I decided to try out a tool called ClickTale on this site recently, which I had just heard about a few months ago. Basically, it’s a website analytics tool that allows you to see visitor heatmaps, clicks, mouse movement, scroll reach and other interesting and valuable data.
The main thing I was interested in though, were the video recordings of visitors. They are really neat because you can see how people are browsing through your site; where they are going, where they are clicking, and how they scroll. I think it’s a great way to determine if your site is causing frustrations for visitors because you can see it first hand when they try to do something specific, get annoyed, and then leave. It’s not exactly the same, but it is much easier than user testing, right?
One thing that’s really stood out for me in particular though is just how fast people scan text. I watched several people scan through posts and to be honest, I felt somewhere between sadness and alarm at the same time. Well, actually, the first thing I thought was, “I spent all that time writing that post and no one’s really reading it! I want to cry!”. But, once I got over that foolishness, I started feeling more alarmed than sad.
I started to think… If people are scanning through my posts that quickly, they probably do that as a habit, right? I mean, I’m not pretending that my posts are as readable as others, but I hope it’s not too much to assume that it’s not just isolated to my site.
My blog posts probably average somewhere around 600 words or so. However, 50% of this site’s visitors are spending 20 seconds or less per post, 18% of them less than 5 seconds. According to wikipedia, average reading rate for comprehension is 200-400 words per minute and for scanning is 400-700 words per minute. And according to Jakob Neilsen, people read 25% slower on screen than on paper. That means that people should be spending around 2-4 minutes reading each post.
So, even if you take out that 18% of visitors I mentioned above that spend less than 5 seconds each (if we assume they just came and left), obviously people are just scanning. Fast.
I get that people are busy, but two things are concerning me about this: 1) First of all, I don’t want to be adding to the “noise”. I try my best to be helpful and relevant and of course, I totally understand that everything I put isn’t going to interest everyone. But, I worry that people are coming expecting something different. 2) I wonder if people are scanning everything as a habit and what kind of stress that must be causing.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m weird because I don’t scan. I don’t actually read very many blogs and when I do, I read the whole post or article. If I’m not interested, I just leave. I figure, either I’ve decided to give my whole attention or I haven’t. It’s a waste of time for me to just scan it because I usually don’t comprehend the whole article that way anyhow.
In one of my next posts, I want to discuss a little bit more in detail how you can actually help people scan more easily. But for now, I’d like to know. What do you think? Is such rapid scanning alarming or just another sign of the times we live in?
Clock head photo courtesy of Menage a Moi
Interesting post. In my discussions of content strategy (usually with clients writing their own copy or blog entries) I always emphasize to “chunk it up because people scan” — but these stats knock that idea home with a vengeance.
Without the heatmap-type data, I would just consider those “scanners” as “bouncers” I think. Maybe what it’s telling us is that some people who seem to bounce of the site quickly are actually sort of reading it.
The other thing it brings up for me is this whole idea of GenY and multitasking. Despite the fact that neuroscience has proven the drawbacks and blatant non-productivity of multitasking, it strikes me that the GenY folks will defend it unashamedly, even vehemently and know nothing else. So, getting the “gist” of a blog post is all they’re up for — like texting, watching TV and Facebooking simultaneously. Things only get a smidge of attention and that’s acceptable. That’s normal.
At this point, GenY is huge and the web is more and more for them — so maybe we do need to make concessions. Or confine ourselves to the attentions of GenX and older.
That’s interesting that you brought up multitasking, Annie. I really dislike it and think no one does it well. Actually, as you point out, neuroscience has proven it makes us less productive, not more.
I’m going to have to look at the clicktale videos again and see if there’s a way to tell if people are multitasking between different browser tabs.
I’m sorry – did you say something?
:-)
Andy, you’re not paying attention again! ;-)
Interesting! I don’t usually scan…nor do I multi-task…but I do read very quickly. 2-4 minutes to read a 600 word post would seem agonizingly slow to me. I also bail out in a hurry if the post doesn’t interest me or is poorly written.
I always thought I read pretty quickly too, but never tested it out. I might test it on other people’s posts to see although I’m afraid I’d get nervous and rush it with the timer on, lol.
Very interesting post! I have to admit, I usually scan, because I don’t have the time to read everything that I want to read. However, if I find a good post (as a result of my scanning), I end up reading everything (like I did with your post).
I agree with Annie, you have to chunk it up. In addition to breaking the text up, you should also have sub-headlines to 1) give a snapshot of what one is about to read and 2) help entice to read more. My 2 cents on the topic. ;)
Hi Patricia! I’m glad this post was worthy of being read. :)
I purposely didn’t add sub headlines and some other things on this post to see if anyone would catch that. Couldn’t bring myself to do neverending paragraphs though! Was trying to be sneaky, but you all are too clever for me, ha!
Video recordings??? Are you serious, Naomi? Ok, because as I’m writing this I’m trying not to furrow my brow…WTF.
