Clicking vs. scrolling for the mobile web
My favorite piece of advice for determining the length of a web page came from friend and fellow writing coach Jeff Herrington: “Think index cards, not toilet paper.”
In other words: Write more shorter pages.
Indeed, writing more shorter web pages has long been the rule of thumb for content length. But does this guideline still make sense? Should we write more shorter pages for clickers? Or fewer longer pages for scrollers?
In other words, should you write index cards or toilet paper?
Laptops, desktops: index cards
That original best practice of creating more shorter web pages was based on research showing that readers:
- Pay more attention to the copy above the fold. People spend 74% of their viewing time on the first two screens, according to 2018 research by the Nielsen Norman Group. What if they never make it to your call to action? To get more of your website’s copy above the fold, create more shorter pages. …
So how long should your web page be? Read more. >>>
How can you increase reading on smartphones?
It’s 48% harder to understand information on a smartphone than on a laptop. So how do you make your writing style easy to understand — even on the small screen?
Learn how to write readable web pages that don't overwhelm mobile readers at Reach Readers Online — our web-writing workshop starting on Oct. 23.
You’ll learn proven-in-the-lab best practices for increasing web page usability up to 124% … how to pass a simple test for writing paragraphs visitors can read on mobile … and how to avoid making visitors “visibly angry” at verbose sites that waste their time.
Save upto $100 with our group discounts.
