I’ve recently worked on a number of content-focused projects that made me recognize that many businesses don’t understand how website content acts as a basic building block to good Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Therefore, I plan on creating a brief series that will touch on the basics of creating content in the coming weeks. Today, I plan on going “Old School” by starting off by discussing a vintage post that I found while doing some research: How Users Read on the Web While it may be from October 1997, it contains many of the elements I plan on discussing in the coming weeks.
Generally, I agree with this premise but I think that it’s overly broad and should be modified to: Unmotivated Users Won’t Focus. Understandably, website visitors have varying levels of motivation and some may be more willing than others to sift through bad content. Furthermore, with the adoption of video and audio businesses can effectively communicate their message without creating copy.
Motivating users to focus is very important and a good place to start is creating interesting and compelling content. It’s important to understand that the subject is not the only factor that makes content interesting and compelling; I’ll touch on some other factors that can even make “industrial valves & fittings” interesting in the coming weeks.
Businesses that keep their website users in mind will be more successful than those that write for the masses. A good understanding of user needs will help businesses create content that users value, increasing website use and conversion into customers. For example, visitors to the website of an electrical supply distributor specializing in commercial equipment will find much more value in content targeted toward commercial work than residential work. While this example is pretty obvious, I’ll discuss some others later in the series that aren’t.
Most people understand the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method; I think that the results of the measured usability kept it simple and understandable. Essentially, the test measured the improved usability when making website copy concise, scannable, objective and a combination of the three. The summary table can be seen here:
| Site Version | Sample Paragraph | Usability Improvement
(relative to control condition) |
|---|---|---|
| Promotional writing (control condition)
using the “marketese” found on many commercial websites |
Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446). | 0%
(by definition) |
| Concise text
with about half the word count as the control condition |
In 1996, six of the best-attended attractions in Nebraska were Fort Robinson State Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park. | 58% |
| Scannable layout
using the same text as the control condition in a layout that facilitated scanning |
Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were:
|
47% |
| Objective language
using neutral rather than subjective, boastful, or exaggerated language |
Nebraska has several attractions. In 1996, some of the most-visited places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446). | 27% |
| Combined version
using all three improvements in writing style together: concise, scannable, and objective |
In 1996, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were:
|
124% |
Source: How Users Read on the Web
Miraculously, creating content that was concise, scannable and objective improved usability by 124%. While time may have affected the exact numbers, using the KISS method in creating website content today is still worthwhile and I’ll address what is included later in the series.
What do you think about this dose of the Old School? Does it still make sense?
Bill Rowland
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Keywords: content creation, Jakok Nielsen, online marketing
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May 22, 2012. Posted under: Blog, SEO.
Last year, it was Panda. Now, it’s Penguin. Both are cute black and white animals, but also the names of Google’s changes to its algorithm that determine search results. It’s part of an effort to remove spammy websites and systems set up to game them, and fighting techniques well-known to the SEO community as gray/black hat activities (against Google’s guidelines).
Good practical back to basics stuff. Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks Paul. It’s always interesting how some stuff stands the test of time …
I was asked by boss that he needs to improve the contents of our website. Then I thought of googling to get some tips on good contents. Yours has helped me. =)