4 Reasons Why People Stop Reading Before the End of a Page

4 Reasons Why People Stop Reading Before the End of a Page

Reader Comments (15)

  1. Good advice. It is always best to put our first draft aside for a while. Then we can re-read what we have written. We can see our mistakes in our copy or any other writing. Then we can revise to improve upon our first draft.

    • One of the tricks I use is to print the draft on paper, and then take it to another room in the house before I go through it, pen in hand. I have no idea why that helps, but a change in location seems to help me spot the errors. : )

  2. 2 more… a) read it aloud – helps with the flow. b) accept criticism – this was the hardest for me. Gotta get over it, someone’s almost always got their fingers in “your” copy.

    • I’m always glad when someone reads what I have written and offers constructive suggestions on how to make it better. I learned to write well by having my mother read over my school papers and school projects. She always had something useful to say about my writing. That was how I learned to improve my writing style. Reading books helps, too.

  3. AMEN to all of it, Nick. I didn’t even know that first quote was about hardwood floors until you mentioned it later because the blah blah blah at the beginning had me running to the next paragraph. When you mentioned it in Reason #3, I actually thought, “It was about hardwood floors?” and then went back to read the whole mess of gobbledygook. 🙂

    And I love the trick about taking the printed draft to another room. I do the same thing, mainly because I’m tired of sitting at my desk by the time I have a printable draft written. I find it refreshes my mind and helps me look at it with different eyes. Strange, but true.

    Thanks for this article! It’s a good reminder!

    • I’m glad you found it helpful. The “other room” thing… I also go to another room when I’m on the phone. I need to get away from my monitors and paperwork to keep myself focused and present for the call. Easily distracted! : )

  4. I rarely err on reason #1 Nick LOL. Readers tend to tell me; I’m to the point. Clear. Bold. No beating around the bush. No other way to write. I worry not about impressing folks. I just want to connect with them and serve them.

  5. When I surf the web searching for something specific, I often stop reading before the end because I realize that the article I’m reading is not really going to offer something concrete that I can apply in order to solve my problem.

    The headline might be intriguing and make a promise, but it often doesn’t tell me exactly what kind of solution the article is going to offer: is it going to be inspiration? a personal success story? or something that can be applied in practice? will it be specific to my situation?

    For example on Copyblogger, I first found every topic completely new and fascinating, and I must have read about 100 articles in 4 days or so. But now I am really focused on finding more about specific topics. I get the basic idea, but I struggle with one or two aspects. And I’m finding it hard to identify articles that delve into the topic and tackle exactly what I’m looking for. This doesn’t stop me from finishing almost every article though 🙂

    I once read that the first paragraph of an article should explain to the reader exactly what he will get. Like “in this article, I am going to explain why this problem happens and give you a solution that any beginner can apply without being tech-savy”. I’m curious what you think of this. Obviously, if the first paragraph reveals that the reader will NOT find his answer, then he could stop reading right there, so this could be a downside as well.

    • Dan, great feedback. Thanks! To your last point, I think there is definitely value in summarizing a post’s content and takeaways in that first paragraph. Very helpful for the reader. That said, from an author’s point of view, it feels a little odd to start every post in that same way. Which is perhaps why I don’t do that myself. : )

  6. Great read, Nick. I love to have others read my article before going live, that way I get first details as to what areas needed to be edited.
    However, some more reasons why no body is reading your blog might be that your website or blog is not focused, you have a lot of interests all on one blog. But just because you have a lot of interests and ideas, doesn’t mean all of those interests belong on your blog. Your can’t get a targeted audience to read your article. Furthermore, inconsistency is a major downside and a reason why your content are not been read. You must maintain consistency by creating content regularly, that way you earn the trust of your prospects.

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