Give me a break! Are we going a little line-break crazy?

We all know that online readers are impatient, tending to scan a page rather than read it word-by-word.

For this reason, online copywriting best practice is to chunk text into bite-sized paragraphs. But where does reasonable paragraphing end and line-break craziness begin?

Yes. Online copy should be short and snappy.

But how short?

And how snappy?

Like this?

Or this?

It’s one thing to be concise, but we can’t all sound like Ernest Hemingway.

That being said, you should take care to ensure the following:

• keep sentences to around 21 words or less
• write paragraphs of no more than 5 lines

Stay succinct but not at the expense of ebb and flow. Your copy should still have a rhythm and yes, even a melody.

Great online copy should smack you between the eyes.

But it should also rub you better afterwards.

So give yourself a break from all the line-breaks and give your readers credit for being able to read more than 5 words in a row.

Make your copy short but still make it sweet.

Till next time,

Lisa at The Word Nest