Did you know that, according to an August 2013 estimate by eMarketer, the average US adult will spend over five hours a day with digital media? Calculated out, that’s about 316 minutes a day. That’s a lot of time to spend reading or watching digital media.
With a sophisticated website analytics implementation, it’s possible to find out how far down on a page your reader will get when checking out your content, and the amount of time it takes for them to get there. That’s pretty neat and useful stuff to know.
But to many readers, time is valuable to them. We like to know how long something will take to do, so we know if it’s worth our time. By telling your readers how many minutes it’ll take to read an article, then they’ll feel like they can make a more refined decision of if they want to read the content or not. Plus, by letting them know how much time it’ll take to read an entire article, they are more likely to actually read through the whole thing. This is a good thing for you as the site owner.
What do you need to know about estimated reading times online?
- Where they came from
- Why to use them
- How to calculate them
- when To avoid them
There’s more to this topic of increased engagement with content using estimated reading times than you think. Check out Arienne Holland’s post on Marketing Land to read her full article. Just follow the link below.
Marketing Land: How Estimated Reading Times Increase Engagement With Content