How you format the text on your church website has a huge affect on whether people will read it and whether they will share it.
People don’t read websites the same way they read books.
When we read books, we tend to be focused and interested in the entire book. We’re willing to read long paragraphs because we want to understand the story or the subject matter of the book.
But when we read web pages, we’re usually surrounded by distractions. We tend to skim web pages, look for the specific information we’re hoping to find, and find it quickly as possible. When we come across long paragraphs we often read the first line, and unless it really captures our attention, we skip to the next paragraph.
5 Tips for Writing Skimmable Web Pages
Here are some tips that will help visitors skim your website and get the info they want.
- Use short paragraphs
- Use bold headings to help readers know what each section of text is about
- Use bullets points (or numbered bullet points like this)
- Break long pages up into multiple smaller pages
- Get to the point. Don’t ramble.
How text formatting affects search rankings
Good text formatting not only helps your existing visitors, but it will help bring new visitors to your church website.
Think about it… if you come across a web page with long paragraphs that you skim or skip over, are you likely to share that page on social media or link to it? Probably not. That’s why I say…
If your web pages are not easy to read, they are not easy to share.
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Comment and discuss:
- Have you noticed the way text is formatted affecting the way you read it?
- Have you noticed text formatting affecting the pages you share or link to?
Read other posts in this series…
7) Limit Text Colors and Fonts << Best Church Websites 9) Use Quality Images