Let’s face it, a lot of businesses use their website to provide information, so it’s not uncommon for one page to contain 1,000 to 2,500 words. I stress that wordy webpages are only necessary if the content adds value and is expected by your target audience. The good news is that studies show that pages with that amount of text tend to experience the highest user engagement. The challenge is that few people are going to take that much time to read a block of text, especially one that is up to 2,000 words in length.
This is where hiring a professional web designer pays dividends. Experienced designers are trained to take voluminous content and break it up visually. Great results are achieved when breaking up content into keyword rich subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists. Introducing lots of white space between concise paragraphs, and using relevant images further helps enrich the presentation and keeps the reader’s attention.
If large blocks of text are unavoidable, structure content like an upside-down pyramid or cone. The most important messages go at the top of the page. Then, gradually drill down to the more specific, supporting information. End with tangential details. This allows the visitors with shorter attention spans to get what they need quickly, while still providing the 'beef' to those looking for more detail.
It might seem logical that the more words there are, the longer visitors will spend on your website. But I caution my Clients against being wordy. Best results are obtained when the text is free of fluff and provides quality useful and interesting information. Actionable content is what keeps readers attention and increases engagement.
When designing a page with lots of text, I like to think of people who will skim the site’s content rather than read it. When formatting for those people, the page generally ranks well and gets plenty of user engagement in the process.
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