I joke about this a lot. Clients, potential clients, designers, even other copywriters say “does it matter? No one reads websites!” and I say “Yeah, but Google does!” But is SEO the only reason to get good quality copy written for your website? Nope. Hell nope.
People do read your website, maybe not every word, but before they decide to part with money, they will read over your about us page, maybe your testimonials, and probably your product page. There are even Government Guidelines on how to write content for websites!
So let’s take a quick look at how people read online.
1. People scan text, but not the way they used to
The Nielson Norman Group eye-tracking study is what people quote when they lecture me on how people read web pages. This “ground-breaking” (sarcastic quotes) study was carried out in 1997… Yup! TWENTY-THREE years ago. Before social media, and long before mobile browsing.
Before everyone jumps in and corrects me, yes they have updated their guidance with the results of 2 more recent studies, the latest in 2019. I’ll get to that guidance in a quick second because a lot of it is good advice, but I just want to highlight that you do not need to read the results of this survey as the gospel truth.
Firstly, because the studies are incredibly small with only 500 participants across the 3 studies (2019 had only 60 participants and it was called ‘large-scale’ by the firm), secondly they are not controlled (everyone knows they are in an eye-tracking study), and finally they are not diverse.
If I told you that I asked 60 people in my village to give feedback on your products and recommended that you edit your sales strategy based on that information, you would (rightly) tell me to get lost. So don’t resist improving your text based on one study!
2. People only read about a third of a page…until
Until they find what they are looking for…that’s the key point. Yes, I will only scan a home page, but that’s because I’m looking for something specific. For instance, if I’m looking for a review of a Ninja Multi-cooker thingy (because I’m the only adult in the world who doesn’t own one and I don’t fully understand what it is…) then I’ll go to the site home page and barely read it, jump to the product page, skip the top and delve into the reviews. If I like what I read, I’ll scroll up and try and read the description so I can figure out if I can make yoghurt at the same time as I roast a turkey.
So write as if they are reading the whole page, but make it easy for them to get to where they are going…tips on this below, stay with me.
3. People fixate on call outs
Headings, bullet points, coloured call outs – these are the parts people are drawn to. If they like what they see in these parts, then they read the rest, so don’t dismiss the importance of breaking up the text. Treat your readers like magpies and give them shiny things to fixate on.
So how do you write content that people will actually read?
1. Know what they want to know.
If you understand what your readers are interested in finding out about, then you can create content that tells them what they want to know. It really is that simple, but your average company is so excited to showcase its shiniest sales pitch the web copy doesn’t address the pain points and answer the important questions.
2. Make it easy for them to read
There is lots of value in breaking up text (or ‘chunking’ as we call it), front-loading your copy with the most important information, highlighting important words, using bullet points and keeping your vocabulary simple.
Let’s break that out for the people who are only scanning this!
- Chunk up your text into short sections
- Use headings
- Put the most important information at the start
- Highlight important words
- Use bullet points and numbered lists
- Keep your language simple.
And that’s it! If you would like more help creating a website that engages people, get in touch.
