Do you put a lot of time and effort into your content? Do you still wonder why isn’t anyone reading your content? Despite carefully choosing your words, gathering accurate information, and investing in SEO, some content still receives no engagement. We have the solution! Scannable content is the secret to your content’s success. If content quality is a king, then “scannability” is its crown. According to a study, only 16% of readers read word for word, while the remaining 79% scan your content. How to Make your Content Scannable?
There are numerous reasons why people scan web content, ranging from a hectic lifestyle to abundantly available content and, of course, many distractions!
The internet has raised a generation of information seekers who read only what clicks them as relevant to their search. Your content is scannable because it is relevant to the user.
Because your audience is more selective and has more reading options nowadays, readers choose content that immediately convinces them that “it is worthwhile to invest their time in.”
But how do you persuade them to read your content? Format your writing to make your content easy to read and understand for your reader in order to capture their attention. Not sure where to start? These tips will help you make your content scannable and work practically.
Tips on How to Make your Content Scannable
Here are some steps to enthrall your audience and make your work scannable:
● Scan-Friendly Writing
Writing long paragraphs is not a problem, but writing paragraphs with more weight is necessary and appreciated. Keep a few things in mind when creating any type of content.
● Make it Brief
Keep your sentences and paragraphs as short as possible. Rather than long-paragraph writing, the goal should be to write clear sentences that are easy to understand and digest.
● Attractive Intro
Any writing’s opening statement, or first line, is the most readable part of the text that grabs the reader’s attention. Your content should address the reader’s search intention to capture their attention or pique their interest. You can use the AIDA formula.
● Avoid Repetition
Avoid repeating the same information in different words and styles. It annoys readers.
● Choose Simple Words
Using long and fancy words may sound impressive, but it makes the writing inaccessible to the reader.
● Use Headings and Sub-headings
Headings and sub-headings help readers click on the relevancy of the content. It is one of the essential aspects of making your content scannable because it provides a quick overview of the content.
The majority of readers won’t read your article from beginning to end. They, therefore, desire to read some crucial information in accordance with their needs. With the aid of headings and subheadings, readers can determine which sections contain what information and which are worth their valuable time.
Headers (H1, H2, H3) keep your content focused, connected, and organized. These headings outline your content so readers can grasp its context without reading.
Your headline should be intriguing and clear so that the readers can tell what kind of content is inside.
● Formatting Is Essential
Sometimes important vocabulary gets lost in the sea of words. Make sure to highlight those crucial phrases and words. If you don’t want your audience to stray away, you need to bring something to their attention that will make them stop at your writing. There are many ways to make your content more engaging.
– Create content thoughtfully and highlight keywords and phrases with italics, bold fonts, and appropriate font sizes. This way, you can highlight important sentences but use them sparingly so as not to look too cluttered.
– Use block quotes to your advantage. You can use block quotes to highlight statistics, quotes, or any crucial data. Block quotes help the most important parts of the text to stand out.
● Bullet Points Make Your Content Scannable
Bullets take the scanning game up a notch. If you have a series of points, place them in bulleted or numbered lists rather than paragraphs to make it easier for visitors to scan the points quickly.
It keeps your content in prominent chunks.
Bulleted content can also be helpful for your SEO. This can give a positive signal to Google for ranking purposes.
● Add Relevant and helpful Links
Add links to other authoritative content in your articles and give readers something worth clicking on. A survey found that the second most significant SEO factor was the anchor text of links to other sites.
– It validates your content and adds weight to your writing.
– Additionally, it grabs the attention of scanners and keeps them engaged with authenticating the statements.
● Adding Images Plays a Major Role
This is the smartest and the secret hack of all the tips on how to make your content scannable. Adding visual content to your writing takes it to the next level and helps you get more engagement. A study proves that visuals help in engaging the audience.
Add images to your content that reflect on it. It helps increase the chances of readers making it to the end of your post.
– Use images that have information related to your content.
– You can use infographics, vibrant photos, and other pictures.
– Ensure the size and graphics resolution appear on the screen. They shall not be too big that a readers get tired of scrolling down nor too small that they need to zoom in.
● Add Space and Break it down
There’s another easy way to make your content more readable. Spacing your content well will keep your readers away from feeling overwhelmed.
Even complex content can be made more reader-friendly simply by adding adequate white space. Spacing your writing makes it easier for the eye to follow the content.
Final Thoughts on How to Make your Content Scannable
Making your content scannable is essential because it gets readers’ attention, compels them to read, and helps them find relevant information, making your content readable, visible, and full of engagement! Apply these tips to improve your content, or consider updating an older one.
Let us know how effectively these tips increase your readers’ engagement. If your previous content wasn’t scannable, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean your next one won’t be. Just keep working hard and smart!
Authored by Afsheen Khan
Edited by Yara Fakhoury
“Fujn fuses learning with earning in a fun way. Fujn is made by women for women. Ladies, dare to reimagine your possibilities! Check us out at www.Fujn.us, Fusion spelled F. U. J. N”
