If you’re publishing content online then it’s pretty clear that you want to be noticed. We all write to get attention; we don’t do it to be lavished with praise (well, not all of us), and we definitely don’t do it to be criticized – we simply write to be read and the more people that read our work the better.
If you feel that you are writing some truly groundbreaking stuff, and no one but your immediate family are reading it, something isn’t quite right. Your work isn’t grabbing the interest of the reader, and you may need to make a couple of changes to right this wrong.
To help get your content noticed, here are 5 golden tips.
1. Write a catchy headline
If you want to grab the attention of the reader, you have to come up with a brilliant headline. Reading online is different from reading a novel in bed, web readers are busy readers, and they are not going to stop by your site if you’ve got boring headlines.
The perfect headline needs to be short, accurate, descriptive, and most of all, catchy. Throw in some trigger words (why, when, how) and some tasty adjectives (essential, free, incredible, etc.); also, readers love headlines that indicate a list, so try using numbers.
2. Keep your work short
The attention span of the online reader is pretty short and anything over a 1,000 words is going to see their interest dwindle pretty quickly.
Many readers will scroll through an article first to see how long it is before committing to reading, so it is best to keep your work pretty short. Between 300 and 800 words is ideal, but always try to keep it to fewer than 1,000. If your piece is long, give it to your readers in two parts; that will have them coming back for more.
3. Use sub-headings
Using sub-headings is like inserting mini headlines to break up blocks of text. Today’s readers are skimmers that like to scan over articles and having a few sub-headings will make it easy for them to skip straight to the parts that are of most interest.
4. Speak to the reader
Write your articles and blog posts in a conversational tone, speak to the reader, and let them engage with your writing. Also, don’t worry about just sticking to the facts – let your opinions be known and your personality shine through. Most of all – be original!
5. End it all on a question
If you want to know that people are taking an interest in your work, give them a question to answer. Ending your posts with a question is a great way to encourage comments and feedback and while it is not the conventional way to end a piece, this is your work and you can do exactly as you please.
The tips listed here are a sure way to help you get your work noticed. After all, I have used every one of the tips in this article, and you noticed this, right?
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