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6 Habits of Online Readers and How to Write for Them

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Every writer knows that in order to create effective copy, you need to understand your audience. What makes your target audience tick? What’s important to them? And how do they read?

Well, that last part depends entirely on the medium. A novel reader is going to approach the content of a new book differently than a blog follower will tackle the content of a blog they’ve just discovered. We scour magazines differently than we read newspapers, and so on.

A lot of it has to do with the layout, but one thing is common throughout: when we’re investigating a new piece of content, our eyes move quickly and linger on specific areas before committing to the full piece.

Here are seven habits of online readers that online writers should remember.

1. Online Readers Are Online Scanners

Like all investigative readers, online readers’ eyes will trace the page quickly, catching onto specific points of entry that they’ve learned will offer the best summary of information:

  • Headlines
  • Subheadings
  • Bulleted lists
  • Captions
  • Short, concise sentences and paragraphs
  • Bolded and italicized phrases

It’s important to include your most valuable information in these elements of your web copy. If your readers were to summarize your content in a few words, what would you want them to say? These phrases should stand out so that they’re easily consumed by your visitors.

2.    Online Readers Are Niche Readers

By fully understanding the appeal of your blog—what brings people back again and again—you can more accurately cater to your specific audience. Whether your appeal is humor, valuable product reviews, organic recipes, DIY tips, etc., you need to understand who you’re writing for and refrain from deviating from that niche topic of interest. Remember that you can always create another blog if you want to try your hand at other topics.

3.    Online Readers Respond Well to Visuals

Whenever possible and applicable, complement your written copy with other forms of media, videos, images, and infographics. Make sure the layout of your copy flows in a natural way, and that your color palette is also natural. Avoid anything that looks gimmicky or cheap (i.e. flashing text). Your visuals should be tasteful and understated. It should never distract from your message or copy, but add an element of interest. Blog posts with images tend to do much better than those without.

4.    Online Readers Want You to Get to the Point

Online readers have especially short attention spans and they want their content to cut to the chase as much as possible. There’s not time for a story arc, only for the basics, which includes the 5 Ws: who, what, where, why, and when.

5.    Online Readers Want to Laugh When It’s Appropriate

Humor is a good idea when used appropriately, but you need to keep in mind the object of your copy so that your creative liberties don’t distract from or confuse your message. You want your brand and copy to have a personality that readers can relate to, but don’t overdo it. Unless your blog is specifically categorized as humor, it may end up being off-putting to readers who are just looking for specific information.

6.    Online Readers Will Click on Links

Make sure any links you include in your copy open up in a new tab so that your original page will always remain open for them to return to, but certainly don’t neglect linking out to your sources. Not only will this ensure giving credit where it’s due, but it will show your readers that you’re well-versed with online etiquette and are genuinely interested in their education on the topic.

What have you noticed about the way online readers behave as opposed to readers of print material?

Source

Nichol, Mark. “7 Tips for Writing for Online Readers.” http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-for-online-readers/. (December 24, 2014.)

Staying Organized When You’re Working Anywhere

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With great freedom comes great responsibility. And great risk. When you’re working on your own time, in your own environment, it’s not hard to succumb to your worst propensities towards disorganization and laziness.

It’s not uncommon for freelancers to have multiple employers and projects on their plates—all while working from a home office. With crisscrossing deadlines and obligations to keep track of, learning tricks to staying on top of it all is absolutely critical to completing your tasks, maintaining a reputation of reliability with your employers, and ultimately paying your bills.

Here are a few critical pointers to include in your strategy right from the bat if you’re new to freelancing, or to incorporate into your existing habits if you’re a seasoned freelancer in need of revamping.

Must-haves for Every Freelancer

  • Regular daily schedule
  • Realistic workload
  • Localized note repository
  • Prioritized personal time
  • Healthy email habits
  • Intuitive financial tracking software
  • Reliable, go-to gigs

The Breakdown

Regular Daily Schedule & Prioritized Personal Time

If your schedule is up in the air, everything else goes out the window right along with it. Alternatively, by blocking out portions of your day just for work, you’ll have a set schedule to share with your family and loved ones so that they’ll know not to bother you during those predetermined timeframes.

A set schedule also allows you to define the distinction between your work life and your home life, which can get blurred when you’re working from home. It may start to feel like you don’t have a life outside of work at all if you haven’t made it clear with yourself when you’re allowed to live it. Conversely, “work time” can blur into “personal time” and become less productive than a scenario where the lines were boldly drawn.

That being said, make sure that you are also prioritizing your personal time, now that you’ve distinguished it from your work time, so that you don’t burn yourself out.

Realistic Workload

Defining “realistic” for your unique situation is going to take some experience as you get to know your skillsets and turnaround speed. Once you have an understanding of how long it takes you to do certain projects, you can accumulate a realistic amount of projects that won’t overwhelm you or impair your ability to produce quality content. It’s okay to be picky about what you take on, and to say no to work that you simply won’t be able to complete to your satisfaction within the determined timeframe.

Localized Note Repository

This will depend on your preferences. Do you like physical notepads or digital programs like Evernote? Which is going to be the most feasible for you? Which will you be most likely to use consistently? The main point is this: always, always write down your creative ideas for topics and projects, and keep it all in one place.

Healthy Email Habits

While keeping separate folders for all of your contacts and subcategories for your projects is a fantastic idea, remember that organizing your daily influx of emails into these folders is going to take a significant chunk out of your allotted work time. Leave that for after you’ve replied to important emails from your clients and employers. You never want to keep them waiting and it will help to strengthen your reputation of reliability.

Intuitive Tracking Software for Your Finances

As a freelancer, you are your own HR team and Accounts Payable. In order to keep a set daily schedule, you should keep a standing appointment with yourself every week to review your finances. Using a paid bookkeeping service instead of an Excel sheet will provide you with hugely valuable tools and features come tax season.

Reliable, Go-to Gigs

In the course of your experiences as a freelancer, work extra hard to maintain those relationships that you like. Prioritize the projects that promise additional work for the future. Securing those concrete gigs, including—if necessary—a part time job on the side, will provide you with some security in a characteristically insecure profession.

Source

Feloni, Richard. “7 Tips for Freelancers To Stay Organized.” http://www.businessinsider.com/how-freelancers-can-stay-organized-2014-3. (December 12, 2014.)