The data is not surprising, sadly…
On a happier note, I read your blog consistently (ok, just for the record, I have allergies, no, I wasn’t just picking my nose;), and appreciate your word count and relevant material.
Don’t be daunted, your content is awesome.
~Linda
Thanks, Linda! You rock, as usual.
I am definitely a scanner. I very quickly assess whether a page interests me or not. If it does, like this one did, I read-scan. I’ll read so quickly that I skip a few words or a sentence here or there. If it’s well-structured with good headlines, I might even just read the headlines. (I find so much writing is more verbose than it needs to be.) I think it’s from all the time I spend on the web and having a voracious appetite for information. There is just so much to digest!
This has become such a habit for me that I recently had to focus on slowing my eyes and brain down to enjoy reading fiction books again.
Thanks for sharing that tool – very good to know about.
Ha ha, I feel you on the voracious appetite! Lately, I’ve been reading a lot more printed books and printing things out (although I hate wasting paper) just to give my eyes a rest from the screen. It’s interesting how differently you read when you slow down and read actual paper, right?
I read the same like Tzaddi. I do a quick scan, assessing whether the search result / RSS item / link in a tweet is something worth my time (useful / interesting / funny). If it catches me, I’ll go back and read it again, slower.
I see this behaviour on my own site too. I’ve got an article on contest ideas for Facebook on my blog and it ranks on the 1st page of results for my targeted terms. This post has got a much higher average time on page compared to other pages in my site. Which is understandable because visitors are reading the ideas slowly and seeing if they can use it in their campaigns.
Thanks for bringing this up, interesting topic and no I don’t really care about video recording of me browsing your site ;)
Hi David! Interesting you see that certain pages are being scanned slower than others (great article, btw). That makes sense. I might go through and see which types of posts seem to be read more slowly. That might be a very good measurement of interest actually.
Glad the video recording doesn’t bug you. I wouldn’t know which person you were though, so it’s not like I’ll be there watching you and knowing it’s you. LOL
I wanted to make a few statements about the video recordings. There have been a few comments about it. When I mentioned the videos, I knew that there was a possibility some people would feel upset.
I think, like many tools, what makes it “creepy” or not is the intention or person behind it. I also tried very hard to come up with an “evil” intent that someone with not so nice motivations could use it for and I thought of nothing.
Here’s the thing. We’re all being tracked by analytics wherever we go. This tool in particular has been around several years and probably thousands of websites are using it. And it’s not the only tool tracking this type of data.
If this really bothers you, I’d recommend browsing websites without cookies and javascript turned on.
Because of the vast numbers of blogs online and the short attention span of people in this generation, I believe that is the cause of this phenomenon if you may call it.
In my belief, because internet and search engines have provided the quickest way to find information, normally a person would type specific keywords on a specific subject in Google or Yahoo. Then when the visitor found the specific information that he/she is looking for, the usual behavior is to click the back button.
Just my opinion though.
That’s interesting, Ronald. So you don’t think people subscribe or bookmark as much anymore? You’re probably right about that.
I know I personally don’t read feeds much anymore because I get a lot of updates from Twitter. So, that behavior has changed for me the last year or so.
Seems like the best writing always puts the main idea at the beginning of a paragraph then supports that idea in the body of the paragraph, and finally, reiterates the ideas every few paragraphs.
If you need a good example of this, check out any of Dr. Andrew Weil’s writing. http://www.drweil.com/ (yes, his website is arguably a bad example, but I’m talking about the writing in his books!)
Content written in that way, with the main idea first, allows me to scan content very quickly, slowing down to examine the statements that confuse, surprise or otherwise stand out to me, and skipping over content that I already understand or agree with.
Maybe people scanning your content too quickly could be a sign that it needs more controversy, more prickly parts to grab your reader’s attention.
Hi Gabe – That’s a great point and good suggestion too. I’m not new to blogging in general, but new to it in the way that I’m now doing it on a regular basis with this blog. It’s a challenge, but I love to try to get better. :)
Will check out Dr Weil’s site. Thanks so much!
Hi Naomi
I have to say I read your whole post but I learned that many people skip text (as many people have pointed out) and it is quite disconcerting that’s why breaking up content with subheadings is useful to do.
I generally write long posts too but try to vary it up so that people stay enticed. I’m keen to try out the new tool you mention.
Thanks
Natalie
Hi Natalie – Thanks for stopping by! I’ve been to your site a few times. Love what you’re doing.
Ok, another vote for subheads! Got it! :)
I think it’s a sign of the times, honestly. Everyone’s just in a hurry. I have to admit, sometimes I find myself doing that super-rushed skimming, myself. You know, if I have something specific I’m looking for in the article. And sadly, some people comment only so that others will visit their own blogs. : (
That’s true! I don’t usually comment unless I feel I have something to add or I want to thank the author, but I know a lot of people do what you say (leave comments just to get visits).