You have identified the right audience, come up with great topics and carefully crafted your content. Then you hit the ‘publish’ button, and the worst happens. Nobody reads your articles. No tweets, no comments, no sharing on Facebook. This is enough to make you depressed and lower your motivation for writing any further.
The following are great tactics that you can use to make your content more reader-friendly.
Use the Line Break
This is one of the easiest ways of making your content more readable. White spaces can make even complex content more reader-friendly. Each paragraph should be short, four sentences at most, and address only one idea. You could even have a few one-sentence paragraphs.
Use Subheadings
A strong headline is important to attract readers to your content in the first place. Great subheadings act as ‘mini-headlines’ and keep the readers engaged through the content. Your subhead should be informative as well as intriguing. However, don’t exaggerate anything or you will lose credibility. Review your subheads to see what readers will understand when they scan your post. Do they summarize the content of your post?
Use Bulleted Lists
- They are easily scannable.
- They can be used to present several points.
- Since they look different from the other text, they give your readers a visual break.
Add Relevant Links
Internal links to your own posts will encourage people to stay on your website. External links show that you have done some research on the topic. They also highlight the expertise of others. Good content makes use of both links to add value and increase your reader’s understanding.
Use strategic formatting
Add emphasis to your posts by bolding vital concepts. This will enable your reader to can through and spot vital information at a glance. However, don’t highlight everything. Emphasize the main points only so that they can be easily picked out.
Use the Power of Numbers
Numbers are a great way of grabbing attention and keeping the readers focused. A post can be made more compelling by numbering the main points.
Use Deep Captions
Research has shown that some of the most read details on a page are image captions. You could try pairing powerful images with some deep captions. Such captions are up to three sentences long. Deep caption are long enough to grab the attention of your reader and entice them to read through your whole article.
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on June 27, 2011 at 8:37 am
One other important thing is to tell a story a time or two. People want to hear about your struggles and what you did to over come them..this brigs in more readers.
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on June 27, 2011 at 11:57 am
I agree. I have written posts about my struggles in the past and they seem to be popular. I guess it brings in people because they may be going through the same struggle and can relate, and are also looking for a solution.
on June 27, 2011 at 8:59 am
I think the most important thing is to have something of significance to communicate. I think the message is much more important than the medium. What is being said gets more importance than how it is being said.
Agreed that using line breaks, formating, using bullet points and subheading is all part and parcel of a good writing skills, but even more important is to grab the attention of the reader and engage them.
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on June 27, 2011 at 11:58 am
Having something of significance to communicate is very important, as well as adding value for the reader. Grabbing the reader’s attention is always the tricky part, and most people don’t have that ability, myself included. It takes time to learn that skill.
on June 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I am not writing this as a blogger but as a reader. I am still trying to get the hang of blogging.
You make a lot of great points here on how to actually get people to read your posts. But I was surprised that you did not mention the one thing that brought me to your blog. The title of the post is what made me actually click the link and start to read. The items that you mentioned in your post kept me reading until the end.
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on June 30, 2011 at 10:25 am
I agree about the title of the post drawing in readers. Many people have written a lot of articles that talk about how a well written title can draw a reader in, and keep them coming back for more.
on June 29, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Yes, the tiltle is important. Also the competition, as some niches are owercrowded with blogs. Its hard to grab attention in a hard niche..
I have also seen more visitors on post where I write on struggling issues.
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on June 30, 2011 at 10:28 am
Making titles stand out among the crowd is difficult, especially in overcrowded niches. Those that do succeed in such niches know how to write great titles, and do so on a regular basis.
My most popular posts are ones in which I solve a problem a user may have. While the title of the posts are catchy, it does provide the user with the understanding that the content could potentially solve their current issue. As for writing about struggling issues, people like to read those as they may be able to relate with the author. Relating with your readers is a key to keep them as regular readers.
on June 30, 2011 at 7:25 am
Nice info there
I like the fact that using deep captions are also effective, I know it works because I actually read them every time I see them!
on July 1, 2011 at 6:51 am
Helpful advices actually, Paul!
I agree on using bulleted or numbered lists is a good thing, apart from giving a relief for the reader’s eyes it somehow makes the reader trust the content more. As if it was a conclusion of some sort.
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on July 4, 2011 at 8:40 am
Many people like bulleted and numbered lists as they find it easier to read. I like using them because it helps me organize my thoughts.
on July 1, 2011 at 8:01 am
Great many people read in this article we can through and spot vital information at a glance. However, don’t highlight everything..th9ing for sharing this blog.
on July 3, 2011 at 7:42 pm
A lot of great points in this article and from the comments, I find this really useful. I completely agree with Arelthia, the title of an article is really important not only to bring readers attentions, but also for the search engines.
When I first started writing, one of my first post I wrote a title, really short and that it did not say anything about the article, which didn’t bring any views, then when I was learning about the importance of the title, I changed it and you know what? In the first week after the changed I have a lot of views.
Also very important as it was mentioned in this article is how long a paragraph is, when people see too many words they don’t even bother reading.
What I also believe that is very important — besides the content itself — are the images used in the article, always try to have an image that relates to the content.
Thanks,
Keep up the great work!
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on July 4, 2011 at 8:47 am
The title of the article/page is probably the most important factor for getting both readers and search engine traffic. A good title can go a long way.
The length of the paragraph can also have an effect on your readers. Most people seem to like shorter, easier to read paragraphs instead of long drawn out ones. Two or three sentences seems to be the make length of paragraphs online.
on December 28, 2011 at 3:15 am
I actually agree with Paul, thats how to do it.