It is not a secret that your blog’s popularity depends on the quality of the articles you post. In recent years, people have learned to identify high-quality text in a couple of seconds.
People do not read the articles. They scan. And if you do not hook the readers’ attention immediately, they will abandon your blog with no regrets. It’s time to end this and learn how to write articles that will capture reader’s attention.
Imagine that you have your article written. You picked witty words, checked spelling, found a nice picture, spell-checked it a dozen of times and clicked “Publish.” But your perfect text stays idle and has zero comments or likes. Does this situation seem familiar to you?
In this article, I will tell what I’ve learned while working with the Unihost social network communities and a corporate blog. Believe me, I’ve been searching for a way to write an interesting article without losing my style. All 9 points are minimal requirements that must be followed.
Fill the text with life
To meet this requirement, you need to forget some things you may have learned at your English classes. You have to bear in mind the cardinal rule: people do not read articles on the Internet as they read Shakespeare’s sonnets. People skim through the text without going deep into the meaning. You need to accept it and use it, rather than ignore.
The next time you want to write a sentence fully stocked with epithets or composite sentences, remember that your readers are extremely busy and moody. As a rule, they do not want to waste their time looking for the main idea in your long-winded sentence structure.
Learn to press Enter
Different studies show that the text is easier to read when it is divided into paragraphs. In addition, reading many long lines causes eye fatigue. This is the second reason to split your text into parts.
The rule is simple: one paragraph for one point. Try to make short paragraphs (four or five sentences is enough).
Use subheadings to divide large chunks of text
If you do not write a novel, then your article should contain subheadings to fill your text with meaning. Moreover, subheadings help the reader navigate through the text easily.
After writing an article, look through subheadings. Do you catch the meaning of the article only from them? Have you managed to understand what you are going to learn without reading the whole text? If the subheadings did not help you, the reader won’t understand them as well. In such case, you should rewrite your text.
Make lists
- They attract the reader’s attention, as jam attracts bees;
- They help make the article seem organized;
- They stand out from the rest of the text and indicate to the reader that some important information is here!
Use quotations
Choose a couple of sentences that summarize the whole story and express the most important idea. Facilitate the reader’s job: provide an interesting text, create a quote and your readers will remember it. Place the quote in quotation marks or make it bold.
Add links
Connection with the previous articles with a similar topic is the cornerstone of a good article. Links make the reader to stay on your blog and to read your content. Believe me, the reader will thank you if you simplify the search of useful materials.
Links to other sites show that you have researched the topic and you are not afraid of referring to other authors. I strongly recommend you reading “The art of SEO” to learn how to use other blogs to get links. But remember, an excessive number of links irritates the reader.
Use bold in your sentences
If you want to emphasize an important point in the sentence, try to bold it. It is guaranteed to attract the reader’s attention. However, do not highlight every slightly important information. Otherwise, you will achieve the opposite effect, and the reader will ignore any bolded text.
Insert numbers into text (if you have any)
Inserting numbers is an incredibly effective way to capture readers’ attention. If you do not believe me, read a couple of NY Times or The Guardian articles. The magic of numbers takes cherry and the headline “5 million dollars stolen” attracts more readers than “five million dollars stolen “.
Read your text as a reader, not an editor
When you have done all the items, please read your article once again, but as a reader, not an author. Step back from the role of editor. Imagine you read it for the first time and answer the following questions honestly:
- Do you understand the subject of the article from the heading?
- Do subheadings have meaning?
- Is it easy to read?
- Do you have a desire to write something down or click the links?
If all of your answers were positive, then you’ve made a big step towards the reader. Your reader will notice it!
Finally, one more tip. Before posting ask yourself:
“Would I suggest this article to my friends?”
And what about you? What are your favorite methods to attract readers? How do you usually write or edit your articles? Let’s talk about it in the comments.