Blog Wars: The Battle of Clarity vs. Chaos

Kelly Prendergast - 2 February 2025 - 1:53 am

The presentation of a blog’s content significantly influences its ability to engage and inform readers. A well-crafted blog is clear, structured, and user-friendly, whereas a poorly constructed one can be cluttered, confusing, and challenging to read. In this post, I will compare two personal finance blogs to illustrate the characteristics that make one highly readable and the other less effective.

Good Example:

“Budgets Are Sexy” is a personal finance blog that offers financial advice in an engaging and accessible manner. Several elements contribute to its readability:

Clear Structure: The blog employs distinct headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs, allowing readers to easily navigate and locate key information. As Jakob Nielsen states, “People rarely read web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.” The clear structure of this blog aligns with this principle, making it easier for readers to absorb key points quickly.

Simple Language: Complex financial concepts are broken down into everyday language. For instance, in a post about budgeting, the author advises, “Track your spending for a month to see where your money goes,” avoiding technical jargon. As William Zinsser emphasizes, “The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components”. This blog achieves that by using straightforward language that resonates with a broad audience.

Engaging Formatting: The use of images, subheadings, and highlighted key points breaks up the text, enhancing readability and maintaining reader interest. According to Nielsen, “Highlighting keywords, using meaningful subheadings, and breaking up text with bullet points improve readability and comprehension.” “Budgets Are Sexy” successfully applies these techniques.

Credible References: The blog often cites reputable sources and includes personal anecdotes, adding credibility and relatability to the content. Zinsser notes that good writing should not only be clear but also build trust with the reader: “The reader is someone with an attention span of about thirty seconds—a person assailed by many forces competing for attention”. By incorporating engaging elements and credibility, this blog keeps its audience interested.

Poor Example:

“Financial Samurai” is a personal finance blog that, despite offering valuable information, presents content in a manner that can hinder readability:

Dense Paragraphs: The blog features lengthy paragraphs with minimal breaks, making it difficult for readers to skim or find specific information. Zinsser warns against this, stating, “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon”. The excessive length of these paragraphs makes the content harder to digest.

Complex Language: The use of technical financial terminology without adequate explanation can alienate readers who are not well-versed in finance. For example, terms like “liquidity ratios” and “beta coefficients” are used without clarification. This aligns with Nielsen’s findings that “users prefer simple language and tend to ignore dense, difficult text.” Zinsser also advocates for simplicity: “The writer must constantly ask himself: What am I trying to say? Surprisingly often he doesn’t know”. Financial Samurai could benefit from simplifying its explanations.

Lack of Visual Aids: The posts are predominantly text-heavy, with few images or formatting elements to break up the content, which can overwhelm readers. Research by Nielsen Norman Group indicates that visual elements significantly enhance user engagement and comprehension.

Unclear Organization: The absence of clear headings and subheadings makes it challenging for readers to follow the flow of information. As Nielsen states, “Users need well-structured content with headings that clearly indicate what each section covers.” Without this, the blog’s information is difficult to navigate.

Conclusion

This comparison underscores the importance of readability in web content. “Budgets Are Sexy” excels by presenting financial advice in a clear, engaging, and well-structured format, making it accessible to a broad audience. Conversely, “Financial Samurai,” while informative, could improve its readability by simplifying language, incorporating visual elements, and organizing content more effectively.

When creating text-based web content, prioritizing clarity, structure, and engagement is essential. A well-organized and reader-friendly blog is more effective in conveying information and maintaining reader interest. As Zinsser wisely puts it, “Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there”. By applying these principles, bloggers can ensure their content is both informative and enjoyable to read.