Last Updated May 2013
The BBC reported that every web writer has only nine seconds to quickly get the audience's attention. For therapy professionals who shares their passion through writing, how do you attract the audience in such a short period of time?
If nine seconds is all that you have, the content of your therapy blog is not what's going to bring them in. Put yourself in the position of a visitor and think about these points:
- Will I invest my time in browsing through this blog?
- Am I going to get what I'm looking for?
- Should I find a more interesting blog than this?
Put your thinking caps on and focus on the look, personality and the emotion of your blog.
The F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content
Project a visual impression to grab your visitor's attention in a jiffy. With a clean and crisp layout, your visitors will get encouraged to move from page to page checking out what information you could provide them.
According to a study by Dr. Jakob Nielsen, when reading a page, our eye automatically traces the text in an F-shape.
- Our eyes run through the top of the page. We read the headlines first and the first paragraph. The first paragraph has to be well written to let your visitors continue reading.
Our eyes scan down the left side of a page and stops when something grabs our attention.
- Our eyes move across the page just above the mid-line. Again, we scan and read parts of the second paragraph.
- Our eyes skim to the bottom of the first page.
With these points, you would want to have a therapy blog that's easy to navigate and something that is not too busy but still creative. Consider following these tips for an effective blog layout:
- Images. Select images that supports the content. As per Neilson's study, place the image at the top left corner of the page. Where do you get great images? Use FreeDigitalPhotos.net. They have a huge library of photos and you can download all of them for free as long as you credit them on your blog.
- Aesthetics. Make sure your blog is pleasing to the eye. Think about the right colors to be used. Are they complimenting one another? Keep your blog uncluttered with plenty of empty white space so their eyes can travel around easily. The 'Tag Cloud' is something we all have been developing but with the different sizes and styles, it can be quite distracting. It is advisable to list the topics on the side bar instead.
- Usability. If it takes too much time to find the information a visitor wants, they would leave the page. Double-check your links and pages. Are they all working properly? Does it take too much time to load? To test the speed of your page, Pingdon is a tool that will help you. It is good to have images on your blog but be aware on their sizes and image type - larger sizes take longer to load.
- Paragraphs. Build curiosity, fascination through your paragraphs. With 3-4 lines for every paragraph, you can provide them with valuable information.
- Font size and style. Most web designers suggest to use 12-14 font size. You are allowed to use 3-4 different font sizes throughtout your blog but if you go beyond that, it will look messy. Keep your font simple and readable. Not all computers can display fancy fonts. Go ahead and research on fonts that are safe on the web and that are available on most computers.
San-serif fonts make it easier for the visitors to read the text. These are the fonts without hooks. A few examples are: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Geneva and Veranda.
- Headings. Align all headlines to the left with bold or underlined letters. Make it easier for your visitors to scan and read by breaking up each section with subheadings.
- Lists. If visitors move the page downward, lists can easily catch their attention and allows them to stop and read. Keep them short because no one is going to read a list of the “54 Best Whatever for X.” If you have more than 10, it
is best to break the list down with a subheading.
- Proper column width. Notice the layout of newspapers and magazines, they are narrower. Our eyes track faster in smaller spaces and can read more without wandering off. Choose a theme with a two or three columns design. The narrower, the better!
Before having your post available for all, preview it as a draft. Read it and look at the layout. Have you incorporated all the 8 tips to your therapy blog? Like journal writing, blogging is another way of releasing stress. Not just that, it can give you one step forward in your therapy career. Make sure to grab your reader's attention and share the knowledge you have.
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