How To Write For Skimmers (written by a habitual skimmer…me)

I am a skimmer…

There I said it…..it’s out there.

I can’t help it, but I am.

But…..I think you are one too.

Let’s face it! We all have been skimmers at some point in our lives.

For that reason, I want to write this article from the perspective of a skimmer.

I want to tell you some readers (like me) tend to skim over.

Thinking from this perspective will help us to be better writers and be able to engage our readers more.

Let’s begin!

Tip #1 ~ I skim over long paragraphs

I browse the Internet on my 24-inch monitor.

For that reason, it is easy to get lost in long paragraphs. Anything over 3 or 4 sentences and I skim right over them.

This is especially true at the beginning of the article. If there are big blocks of writing at the beginning.

I skim right over it. I want to get right to the juicy stuff.

I prefer short paragraphs. For me, it is much easier to scroll than it is to read. To illustrate the point. I am writing this paragraph to show that the majority of people will skip right over it. If you are still reading this congratulations you are not a skimmer. I truly do commend you because the majority of people will just keep skimming. To prove my point. If you have read this paragraph, please write butternut squash in the comments section. Let’s see how many non-skimmers are out there.

Solution: Keep your paragraphs short.

I know in high school English you were taught to create a new paragraph every time you were writing about a new idea.

But writing for the web is different. Readers find it easier to scroll than to read every word on the page.

Tip #2 ~ I only read the first few words

When I am “reading” an article, I tend to only read the first few words and sometimes ( I am sorry ) I only read the first few sentences.

If I like what I have read. I will continue reading.

Solution: Cut the fluff. Get to the point.

Additional Tip: Use different formatting (titles, subheadings, bold, italics, bullet points, etc.) to highlight important words in a paragraph.

For example, you can bold keywords like I did here.

Sometimes you can do something like this:

When you format the text like this, it is hard to skim over it.

However, there is a word of caution. Don’t overdo it!

Too much formatting can be just as bad as none at all!

Tip #3 ~ I skim over pictures too!

Today we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, and thus we are accustomed to scanning right over pictures. 219

To illustrate the point, in this article, I put a random picture of an insect. :)

Did you see it?

Without scrolling back up, what insect was in the picture?

For all of you who answered correctly, put your answer in the comments so I know how many of you aren’t skimmers.

Solution: Choose your pictures wisely. Remember your picture doesn’t have to be perfect.

Sometimes the pictures where everything is just right are the easiest to scam right now. Why?

Because they look like ads!

This has happened to me several times on Instagram. Several friends of mine are photographers and they take amazing pictures.

So much so that when I was scrolling Instagram, I have scrolled right over their post. Why?

Subconsciously I thought it was just another ad.

Lesson: Your picture doesn’t have to be perfect! Sometimes the not-so-perfect ones get noticed more often.

I have a confession to make….

I know at the beginning you said you weren’t a skimmer, but I wanted to test you.

In this post, I posted a random number.

Did you see it?

If so, congratulations! Let me know what number it was in the comments section so I know how many skimmers are out there. :)

Final thoughts….

I am sure we all have been guilty of skimming articles from time to time.

What techniques can we use to engage our audience more?

In this post, we about 3 simple techniques:

• Keep your paragraphs short.
• Choose your pictures wisely.
• Cut the fluff. Get to the point.

Which technique are you going to put into practice? Let me know in the comments below!