13 Examples of Super Skimmable Content

How to Create Content That‘s Engaging, Skimmable, and Optimized for Success

In today‘s fast-paced digital world, capturing and keeping your audience‘s attention has never been more challenging. With endless streams of content competing for eyeballs, the reality is that most people simply don‘t have the time or patience to dig through dense, meandering blog posts.

In fact, a staggering 55% of readers spend less than 15 seconds actively on a page before bouncing. If your content doesn‘t quickly communicate value and engage the reader, you‘ve likely already lost them.

The solution? Creating content that‘s readable, skimmable, and optimized for success. By formatting your posts to be easily digestible and visually appealing, you can grab readers‘ attention, keep them engaged, and ultimately inspire them to take action – whether that‘s subscribing to your blog, making a purchase, or sharing your content with their networks.

What Is Skimmable Content?

Skimmable content is designed to help readers quickly and easily get the gist of your article and extract the key points – without necessarily having to read every word. The content is formatted with the scanner in mind, using short paragraphs, bullet points, subheadings, visuals, and other elements to break up the text and highlight important information.

Rather than presenting an impenetrable "wall of text," skimmable content invites readers in and makes the material approachable. Crucially, skimmable does not mean "dumbed down" or lacking in substance. The goal is to present valuable, well-researched content in an easily digestible package.

The Value of Skimmable Content

For readers, skimmable content is a godsend in an era of information overload. It allows them to quickly determine if a piece of content is relevant and worthy of a closer read – without investing significant time or mental energy upfront.

And if a post does prove relevant, skimmable formatting makes it much easier to find specific information and extract key takeaways. The reader comes away feeling like they‘ve learned something valuable – in a fraction of the time it would have taken to read a more dense, meandering article.

For content creators and publishers, skimmable content offers significant benefits as well:

• Higher engagement: Content that‘s easy to read and visually appealing invites interaction, reducing bounce rates and increasing time on page.

• More sharing: When readers can quickly identify value and extract talking points, they‘re far more likely to share the content with their networks.

• Improved SEO: Search engines prioritize content that‘s well-organized, keyword-rich, and easy to navigate. Skimmable formatting ticks all those boxes, helping your content rank higher in search results.

• Better conversion rates: If your content clearly and efficiently guides readers toward a desired action, you‘ll see improved conversion rates – whether you‘re looking to generate leads, drive sales, or build your subscriber base.

Best Practices for Creating Skimmable Content

So how do you create content that‘s truly optimized for skimming? Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Use short paragraphs and sentences. Aim for paragraphs no longer than 3-4 sentences, and vary your sentence length to create a pleasant reading rhythm.

2. Break up text with subheadings. Use descriptive H2 and H3 subheadings to clearly signpost the main sections of your article. This allows readers to quickly jump to the parts most relevant to them.

3. Utilize bullet points and numbered lists. These are far easier to skim than long paragraphs, and are perfect for communicating key points or steps in a process.

4. Highlight important quotes and takeaways. Use callout boxes, bold text, or a larger font size to draw attention to key information.

5. Incorporate relevant visuals. Images, videos, infographics, and other visual elements break up dense text, reinforce key concepts, and make your content more engaging overall.

6. Frontload the most important information. Start with your key takeaways and most compelling points, then flesh out the details from there. Many readers won‘t make it to the end of an article, so make sure they get the main gist early on.

7. Provide a table of contents for longer pieces. If your article is longer than 1500 words or so, including a table of contents with jump links allows readers to easily navigate to the sections that interest them most.

8. Include a TL;DR summary. For lengthier or more complex topics, provide a "too long; didn‘t read" summary at the beginning to instantly communicate your main points.

Examples of Skimmable Content Done Right

Need some inspiration on how to put these principles into practice? Here are 13 examples of blogs and publishers that have mastered the art of skimmable content.

1. TheSkimm
   This wildly popular email newsletter is the gold standard when it comes to skimmable content. Each weekday morning, TheSkimm delivers a digest of the day‘s top news stories, broken down into short, conversational summaries perfect for reading over coffee or on your commute.

2. BuzzFeed News
   BuzzFeed is known for its highly skimmable, shareable content – and its news vertical is no exception. Posts are broken up with plenty of subheadings, bullet points, and images, with key takeaways often called out in bold or italicized text.

3. Axios
   This news site is built around the concept of "smart brevity." Articles are short and punchy, heavy on bullet points and callout boxes. Most posts start with a bolded "Why it matters" section to immediately communicate the significance of the story.

4. Vox
   Vox excels at explaining complex topics in an approachable, easy-to-skim way. Its signature "card stacks" break down issues into a series of bite-sized chunks, complete with images and graphs. The site also makes great use of collapsible sections to allow readers to dive deeper into subtopics without overwhelming the main article.

5. The Hustle
   This tech and business newsletter prides itself on being "the best, most interesting, most skimmable 5-minute read in your inbox." Articles start with a tl;dr section and are broken up with plenty of headings, images, and GIFs.

6. Robinhood Snacks
   This finance newsletter mirrors TheSkimm‘s highly skimmable style, with quick-hit summaries of the day‘s top business and market news. Plenty of white space, images, and bullet points make the dense subject matter easily digestible.

7. Dave Pell‘s NextDraft
   This curated newsletter collects the top 10 most fascinating news stories of the day, each summarized in a short, witty paragraph. Dave‘s distinctive voice and knack for finding offbeat stories make it a must-open for its 160,000 subscribers.

8. The Goods by Vox
   Vox‘s consumer vertical serves up "what you need to know about capitalism." Posts often incorporate skimmable elements like timelines, charts, and before-and-after image sliders to illustrate key concepts.

9. Vulture
   New York Magazine‘s entertainment blog breaks up celebrity interviews and TV/movie reviews with large pull quotes, embedded videos, and plenty of subheadings. The site also groups related stories together in skimmable hubs focused on a particular show, actor, or topic.

10. Lifehacker
    This venerable productivity blog excels at step-by-step guides and how-tos – a format perfectly suited for skimmable content. Posts are structured as a series of clearly delineated steps and often include visuals to illustrate key concepts. The site also offers "skimmer‘s versions" of its longer posts.

11. Wirecutter
    The New York Times‘ product review site is optimized for skimmers on the hunt for the best gear. Reviews start with a tl;dr "Why we like it" section and end with bulleted lists of each product‘s pros and cons. Comparison tables and charts make it easy to evaluate options at a glance.

12. Quartz Obsession
    This offshoot of Quartz dives deep on one fascinating topic each weekday – from cults to cricket to catnip. The highly formatted emails include a table of contents, illustrated stats, and a bullet-pointed list of essential reading on the day‘s subject.

13. Today, Explained
    This daily podcast from Vox delivers the news in a skimmable format. Each 15-20 minute episode focuses on a single topic, broken down into short, digestible segments. The show notes include a bulleted overview of the main points covered, along with links to further reading.

The Takeaway

In our attention-scarce age, skimmable content is no longer a nice-to-have – it‘s table stakes for any publisher hoping to capture and hold an audience. By structuring your posts with clarity and visual appeal in mind, you can stand out from the digital noise, build engagement and loyalty, and ultimately drive more conversions.

The examples above prove that nearly any topic, from hard news to entertainment to consumer products, can be made skimmable and engaging. So next time you sit down to write, challenge yourself to think like a skimmer. Your readers (and your metrics) will thank you.