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Nobody Surfs the Internet Anymore. They Hunt!

Welcome to the Internet, forget all the correct syntax that you learned in high school. Online visitors are hunting for information, if you can’t provide it immediately, they leave. According to tracking studies, visitors scan the text on pages, and today almost no one reads word-by-word. Visitors, in a matter of seconds, will scan your page picking out headlines, highlighted words, bulleted lists and links.

Here are some tips for writing web pages for the Internet:

• Use main headings and sub-headings on the page.
• Use a lot of white space on the page
• Don’t put more than 600 words on a page
• Develop short tight paragraphs (reduce your text by 50% or more)
• Use bullets to highlight benefits or features
• Use bold text to make a point
• Write in clear short form:
• Use “%” instead of “percent”
• Use “2” instead of “two”

Write in a neutral, objective, credible style - don’t use hype, buzz or exaggerated words. Your visitors have seen this before and they won’t buy it.

Below is a summary of the studies below:

Standard block of text
Writing concisely (text reduced by 50%)
Scannable layout (use of bullets and spacing on the page)
Write in neutral, objective, and credible style
All the above combined

Increased usability

0%

58%

47%

27%

124%

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/writing-numbers.html
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Current studies show that reduced content, increased click-through 100%
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/analytics-testing/email-test-shorter-copy.html