISIS really wants” which, with its 10,500 words , turned out to be the most read in 2015. And if you think that no reader has had the courage to get to the last line, you are very wrong: in fact it seems that as many as 25% of readers have read it in its entirety. In support of this position, Luisa Carrada also reported other data: the posts that attract the most visits have between 2,250 and 2,500 words the most shared texts on social networks are those with more than 2,500 words . There has clearly been a reversal of the trend. How come? Why write long texts for the web: what has changed Something has changed, starting from Google's mechanism for evaluating sites: until recently, to "please" the algorithm it was enough to produce a text of 300 words, but now we know that Google rewards longer texts because, generally, they are more informative and useful for the reader, as well as guaranteeing more incoming links and shares on social networks. Web design has also progressively accustomed us to consulting increasingly "longer and more scrollable" sites and, thanks to the spread of responsive sites , it guarantees us more pleasant reading conditions, even on mobile devices.
In short, we can truly say that users are getting used to reading even very long texts on the web, without showing signs of impatience and abandoning the article after a few seconds, as Nielsen claimed. 10 tips for writing long texts Writing long texts and taking the reader to the end of the text is a difficult task, even for the most experienced copywriter. Here are Luisa Carrada's tips for achieving this: Ambassador title The title has always been important for the success of a text, today it is even more so because it is its "ambassador" on search engines as well as on social networks. Make the title clear but also curious and "memorable". Promise subtitle Completes the title, adds details and contains the "promise" that arouses curiosity and convinces. Don't neglect it, ever. Distributed abstract When faced with a long text, the reader tends to quickly scroll down the entire page reading the titles of the individual parameters. If the titles are clear and convincing, the user will decide to read the entire article. As you write, pay attention to the structure of the text and carefully position paragraphs and titles. Visual rhythm When you choose the structure of your text, don't exaggerate in one direction or the other: it's good to know that "wall" texts don't encourage reading, but even those that are too fragmented (with short sentences, where you always end up ) are not very effective.
In support of the longform , the long article typical of magazines and highly Paraguay Phone Number appreciated in the United States, Luisa Carrada cited numerous examples including the article “What ISIS really wants” which, with its 10,500 words , turned out to be the most read in 2015. And if you think that no reader has had the courage to get to the last line, you are very wrong: in fact it seems that as many as 25% of readers have read it in its entirety. In support of this position, Luisa Carrada also reported other data: the posts that attract the most visits have between 2,250 and 2,500 words the most shared texts on social networks are those with more than 2,500 words . There has clearly been a reversal of the trend. How come? Why write long texts for the web: what has changed Something has changed, starting from Google's mechanism for evaluating sites: until recently, to "please" the algorithm it was enough to produce a text of 300 words, but now we know that Google rewards longer texts because, generally, they are more informative and useful for the reader, as well as guaranteeing more incoming links and shares on social networks. Web design has also progressively accustomed us to consulting increasingly "longer and more scrollable" sites and, thanks to the spread of responsive sites , it guarantees us more pleasant reading conditions, even on mobile devices.
In short, we can truly say that users are getting used to reading even very long texts on the web, without showing signs of impatience and abandoning the article after a few seconds, as Nielsen claimed. 10 tips for writing long texts Writing long texts and taking the reader to the end of the text is a difficult task, even for the most experienced copywriter. Here are Luisa Carrada's tips for achieving this: Ambassador title The title has always been important for the success of a text, today it is even more so because it is its "ambassador" on search engines as well as on social networks. Make the title clear but also curious and "memorable". Promise subtitle Completes the title, adds details and contains the "promise" that arouses curiosity and convinces. Don't neglect it, ever. Distributed abstract When faced with a long text, the reader tends to quickly scroll down the entire page reading the titles of the individual parameters. If the titles are clear and convincing, the user will decide to read the entire article. As you write, pay attention to the structure of the text and carefully position paragraphs and titles. Visual rhythm When you choose the structure of your text, don't exaggerate in one direction or the other: it's good to know that "wall" texts don't encourage reading, but even those that are too fragmented (with short sentences, where you always end up ) are not very effective.