Colin Klinkert Dot Com

When the internet was young and web programming languages like JavaScript were first coming out, a flashy website was a big customer draw. Now, all those flashy graphics and design structures are passé. These days, internet users are far more sophisticated and are very skilled at finding the exact content that they are looking for. With that in mind, here’s a piece of advice: Forget flashiness, focus on content.

The term “bounce rate” refers to how many people dig into your site. If people link to one of your pages, but then immediately click out to another site, that is a bounce. If they look at one of your pages and then click through to another section of your website, that is a stick.

Which is more likely to cause people to stick around on your website, flashy graphics or compelling and informative content? If your content is well-written and engaging, and it provides the value of either information or entertainment to your audience, then people will stick around and spend time with your site.

Whether your website is designed to sell a certain product or makes its money from advertising, the longer a viewer stays on your site, the better. If the viewer immediately leaves, you won’t be able to charge top advertising rates on the site, and if they leave immediately, you never have a chance to sell them a product.

Compelling content is one of the most important, if not the most important, factor when it comes to creating a website that will be profitable.

Look at websites that attract you. How is the content delivered? Where are the big pieces of information located within that content? How easy is it to link from one piece of content to another interesting article or webpage? Apply the techniques that work for you to your own site.

Something I plan on doing in future is adding a training series via email for my members to opt-in to. try to deliver content in as many different ways as possible to appeal to all your readers prefered viewing and learning methods.

What Do I Mean By Scannable Content?

Did you know that only 16% of people on the internet actually read each word, and….the typical reader comprehends about 60% of it? So, this in a nutshell, should tell you why it’s vital to your success to make your blog content scannable.

You are writing a blog to effectively communicate with your readers. Let’s take a look at your style and find out if your blog is easy to read.

What are some of the main things a reader is looking for?

They are looking for words or phrases, pictures and/or visual cues along with powerful headings.

Reading text from a screen is actually harder on the eyes than reading from a paper source. By making your scannable blog content, you will be inviting more to read your blog without ever asking them to.

How Do You Know If Your Blog is Scannable?

Do a simple test; have a friend who has not seen your site, take a look at your most recent blog posts. After about 30 seconds, at the end of each post, ask them what they had read, what was the message of the post? You will instantly have a send of how interactive your blog content is.

There are a few techniques you should keep in mind as you write, which will make your blog scannable and easy to read:

• Visual - Pictures are an important factor in attracting the reader. According to research, pictures will draw the readers’ eyes down the page. The key is to place your pictures in the area of content they represent, drawing attention to the keywords in your blog. If you have good visuals, the chance of them reading the full content is much higher.
• Formatting Your Text – You can make your text eye-catching by using CAPITALS, underlining, bold, italics, and different fonts to get their attention. Don’t go crazy with this, it can cause a bit of frustration if overdone. Also, make your font color, size and style easy to read, drawing attention to your key points.
• Bullet Points – Readers love bullets and lists, easy to read, and the information is to the point.
• Headings – Use large words in bold that can be a visual cue to the blog content, sub-headings are also helpful.
• Quotes – If you have quotes or key points, place [boxes around them].
• Keep the Ideas Brief - Keeping the information short and simple will allow you to keep their attention. By bringing in too many points, the reader can become overwhelmed with too much information.

The goal is to make great blog content that is scannable, if you don’t, you may lose your reader to another blog, one that is easy to read.

Has my blog been easy to read so far?

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