Give The People What They Want!
February 21, 2008
Poynter Institute studied how people read online articles and print newspapers.
The study divided most people into two groups: methodical readers, and scanners.
The bottom line though– people are attracted to BIG and colorful.
Most readers only glance to the headlines, scanning afterwards. The eye stops at BIG headlines, and BIG, colorful photographs.
The Keller Citizen online is a terrible resource, but it always has a huge photo and an equally large headline. If people want to know what’s going on in the small town of Keller, Texas, then this website grabs the reader in (if only for a moment)!
If news organizations are looking to keep their business, then they need to be following at LEAST these two guidelines.
The Channel 5 website is a bad example of how a site should be laid out. In fact, according to the Poynter Study, their site is doing almost everything wrong.
The site has too many pictures– all of which are smaller than the study says they should be, and it’s overflowing with headlines.
If NBC 5 wants to attract more viewers, then they need to make their pictures bigger and focus on a few headlines.
On the flip side, I really like the Star Telegram’s website and, according to the Poynter Study, their site is more on target with what people like to see.
STAR-TELEGRAM PULLS READERS IN
At the very top you have the navigation links and see the headline “To Catch a Killer.” It catches your attention right away.
They also put a flash player of photos that accompany top stories. If the headline didn’t catch a reader, the slideshow does. The reader is almost guaranteed to see something they like.
So according to the Poynter Study on what draws a reader in, newspaper need to add BIG headlines, and large, COLOR photos. Regardless of whether you’re a methodical reader or a scanner.
