Why would readers choose your article over others? Why would people want to keep reading your story?

Studies show that more than half of a website’s visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a page. Those who stayed on a page only pay attention to about 20% of the text. You probably already know a lot about writing. Perhaps you’re on your way to try to build better SEO results and draw more attention to your stories?

Writing online is a challenge since the reader’s attention is so shattered and limited. Only by making your blog easy to read, well-structured with a nice flow, you can further lead your readers to dive into the stories you’re about to tell.

Give a strong opening

A compelling title always draws people’s attention but the key to keeping them for the rest of the story is that you need a strong opening with a visual and concise introduction.

An ideal title should be between 7 to 12 words. You can start with a working title that is less SEO-friendly but clear and straightforward enough for you to start and finish the article. Then depending on the final content you have, you can fine-tune the final title that shows your passion and speaks to your readers.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” A post with a relevant and appealing cover picture receives 94% more views than the ones without a cover image. Using a stock image or creating your own one with design tools are both great choices. It’s extremely important to drive traffic, build up your personal brand’s style, and social-media-friendly. Ideally, the cover picture you choose should be landscape and include your blog title in it.

Lastly, your introduction should only be 1 to 3 sentences long. It’s a map showing your readers what the post is, what’s going on next, and why the post is important. Try to blend in a joke, statistics, or a shared problem.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Use titles and subtitles correctly

No matter what you write, titles and subtitles can help you to break up large text and make the post easier to read. Titles can help you make the blog post more visually appealing and break down the article correctly. It also adds a more professional feeling to your article.

Keeping your article in a plain and simple format can allow you to talk to people with different reading levels. You can start your titles with an action verb to make your article more vivid or an interesting number to support your content with reliable data.

You should keep the paragraphs short too. Why? It’s easier to read and it’s also more mobile-friendly. It’s easier for your readers to digest. Blog writing is not like writing fiction, it’s about letting people find useful information and resonate with your stories.

Deliver an unforgettable ending

Researchers found that people only remember about 10% of what they read. Try to tie up everything and reinforce your main points once again with your conclusion. Don’t include new ideas so you don’t exhaust your readers. Instead, motivate them one last time, give a bonus tip and restate your key takeaways.

Make them remember and if you can, lead them to expect your next article! 

When paying attention to deliver good content, always make sure you have a good flow to trigger the initial interest, getting addicted, and craving for more! Having a strong opening, well-structured content and a compelling ending are the 3 attention grabbers you must have to grab the reader’s attention throughout the article. You can also check some pro tips from Gillian D’souza for becoming a great writer!

Want to learn more about our white paper on web writing? Here’s the go-to place to get your copy!

Otherwise, stay tuned! More tips and tricks on content creation are coming soon!

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Look around, it’s where you are now. This platform is free for all content creators and it’s where you can let your ideas fly. We believe that passions drive us to go forward and they make the world a better place. It is a place that gives power back to creators and their ideas, interacts with both readers and creators, and eventually develops a community altogether. Post, read, shine!