Does your SEO Copywriting pass the skim reader test?

It is about quality content, not quantity! Your site visitors have short attention spans for lengthy text and fancy marketing lingo. If you are to gain their attention your copy must answer their question in the fastest, most accessible way possible.

Ways to satisfy the skim reader

Make your introductory sentence meaningful and thorough. Burying important information deep within the page will only help your visitor decide to look elsewhere.

  • Break up long bodies of text into small, concise paragraphs which convey specific ideas will help your visitor find the information they want quickly.
  • Stick to one idea per paragraph. The visitor can then quickly scan the lead sentence and gain a clear picture of what you are offering.
  • Use concise, lingo free headings. Vague headlines are meaningless to the reader skimming a long article to see if it contains the information they are seeking.
  • Say no to marketing hype. Today's web savvy surfer has become suspicious of such things, as soon as your motive comes into question your lose credibility, trust and the visitor.
  • Place Emphasis on important text by making it boldfaced. Overuse will detract from its impact, so use it sparingly.
  • NEVER WRITE CONTENT USING ALL CAPS. IT'S HARDER TO READ AND IS OFTEN PERCEIVED AS SHOUTING, IT'S ALSO PRETTY ANNOYING.
  • Avoid using italics. Italic text is very hard to read on a monitor.
  • Spell-check. Always check for spelling errors before making the page live.

Less, but more concise content, is more on the web

Reading from a computer screen is about 25 percent slower than reading from paper. Try to cut your word count by at least 25 percent to help the monitor weary eyes of your readers.

Short, descriptive headlines that guide the reader towards the information they want can be the deciding factor as to whether a reader stays to learn more or clicks away to a competitor.

Do your pages pass the scan test?

Step back and look at your pages, do they scan, is your information easily accessible. Look at the headlines you have created, would readers be able to tell what information is presented by scanning the headlines alone?

Ask a friend or colleague who has not read your content to scan the page. Can they figure out the main points without resorting to detail? If they are unsure, or make an incorrect assumption, go back and refine your headlines and intro text.

Take the first step towards great search engine positions and generating more sales, request your free search engine optimization quote or talk us directly on +34 69 347 5142.