Creating readable content How do you write content that people will read. We read online differently to reading in print

1. H O W T O G E T P E O P L E
T O ( A C T U A L LY ) R E A D
Y O U R C O N T E N T

2. B R I A N
T E E M A N
• @brianteeman
• http://brian.teeman.net
• @the_bar_with_beer_later

3. W H E R E
D O P E O P L E R E A D ?

4. 5 0 %
P H O N E

5. 5 0 %
L A P T O P

6. 5 0 %
TA B L E T

7. “ I M A K E U P S TA T I S T I C S
1 5 0 % O F T H E T I M E ”

8. W H Y
D O P E O P L E R E A D ?

9. R E P U TAT I O N
• You are the expert
• It’s always interesting
• It’s sometimes entertaining
• Don’t waste their time

10. A U T H O R I T Y
• You are the expert
• It’s always accurate
• It’s sometimes useful
• Don’t waste their time

11. H E A D L I N E
A N D P R O M I S E
• You won’t believe what
happened next
• Clickbait
• Don’t disappoint
• Don’t waste their time

12. “ F O O L M E O N C E , S H A M E O N Y O U
F O O L M E T W I C E , S H A M E O N M E ”

13. H O W
D O P E O P L E R E A D ?

14. T O O L O N G -
D I D N ’ T R E A D
• Not one single comment
• Lowest page time on
google analytics
• I will read that later
• Too much like hard work

15. T O O W I D E -
D I D N ’ T R E A D
• Can’t scan to find the key
points
• Jump up and down when
moving to next line
• Difficult to concentrate
• Too much like hard work

16. T O O D E N S E -
D I D N ’ T R E A D
• Looks boring
• College term paper
• Hard to concentrate
• Too much like hard work

17. F
PAT T E R N

18. “ T H I N K B E F O R E Y O U S P E A K .
R E A D B E F O R E Y O U T H I N K ”
F R A N L E B O W I T Z

19. W R I T E
T H E T E X T

20. F O C U S O N
T H E W O R D S
• No distractions
• Concentrate on expressing
your thoughts
• Formatting comes later
• No misunderstanding

21. S H O R T E R I S
B E T T E R
• Easier to read
• Quicker to read
• Forces you to be precise
• No misunderstanding

22. T H R O W
G R A M M A R O U T
• Short sentences
• One idea per paragraph
• Bullet point lists are good
• No misunderstanding

23. S I M P L I C I T Y
• Reduce the word count
• Remove introductions and
detailed explanations
• Reduce complexity and
increase readability
• No misunderstanding

24. T O P T I P

25. H E M M I N G WAY

26. H E M I N G WA YA P P. C O M

27. H E M M I N G WAY
• Highlights long, complex
sentences
• Identify reading level
• Remove adverbs
• No misunderstanding

28. T O P T I P

29. S P 0 I L E R S
• Tell them what you are
going to tell them at the
beginning
• Then tell them what you
said you were going to tell
them
• Summarise what you just
told them
• No one likes spoilers!!

30. “ S I M P L I C I T Y I S T H E
F I N A L A C H I E V E M E N T … ”
F R E D E R I C C H O P I N

31. F O R M A T
T H E T E X T

32. L E T I T
B R E AT H E
• White space is good. It
highlights the content
• Less daunting
• Easier to scan
• More reader friendly

33. I T ’ S N O T
H A R D T O D O
• Practice makes perfect
• The more you do it the
more natural it is
• Benefits are quick to see
• Let’s try it now

34. T O O D E N S E

35. A D D W H I T E S PA C E

36. E A S Y T O S C A N

37. “ I F I T TA K E S A L O T O F W O R D S
T O S A Y W H A T Y O U H A V E I N
M I N D - G I V E I T M O R E T H O U G H T ”
D E N N I S R O T H

38. H E A D L I N E S
M A K E T H E M C O U N T

39. C O N C I S E A N D
I N F O R M AT I V E
• Short
• Rich in information
• Have meaning without the
full content
• Honest

40. M Y W O R S T
H E A D L I N E
• Top 10 Joomla Extensions
• Misleading
• (Dishonest)
• Clickbait

41. M Y B E S T
H E A D L I N E
• Joomla 3.4 Hidden SEO
Secret - Revealed
• Everyone likes a secret
• Clear and accurate
description of the content
• Shared on social media

42. T O P T I P
H T T P : / /
W W W. P O R T E N T. C O M /
T O O L S / T I T L E - M A K E R

50. “ O N A V E R A G E , 8 O U T O F 1 0
P E O P L E W I L L R E A D H E A D L I N E
C O P Y, B U T O N LY 2 O U T O F
1 0 W I L L R E A D T H E R E S T ”
C O P Y B L O G G E R . C O M

51. P R O M O T E
T H E C O N T E N T

52. T E L L T H E
W O R L D
• Great headline
• Great content
• Great text
• Make it easy to share

53. S H A R E W I T H
T H E W O R L D
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+ ?
• Make it easy to share

54. W E A L L L O V E C U T E C A T S

55. R E C O M M E N D E D R E A D I N G
J A K O B N I E L S E N
H T T P : / / W W W. N N G R O U P. C O M /
S T E V E K R U G
H T T P S : / / W W W. S E N S I B L E . C O M
B B C
H T T P : / / W W W. B B C . C O . U K /
A C A D E M Y / J O U R N A L I S M