How to Create Easily Digestible Content Worth Reading

We might all agree; the internet killed print. But that’s not all it might have killed. How about our patience?

With technology serving up any information we seek in the speed of a single click, users are more impatient than ever. Also suffering at the hands of modern technology is content – especially with the rise in mobile viewership. Content has had to be scaled down to fit the smaller screen. And if that’s not enough, with consumers constantly “on the go,” attention spans have all but vanished, as well. Between image-based social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest, and short-form video platforms such as Vine, the Internet user’s attention span is all of 8 seconds.

Eight. Seconds.

For a goldfish, it’s 9.

So what happens now? Now, we must create easily digestible content that allows consumers to graze and skim. We also have to make it short, entertaining, useful and relevant.

Here are 6 tips for creating bite-size, digestible content:

1: Keep things short.

Don’t scare your readers away with a sea of text. Break up chunks of writing with short paragraphs and subtitles. Keep the paragraphs 3-5 sentences long so that the text is easily skimmable. Keep it short. You want your content to be direct and to the point. And remember, web users spend 80 percent of their time “above the fold.”

2: Engaging headlines.

Reel readers in with a catchy headline; this is the most compelling piece of your content. Make sure it’s interesting and resourceful and will capture their attention. Your headline should pique curiosity and create excitement. Go ahead and include a hook, but keep it precise. And most importantly, make it actionable.

Use numbers and lists, interesting adjectives, or ask questions. Be creative, but make sure the value you’re going to provide them is clear.

ex: 8 Tips That’ll Make Your Content Go From Bore to Score!

Isn’t that more enticing than saying: Tips for Content Writing?

3: Numbered and bulleted lists.

After the tantalizing headline, organize your thoughts and draw attention to critical pieces of information by

• Using
• Bullet
• Points

While lists don’t directly impact SEO, they do increase user engagement, which suggests to Google that you are providing value to your reader, and therefore will aid in your search rankings.

Also, have you ever seen a text box directly at the top of a Google search result page? Like this:

Those are called featured snippets. Google selects “snippets” of a good blog and “features” it at the top of the organic results page. Lists are oftentimes used as featured snippets as they provide quick answers to common questions.

4: Short video clips.

In an age of information overload, online video is quickly becoming the future of content marketing. It’s engaging and easy to digest. If a picture paints 1,000 words, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million. Promote videos with short teaser posts. Most clips are limited to 15 seconds on platforms such as Instagram. A short video clip, preempted with a short teaser post, builds anticipation.

Tools like Lumen5 allow you to create short videos without having to be a master is videography.

5: Use imagery.

We instinctively know that visuals are incredibly more powerful than pure text-based content because they help bring words to life. Visual storytelling does more than that. In fact, visual content is processed by the human brain 60,000 times faster than it decodes text. Neuroscientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found that the brain processes an image at the rate of 13 milliseconds.

6: Formatting is key

When creating easily digestible content, it’s important to consider the format. Think about creating:

• Infographics
• How-tos
• Numbered lists
• Memes
• Tutorials
• Testimonials
• Graphs and charts

These types of content are great for online consumption because they can be digested quickly and shared fast.

Conversion is in the hands of the creator

You can drive traffic to your site a number of ways, but as soon as the user lands on your page, the conversion is in the hands of the content you create. It should always be engaging for your audience and should motivate your reader to take action – whether that action is to navigate to another page on your site or the checkout platform.

In this day and age, consumers are always pressed for time. The trend of impatience and greater brevity should come as no surprise. Twitter updates are a mere 140 characters, looped videos on Vine are just six seconds and recent Nielsen findings suggest videos that are only 10-20 seconds long are most likely to engage viewers. Although our attention spans are shrinking, we can still offer juicy somethings – in bite-size.  

What does your content marketing strategy look like? Is your content being read by your ideal audience? We’d love to help you hit the ground running with enticing, easily digestible content – contact Pyxl today and let us know how we can help with your content strategy!

Updated: Jul 18, 2024