The creation of meaningful and engaging content online requires ample amounts of time, energy, and effort on behalf of the content creator. The conservative estimates indicate that articles ranging from 1000—1500 words can take upwards of 2 to 5 hours, oftentimes longer, to reach the quality worthy of holding readers’ attention. While investing your time into a project is a worthy endeavor, it means nothing if people never pass the title or click on the links you provide to guide them to your content.
Additionally, according to research conducted by the popular website Hubspot, over 60% of readers never read more than 40% of any individual blog post. This is both astounding and disheartening news for those individuals who have opted to require their organizations to develop content because it seems to indicate that increasing content consumption will be a more difficult task than originally believed. In reality, most website content can be easily connected with by readers if the content creator makes a few small tweaks to the way the content is displayed! Throughout the remainder of the article, you can expect to receive a series of tips that will increase the readership of your most recent posts with relatively few adjustments needing to be made! Enjoy!
Don’t Let Design Distract from your Content:
In order to entice readers into reading your content, you need to provide them with clean formatting that is as clutter free as possible. In order to manage this, your content designer should consider sidebar placement, minimizing the number of pages someone needs to scroll through to access all of your content, and adjusting fonts/spacing so that they allow for easy readability. Through your consideration of design and content, you will limit the seemingly endless amount of distractions present in the online environment.
Research and Create Content People Read:
Once you have limited the amount of distractions present on the portion of your website that displays your blog posts, it is time to ensure that your content itself is presented in a manner that promotes readability. Although different depending on the niche of your article, research indicates that Ultimate Guides, Expert Round-Ups, and list articles attract the greatest levels of interaction among site visitors. It is highly encouraged that business owners pay close attention to this data as doing so could advance your bottom line. It may also increase the possibility of your blog being shared with other individuals in that site visitor’s friend group.
Create Tantalizing Titles:
While browsing your favorite news source you have likely noticed shortened article titles that seek to draw you in with catchy phrases or sudden cliff hangers. These titles alone often entice you to read the article further or pass over it completely, a decision made in a matter of only a few seconds. With the survival of your blog at risk, it is vital that you devote a countless amount of effort to developing a title worthy of catching a readers’ attention. Read and implement some of the following tips to ensure your titles are absolutely tantalizing:
- Create headlines that are around 65 characters (they draw in the most visitors)
- Limit titles to a maximum of 6 separate words
- Use colorful adjectives (Ex. beautiful, cold-blooded, well-behaved, etc.)
- Utilize percentages or numbers within your title to increase your article’s credibility.
- Engage your customer base by using language directed toward them such as I, You, We, etc.
Create a Mobile Platform for your Content:
With an increasingly mobile society, many customers who interact with your product will do so from a mobile device such as a cell phone or iPad. The number of searches currently generated from a mobile device on popular search websites such as Google are estimated to be around 60% of the overall traffic. With this number increasing steadily on a daily basis, creating a mobile platform for your content is very important. As we have mentioned in our other articles, making sure your article is optimized for mobile use will be worth your time as a company. This includes limiting the amount of ads you might have on your company’s blog because these ads may actually be hurting your customer’s ability to interact with your business. The last thing you need is a negative review on your company’s customer service due to an easily correctable concern.
Make Promises Upfront, Deliver throughout the Document:
If you are confident in your product as well as the message you are producing, make promises to your readers that you can deliver if they continue to read your document. With only a few seconds to grab the attention of most visitors to your website, you need to focus on providing them with an exciting introduction that will encourage them to read further into your document. We have outlined a few tips for encouraging this engagement below for your convenience:
- Give them a summary of your article upfront that expands on the problem or topic you will be addressing. Don’t go into too much detail though because you want your readers to read on!
- Limit the fluff! Nobody wants their time wasted by unnecessary language. Just inform them about what they need to know then move on!
- Clearly identify your post’s objective! By doing so, your readers will know why they are reading, isn’t that great!
- Incentivize reaching the end of your article by providing content that will benefit your readers.
Design Short Paragraphs:
If your readership is short of time like many modern day internet users are, limit your paragraph sizes to only a few sentences! If you must create larger paragraphs use them sparingly and interject them with smaller paragraphs to make them easier to digest. If you use this strategy, readers who like to skim through articles will LOVE your posts!
Speak to your Readers Directly:
It is difficult to create a personal connection with anyone online but you have the power to do so by writing as if you are speaking directly to your readers. We have been doing this throughout our article by using words such as you, I, and we. These words help create a relationship between the content creator and those reading the content. This relationship is obviously of great importance because it will make the foundation your company is built on.
Sub-headers are your Friend:
Several company leaders elect to have their blog posts focus on broad topics such as criminal justice reform. While these topics are worthy of discussion, it is important to break them into manageable sections using sub-headers. Through providing sub-headers in your document, you will improve your readers’ abilities to follow along with your topic. The use of sub-headers is especially important when your blog posts are lengthier because they will allow readers to start off from a section they may have stopped on at an earlier point in time.
Research and Provide Credible Quotes/Research:
Without data to validate one’s claims, words tend to hold little weight if any at all. Instead of stepping out to the end of the branch without a parachute, equip yourself appropriately with credible quotes and research that will help the branch hold your weight! If you can secure enough credible data in your posts, your readers will be sure to implement the changes you speak about because they are more likely to work! Remember, giving your readers actionable data will increase their trust in your company!
The Addition of Images will Reinforce your Point:
We have to admit that there are times when a blog post can use images to boost its readability. Who wants to read an article with only words anyway? If you find yourself wondering whether or not an image is necessary for your post, consider the fact that nearly 65% of individuals who read articles prefer to read those that contain infographics or other relevant images. Remember the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words”….add a few images to your blog posts and you can exponentially increase the amount of information you share!
Summarize your Article:
In order to close your posts effectively, you should provide your readers with a strongly worded conclusion that pulls your overall ideas together. If your summary is filled with key takeaways, your readers will be left feeling as if you have gently yet metaphorically placed them into a comfortable bed for an amazing night’s sleep. Who doesn’t want to feel that way after a nice read?
Through applying your knowledge of each of these tips to your current webpage, you will most certainly grow your reader base as well as increase the amount of content they are able to access and understand. Once readers trust that they can go to you for straight to the point information on topics they find relevant, they will continue to seek you out. This will of course increase engagement with your company’s brand, which in turn will increase your company’s success.