How to make sure no-one reads your website
Let’s be honest, no one reads websites. In fact, I am going to be bold and say your goal should be to make sure they don't!
Why do I say this? Isn’t my job to help users read your website?
Well no, my job is to make your website work better for you. By recognising your user’s need and considering how users will actually use them, is our job together.
Let me expand. Your website is not about how much content you can cram into your site or whether you’ve achieved "War and Peace" literary genius, or created beautifully written ‘fluffy’ marketing waffle for users to wade through. It’s about making sure visitors don’t NEED to read anything. Instead, they’ll scan, assess, and decide—all within seconds. And trust me, that’s what we want.
Here are a few ways to ensure your visitors don't waste precious time needing to read.
The importance of letting readers scan
Put your strategy first.
Let’s face it, no one cares about you. They care about what you can do for them. Make sure every page answers the crucial questions: What do you do? Why should they trust you? And can you solve their problem—fast?
Don’t make them search for the answers—put them right in front of their scanning eyes.
Design for a goldfish attention span.
The average user’s attention span is eight seconds. Keep things clean, direct, and clutter-free. Otherwise, you're just talking to yourself.
Remember, every page is a landing page.
Gone are the days of carefully funnelling visitors through your desired navigation path. People will land on your website wherever Google drops them.
Make sure every page can stand alone, delivering the same value and trust as your homepage.
Trust isn’t earned on the contact page.
By the time they’re looking for your contact details, they’ve already decided. Build trust on every page, every second, through clear, authoritative content and consistent branding.
You don’t need to wait until the last page for the punchline.
The CTA is your lifeboat.
If users only remember one thing (and believe me, they will only remember one), it should be what you want them to do next. A good call-to-action (CTA) is like a lifeboat.
If people can’t find it, they won’t know what to do when they start sinking.
To conclude:
Make your website work harder so your users don’t have to. Assuming people will read everything is dangerous. It’s not about how much you say—it’s about what people see and understand when they’re not reading.
Design your site with the reality of human behaviour in mind —people scan, not read, and my job is to make that process seamless.
Want to make your website work harder so your visitors don’t have to?
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