The most important objective is to ensure the gist of the article can be gathered from a quick skim. This can be achieved using the following techniques:
- Invert the pyramid. Begin the article with the conclusion, then provide supporting arguments and data. If the conclusion is compelling or controversial enough to hook the reader in, then you are more likely to keep the reader’s attention long enough to state your case
- Keep line lengths short, and line heights long - approximately 80 characters per line, and consider a line height of 1.5 to provide plenty of space for the eye to track each line
- Keep paragraphs short - far shorter than you would consider in a paper article. Each idea should be separate and easily digestible, in a concise and simple writing style
- Make sure any key messages are in bold. This enables skimming to determine value of the content
- Use headings and sub headings liberally. These also provide skimming landing points, and should be ideally written before any other content
- Use images and captions. Images can quickly grab attention, whilst image captions are the most read content on web pages- so it’s vital you get your message across to the reader in image captions
- Ensure any elements around the periphery of the article do not distract from the article itself; no garish icons, no flashing banners
- Use numbered lists and bullet points. This allows you to be succinct and provides easy to find and consume bites of information