Ever wondered why a printed book takes a week to get completed, while an online copy gets over in less than a day!
Ever wondered why the reader of offline magazine never bothers about the plain white background of the page!
Ever wondered why the reader engrossed in an online article cannot resist his fingers, jumping on to another website midway!
That is because, there is a vast difference in our perception of online and offline content. Rather, it is justified if it is entirely pushed on to the different ways the human brain processes the same content online and offline.
An Unlimited Audience Online:
This cannot be overlooked. On the web, there is a huge audience in search of the respective styles in which they wish to read the content. The attempt must cater the demands of the maximum readers possible, in order to retain them on your page. There are a few points to be considered while writing online, as opposed to the offline:
Specific Subject
The online reader does not care spending hours on the same page, especially because he is exposed to a whole world of wide unlimited web in front of himself. So, be sure to have content in place that can offer him what he was promised as in the headline of the topic. This means, being very precise and to the point. Length of the article should not be a concern while writing online and relevancy is certainly another important factor.
Impressive Theme
Unlike the hard cover book, where the plain white background does not matter, the online article needs to have a supportive theme, that merges well with the content. The most apparent reason may be the variation that an online reader demands from the article, but it is true that the pages with impressive themes work very well in attracting online readers.
Catchy Headlines
The headlines and titles have always been important, no doubt, in making an article turn extraordinary and giving it a stand out standard. In case of offline content, it is an incentive. Imagine an article whose headline does not show up in the relevant searches. Or the one that is amongst thousands of the rest already existing on the web. Does it even stand a chance to get viewed?
There is another reason to this. Sometimes a unique title compels the readers to go ahead and click, just in case there is an equally creative content that they do not want to miss!
Highlighting Key Points:
With a strong content, it can be guaranteed that the reader will find him willing to spare some time reading the article full, but it cannot be guaranteed that whatever he reads will be processed by his brain in entirety. A scientific study reveals that only 20% information of the read length is retained by an average brain, at any point of time, irrespective of the short or the long article.
Considering this, it is an excellent idea to highlight the pieces of information that are valuable and most informative. The complete article must be very informative as a whole, but a few points can still be figured out that prepare an abstract of the entire writing. Another alternative is bullet pointing of the main parts. This way, it is easy to grasp the subject point by point, rather than a huge chunk of information.
Image Insertion for Visual Appeal:
A graph or an image is a proven method of seconding the lengthy paragraphs in an attractive manner. For offline content, this may be an option to choose or ignore, but in case of online content, it is an integral demand, considering the fact that the reader seldom cares going through the entire topic. A graph is a fantastic option for scientific or mathematical propositions. An image may be inserted for a product review. It adds on to the visual mode of the article.
So, the next time you write a topic, visualize the demands of your online audience, and publish- You Will Be Amazed!
