The goldfish is popularly believed to have a very short attention span – something approaching seven seconds.
Strangely enough, that’s about the same attention span of the average web surfer; if you don’t catch them quickly, they will escape your net.
Websites should be more of a derby than Grand National – in other words, no obstacles in the path of the visitor to your site.
Don’t expect them to work hard to get your message – they won’t, they’ll just leave and find another, ‘easier’ website.
You might be surprised to know that, generally, visitors to your website don’t read it at all.
Is this because you don’t write killer copy? Is it because they’re not interested in your products or services?
Or is there some other mysterious reason?
Of course, copy plays a part in attracting people to your website, but you can easily prevent them from reading perfectly good copy by presenting it illegibly.
Web design and readability don’t always go hand-in-hand. Most web designers have not been trained in how people read, only in making a page visually attractive.
The problem is that words are often seen as a visual element rather than a message that needs to be read to ensure people move through the site.
So there are number of issues to consider:
- Copy must be clear and concise, must resonate, and must guide users to where they want to go.
- Words should be in the right place for people to read easily.
- Font style and size must be easily readable.
- Words need to be in a colour and on a background that aids, rather than hinders, the reading process.
It’s important that your message is written for the reader and engages with them quickly. This means you need to know what people are looking for when they come to your website – and make sure that you let them know they’re in the right place as quickly as possible.
If you don’t make that connection in the first six or seven seconds, you may have lost them. We’re all really quick to click that ‘back’ button and visit somewhere that loads quicker and is easier to navigate.
If your headline connects with the reader you’ve a better chance of keeping them. So, your headline needs to:
- Engage with them (tells them you’re going to solve their problem or that you understand their issue).
- Be the biggest thing on the page (at least 18 point in size).
- Be in the right place (about one third of the way down the screen – ‘prime real estate’, where most people’s eyes fall on the screen).
That’s the first step.
People read screens in an ‘F’ pattern – they scan rather than read.
So what else will encourage them to read your copy?
- On screen, a serif font is harder to read. So Verdana, Arial or Tahoma are good; Times New Roman, Palatino and Garamond less so.
- The font size needs to be at least 10 point, and darker than the background. White (or light) writing on a dark background dazzles the eye (unless it’s big and bold).
- Paragraphs should be left aligned. Justified text creates a nice neat block, but makes it easier for the reader to lose their place (and can create some awkward gaps between words as lines are forced to a particular length).
- A few key words in bold will help draw the user’s gaze to key points – invaluable given that people tend to scan on the web – but don’t pepper your text with bold words. Less is more.
- Turn important points into a bullet-point list – people find lists easier to digest than paragraphs.
- Remember to write what they want to know – not everything you want to tell them. And too much information will scare them away.
Finally, don’t assume that visitors will arrive on your home page; if they’ve searched on Google for a particular term or phrase, they won’t.
Ensure that every page engages the reader with the subject matter.
This is a good start to creating web pages that keep people on your site. The longer they stay, the higher the likelihood that they’ll buy.
Happy fishing.
