So you think you’re all set now that your blog is up, laid out and designed. Well you still do need to put some stuff up there for people to read. This isn’t about writing for SEO, writing for awards or writing for fun. This is about writing to inform. You have content, you feel a need to get it out there. How can you possibly gain a wider audience for your content? Well there are some small tips for writing copy that i can share with you that will send you well on your way.
Change the way you write: slightly
First off, you need to flip the content on its ear. Put most of the punchline in the front of the article, tell people as quickly as you can what this article is about and what they can expect to get out of it. This is called the hook, it gets people to read the details beyond.Think of it like setting the table for dinner, if you come over to someone’s house for dinner and the table is already set and waiting for the food you expect to start eating shortly.
I struggle with this, I’m a natural long format story teller. I naturally build to my conclusion, giving supporting details along the way.That’s all well and good for personal blog posts, ie posts for you, not the readers. But if you are trying to build a following on the fickle web it leads to tired eyeballs and quick clicks off your site.
Build the article in Parts: Hook, Support, Curtain
If that describes you feel free to write the article out, then cut the last paragraph out and paste it on the front, see if it fits. See if you would read that story. More often than not you’ll end up putting one version of the conclusion at the very front, leaving crumbs of the pastry to follow.
Yet another tactic I found is to write a short synopsis of what people will get out of your article, adding in questions you know the article will answer. Questions lead to answers, and answers are what people are willing to stick around for.
Even when people create great works of art you can bet they used some form of construction lines at the start, feel free to mark your rough draft copy up, digitally put in placeholders for content and images to be added in later.
Separation is Key: Break up the flow
The last little tip I have for you is to break the content up. Visually large blocks of text just don’t get read, they get skimmed and clicked over. Break your ideas up into bite sized pieces, add heading and bold sections in the give the eyes a respite and allow for the content to sink in. Adding pictures as supporting data can also spice up the article visually, everything in moderation. Try to work the pictures into the overall narrative, but don’t feel the need to beat people over the head with the ideas they represent. They’re pictures, worth a 1000 words and all that.
Hopefully these concepts and alternate tactics help you get your content out there and read.