Mobile Content: Tips for writing for mobile phone users

As we delve deeper and deeper into the era of digital journalism, more and more people are consuming media content through their mobile phones so I thought it would be useful to dedicate a post to advice for writing mobile content.

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A good mobile experience requires a different design and format than a regular online article might so I have compiled the following list of top tips.

1. Essentials: focus on the essential. Mobile content requires a focused form of writing so keep it succinct. Now it’s important to be concise for two reasons: Firstly, because a mobile screen is considerably smaller than a desktop screen so our writing should reflect that. Secondly, because mobile users generally don’t have the attention span to process lots of unnecessary information. This leads us nicely on to our next tip.
2. Remove filler: Edit text accordingly to only include the most important information. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should be writing less, instead tighten up your writing by getting rid of anything unnecessary.
3. Short paragraphs: Mobile readers tend to get lost in long paragraphs and just don’t have the attention span to follow along with lengthy paragraphs. As U.S news explains “Reading long paragraphs on your mobile device requires concentration-something people using a mobile device generally don’t have.” As well as this, most mobile activities are performed on the go, so the readers’ attention and focus could be hindered by their environment.
4. Images: An important tool for illustrating the article and gaining the readers attention, research shows that articles with images get 94% more views. Eye tracking studies show that mobile users look at images more than they look at text so a few well-placed images will work well in breaking up the text.
5. Short, sharp headlines: Short and sweet headlines work best for mobile content. It’s also a good idea to include keywords or phrases in your headline to help make your content easily discoverable from a search engine.
6. Search engine optimisation: Develop content with keywords in mind. This will help the reader discover your article if they perform a simple google search. Research shows that 91% of people don’t go past page one of a google search so search engine optimisation is an important thing to consider when writing mobile content.