(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Loading ...How Users Read on the Web?
They don’t
Jakob Nielsen’s article of almost 10 years ago certainly passes the test of time.
How can we make articles more web-readible:
- Be concise. Less is more
- Keep paragraphs short (25-40 words)
- Use short posts. Limit text to a single screen of 3-4 paragraphs.
- Use one or few links. Link indigestion disorients users. And for writers, many links cost time to assemble
- Use structure & graphics. Put keywords in bold. Use lists instead of long paragraphs, but avoid long lists. Add useful graphs, pictures or tables
But users do not only turn to the web for immediate soundbites. For longer articles and papers providing insight, you can do the following:
- Use subheadings
- Provide a printable view
- Publish as eBook, i.e. a hierarchy of pages organised in chapters & sections (examples)
- Publish as a series of shorter articles
- Attach as pdf with a short summary