Surf page best practices

Tips to help you make your Surf pages perform

Nastja Sodin avatar
Written by Nastja Sodin
Updated over a week ago

Apart from your cover page, Surf pages generally act as introductions for your Immerse levels (where your main content lives) and allow you to divide your Turtl Doc into chapters. 

This allows your readers to move easily between the topics in your Turtl Doc before deciding when and where to delve down into the immersive content via a simple click. 

In this article we will go over the following Surf page aspects:

The cover page

The first Surf page of your content acts as your front cover and is the first page your audience will see, so it's all about grabbing attention in a moment. Follow these simple tips to help create a great cover and get those all-important readers.

Don't use an Immerse level

This is the one time you shouldn't use an Immerse level. The cover page signposts to the reader that they should click through to the next Surf page. Keeping the navigation options simple here is key and not using an Immerse section avoids any confusion. Toggle the Immerse level off/on using the Surf and Immerse tabs in the editor.

Choose a title that describes your content in a nutshell

Your audience is bombarded with content everywhere they look, so keeping your cover copy short and sweet is ideal. It's best to choose a title that allows the reader to identify the subject of your content straight away without needing to read lots of text. Once you have your title, challenge yourself to see if you can cut out any words or be more accurate.

Use a great image/video

The cover is the time to make the best first impression. Make sure that your image/video works well with your cover page style and headline - you don't want your headline text to obscure a key part of your video or image. It's also important to ensure you're using a high-quality image/video here.

Use a cover page style

As part of your branding, you may have a cover page style that you should use just for the cover pages of your content. This helps to make your content look consistent and is usually templated to make the cover look as eye-catching as possible. If you don't have a specific cover page style, choose a style from the drop-down menu that makes the headline stand out as much as possible so that it can be read at a glance. 

Chapter Surf pages

Take a look at the tips below for the rest of your Surf pages. They still apply to your cover page - and most importantly, don't forget to check how your cover looks on mobile view.

It's really important to make your chapter Surf pages look as good as possible to encourage the reader to click into the Immerse level and dive into the chapter content.

Images

The image is the first thing your reader will engage with and can be the deciding factor as to whether your Surf page is successful or not. This image should be:

  • Eye-catching,

  • Relevant (but not necessarily literal), 

  • High resolution (this is so important; blurred, low-res images make your content look less appealing).

If you don't already have an image, Turtl is integrated with a free stock images website. This allows you to easily search for quality images without leaving the Turtl editor. Learn more about adding images here.

Note: We recommend only using videos on the cover page as multiple videos across Surf pages can affect the loading time of your content.

Headings

Your headings need to persuade your reader to click on the content. They need to be:

  • Descriptive, catchy, and to the point,

  • As short as possible - particularly the main heading. This allows the reader to flip through Surf pages and easily select the chapter where they want to read more.

Style

Choose a heading style and position that;

  • Works with your amount of text - for example, choose a style that has a small subheading font if you need to put more information on the Surf page,

  • Works with your image - for example, it's best not to obscure the only feature within the image with the heading text box.

Check the mobile preview

Check how your Surf page will look to your mobile readers by selecting the mobile preview at the top of the editor.

SEO

Don't forget to make sure your Turtl Doc is Search Engine Optimized (SEO). You can find out more about SEO here.


Additional resources

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