When Being Short Is Good

Posted on May 13, 2008 by Bruce Keener

There’s that dirty mind of yours acting up again :-)

Sorry to disappoint you: no sex tips for you here today. But there is a worthwhile reminder for you.

SEOmoz has a neat post on Nielsen’s latest study of website readers. The study shows that, as the number of words on a web page go up, the percentage of words read goes down.

So, what does that mean for you?

I think it is just another good reminder to be as concise as practical with our written products, from email to Board briefings. With our increasingly hectic pace, it has become a part of human nature to skim as much written material as possible. But, with short pieces, skimming is less necessary and we can digest the whole content pretty quickly.

Of course not all written products can be compacted without loss of value. For example, when you want to read a good How To, you want all of the practical detail in that article that you need.

The bottom line, of course, is that we should always keep our audiences needs in mind and write accordingly.

I think I’ll take my own advice and end here. :)

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  • http://www.billmyerscreations.com Bill Myers

    You may have noticed concision isn’t my strong suit. But I’m working on it. The key is to ask oneself: is this detail, phrase, or word necessary to convey my thought? If not, out it goes.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce

    ;-) It’s a common problem, Bill, which is why I thought it worthy of mention.

    Has not always been a problem, but more and more people are impatient these days and just want to get to the point. There was a time when I could have confidently said that I am one of the most impatient guys in the world … I don’t think that’s so true anymore. I have not gotten more patient, indeed I have gotten less patient. But, the world is catching up with me.

  • http://www.zen-moments.com John Rocheleau

    Two essential tools for writers:

    The period
    The red pen.

    My writing is not as concise as it could be, but the joy of writing is in learning to create a pure and powerful expression of thought and feeling. So I am happy to be on that particular curve. I think it is one that will never end.

    The power generated by eliminating words that contribute nothing to the intent of your writing, and discovering where to place that period — is almost magical.

    Side note: I couldn’t stop myself from playing with the html formatting in this comment. I noticed you have it enabled. I wanted to find out if ordered lists and such would render properly.

    Cheers,
    John