Don’t be a Punk, be a Hunk and Chunk
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That really stunk, sorry! Hopefully it got your attention, though. Dan Zarrella has a great post on chunking your content. I’m repeating some of his advice and throwing in a little of my own.
Chunkless:
There has been a huge amount of research on web visitor behavior and how they actually read and transverse articles and pages in a web browser. A common method for web visitors is to read data or headlines in ‘chunks’ rather than reading an article top down. Personally, I’ve struggled myself writing this way, but I continue to try. Basically, separating pieces of content with headings that may be bolded, colored differently, or sized larger will allow your visitors to quickly peruse your information. Additionally, separating your paragraphs allows users to quickly scan the paragraphs… sometimes jumping from opening sentence to opening sentence rather than reading all the details in between.
Did you get all of that?
Maybe – maybe not! You may have jumped directly to this ‘chunk’. To repeat, reader behavior is such that you may want to write your posts in a certain way for easier navigation and comprehension:
- Use Bolded Text - stands out, doesn’t it?
- Use Subheadings – subheadings allow folks to quickly scan the post.
- Use Paragraph Spacing – spacing separates the content and allows folks to quickly read opening sentences.
- Use Bulleted and Numbered Lists - this is organized and easy to read.
- Write 5 to 10 ‘Chunks’ – try to both limit and remain consistent on the number of paragraphs (i.e. chunks) in your content. Consistency will assist in reader retention because you’re setting expectations with readers.
I didn’t chunk the first half of this topic on purpose and it showed, didn’t it? Chances are that you didn’t really read that full paragraph.
It’s not just for blogs!
I’m as guilty as anyone on not chunking but I’m going to work harder at it. You should, too… be it your website or your blog, visitors will retain more about your site and its articles than if you don’t chunk. When they remember more, they’ll be back for more!
