October 30, 2006

Increase Your Online Publication's Readership

Your articles are well researched and written. And they cover up-to-the-minute topics that are important to the business right now. So why are only a small percentage of your employees clicking through to read your online publication?

Take charge of your content
Let's put aside workloads and information overload for a moment to consider the root of the problem: content management. Here are five tips to sharpen your content and draw in readers.

Great titles (and subtitles) are your secret weapon. They provide signals about your content. For example, “Manufacturing achieves outstanding results for first quarter” sounds like more corporate “blah, blah, blah.” If an employee has to decide between investing 10 minutes to read this story and getting her/his work done, guess what wins? Changing it to “Three ways Manufacturing's latest results will help the rest of us” says “sounds short and it will apply to me.”

Set a maximum word count for articles (400 is a good number) and stick to it. Of course, there are some employees who want every last detail and senior leaders who want to share it. Don't hesitate to provide background with links to the intranet or attachments, but be sure employees understand they're optional.

Clip art (generic illustrations or cartoons) is a great way to attract attention, but customized graphics and onsite photography really draw in readers. For example, showing employees with a piece of machinery or illustrating a new process will help employees “get it” and eliminate words in the process.

Most articles assume employees will be fascinated by the topic we've been assigned to communicate. Not a chance. At work, and probably even more so at home, employees don't have time for “nice to know.” They need stories they can immediately relate to. Explain what's in it for them.

A common theme we hear in our research with employees is “less corporate speak.” Employees enjoy a plain English, matter-of-fact tone. It feels honest and trustworthy. Corporate speak feels like spin-avoid it.


What do all of these tips have in common? They set up your content for easy scanning. Employees don't read, but they do scan. And you can help them.

Learn additional ways you can make your publications more appealing to employees at an upcoming web workshop.