The #1 purpose of the good website is to provide value for the readers. But how to get readers? With valuable and well-written content. No one will get value from the site if no one reads it.
To get the visitors read your content, you need to make the content appealing. One important thing is to add relevant images. But today we concentrate how to make your text look good.
6 Tips for Readable Text (confirmed by an Online Millionaire)
(1) Use Small Paragraphs
(2) Separate Your Ideas With Headings
(3) Use Black Text (or Dark Grey) on White Background
(4) Use Conversational Speak
(5) Choose a Relevant and Captivating Headline
(6) Use Relevant Images
(1) Use Small Paragraphs. People in internet don’t want to read long paragraphs. People are used to read small snippets like maximum 140 characters in Twitter.
Sometimes people just skim through texts and blogs without reading them carefully. If your paragraphs are short, they are easier to skim through.
One sentence paragraphs are totally okay.
Got it? 😉
(2) Separate Your Ideas With Headings. As you can see in this text for example I have separated different ideas with subheadings. It’s easy to see when the new idea starts and when the other ends.
Separating your ideas with headings helps navigating. Another benefit is that good sub-headings can captivate the reader for the longer time in your website. Good headings leave the reader curious.
(3) Use Black Text (or Dark Grey) on White Background. You don’t want that your website looks like a circus show.
What do think about this? Do different colors give me authority? No.
Black text on white background is easy-to-read and it looks more professional than many different colors.
You can exceptionally use a bit of some colors like I have done in the end of my reviews. But only exceptionally. Don’t overuse colors. Black text on white background is cool and effective.
(4) Use Conversational Speak. Lay back. It’s just you and me.
Don’t use too formal text. People want that the text is easy to read and understand. Usually the best teachings are so easy that even a child can understand the message.
Usually You-form is the most effective because then the reader has the feeling that you are talking right to him/her.
(5) Choose a Relevant and Captivating Headline. You want people to read your text. You need to captivate their attention with the relevant headline.
Don’t tell everything in the headline. Leave people a bit curious. But say something that they are would like to hear. If your website’s theme is fitness and healthy lifestyle, great headline could be for example “How to get fit in two months?” People want to get fit fast and they want to know how to do it.
(6) Use Relevant Images. People are visual by nature. We get used to images already in the childhood when our parents read us children’s books.
Great images make our content more lively, it helps to remember the text better and it makes the whole website more appealing. (How to find free images.)
Summary
These six principles are great guidelines for you when you are writing texts. Remember, there can sometimes be exceptions but by using these principles your text will be very user-friendly. Your visitors will spend more time on your website and you will get your message through.
(1) Use Small Paragraphs
(2) Separate Your Ideas With Headings
(3) Use Black Text (or Dark Grey) on White Background
(4) Use Conversational Speak
(5) Choose a Relevant and Captivating Headline
(6) Use Relevant Images
I hope you found these tips helpful! If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them below.
6 must use tips for writing content on an internet based post or page. The biggest one that tips me up is the short paragraphs.
When I was in school a writing teacher would give bad grades if the student always composed paragraphs with 1 or 2 sentences.
I always need to remind myself that I’m not in school and look for places to “naturally” make more paragraph breaks in order to leave more white space.
Sorry Ms. Ray
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have been taught the same at the school. “Every paragraph must be at least 3 sentences and more is recommended”, said the teacher. But the internet world is different. 🙂
Many times people are skimming for the nuggets of information so long paragraphs can make the reading quite boring but short paragraphs work better.
-Roope
Hi! Very interesting post. Your tips are very useful to a professional blogger and internet marketer. Especially the small paragraphs are very important to me. Most of the times when I click to read a blog, I want the information immediately and rarely I read the whole story if it is too long text. Thanks for your tips!
Thank you Effie. I recognize the same in me. I’m many times searching for the info so I don’t want to skim “seas” of texts. Small, for example, one sentence paragraphs can work very well.
Writing blog posts and other texts online is different than writing an essay at school or other more formal text.
I’m glad you enjoyed the tips.
-Roope