Written on September 23rd, 2004 at 04:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Get to the Point
The average person reading speed is 200 words per minute - What’s Yours? (The speed reading record is 1347 wpm)
In 96 seconds they will read 320 words.
So keep things short and to the point. I know this sounds crazy coming from me - but the stats show my longer posts are often largely are ignored.
EXTENDED ENTRY - If you’re going to write a long post - consider writing a punchy introduction that makes your main points so that when your reader gets the ‘itch to click’ they’ve grasped your message. After the introduction refer your readers via a ‘read more’ link to another page for the rest of your post if they want to know the details. (MT’s Extended Entry feature is handy way to do this automatically).
MULTIPLE POSTS - consider breaking your long post down into multiple entries to be posted over a period of time - be sure to link them to one another.
7 Responses to “Get to the Point”
LivingRoom >> A space for Life
January 1st, 2005 10:03 pm
Blog Tip 1 - Get to the Point
The average person reads 200 words per minute - What’s Yours? (The speed reading record is 1347 wpm) In 96 seconds they will read 320 words. So keep things short and to the point. I know this sounds crazy…
canadian pharmacies
April 1st, 2005 12:58 pm
In Zeiten von massenhaft Websitenmüll im Internet eine sehr gut aufgebaute Website, nicht überdimensioniertes Design und sehr gut recher-schierte Hintergrundinformationen.
Matt
July 24th, 2005 11:26 pm
This may be my downfall. I tend to ramble. I will work to stop that.
Matt
July 24th, 2005 11:27 pm
Hey, that was pretty good! Look! Only three, really really short sentences! Maybe I’ll be able to do it after all.
Hey, wait. I’m rambling now, aren’t I? Doh! Shutting up now.
Hehe
Troy Worman
January 5th, surf zone.7:54 am
Darren,
Excellent advice. Thank you.
BBD
June 20th, surf zone.3:49 am
I agree, short and to the point is the way to go when doing some kind of intro on a blog site. Most readers know what they’re looking for, or have some kind of assumption as to what they’re about to read. If they land at your site, begin reading, and feel that after the first paragraph or two that the content is not meeting their expectations, or not driving the point they thought it would, then they will most likely leave the site.
Keeping attention is a must.
Self Hypnosis
August 3rd, 2007 9:35 am
There is a “read more” wordpress plugin that I frequently use, very SEO friendly avoding dupe blog content.
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