How to get people to actually read what you are writing.

Cristian Level X³

September 1, 2016, 4:42 pm

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How to get people to actually read what you are writing.

Hey, guys I have a few tips on how to get more people to actually read what you are writing on your website or blogs.

Most people apparently "scan" information and don't actually read it, this doesn't mean you need to write short articles, but rather you need to structure your content in such a way that people on the run can read it.

Use a lot of line breaks
Use bullet points
Have multiple subheadings
Share other helpful information by placing links on other websites

How to get people to actually read what you are writing.

These are my main tips on how to actually catch does "fast readers". What similar suggestions do you have?

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idealmike

I've always thought it had more to do with what you're actually saying rather than how you actually say it? Because people are looking for some specific information on your site and come to it to read that after seeing it in a SERP result or something. They then skim it with their eyes looking specifically for something within the text on that page. If they can't find it, it doesn't matter how pretty you make your text, they'll leave faster than a speeding bullet!

It still pays to make sure your webpage is easy to read though! Putting large blocks of text together is a big no no. Paragraphs that are about 20 sentences long and take up a huge part of the page with no line breaks. Some people hold their breath when reading paragraphs and don't breath in again until they have completed reading it. If some people never breathed in again they'd die from lack of oxygen before completing the sentence LOL. Plus nobody likes to read a large block of text as it's easier to get lost where you've read up to.

I see writing not rather unlike a good three course meal. First you have the starters which is your heading and maybe sub-heading where you whet their appetite. Then you have the mains which is everything else underneath. The meat and potatoes if you will. Finally, you have your desert which is the ending parts of your article. The part that has the clincher or the cherry on top just to finish it off nicely.

But all those things make up a good read that is easy on the eyes, easy to chew and easy to digest. Whether it's using ample line breaks, bullet points and multiple sub-headings. Along with the occasional link where necessary and valuable. Don't just add a link for the sake of it unless it is actually valuable to the reader some how. You want to try and keep people on your page as long as possible.

But that's my 2 cent for what it's worth.

10 years ago

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Everett

I despise those that just scan, and don't read the entire post. Usually this is done via support technicians, they will scan the post, and reply to one issue whilst leaving all the other issues out and you'll have to reply to them that they never responded to your other questions. I mean it just takes like 5 to 10 seconds to read a short paragraph right?

Another thing is the way some posts are formatted, if there isn't any paragraphs than usually I will just skip it. I like reading when the post is beautifully formatted, so this may be a way to get people to actually read your content. Also, don't forget about fonts that are being used, if you are unsure if your font is readable than go with Arial, or another font that isn't too fancy. Always have great content, grammatically correct, make the post entertaining, and make sure it's properly formatted.

10 years ago

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TommyCarey

A good trick to add into you posts is to stagger your content.

This will help bring peoples attention down the page. I will put a few sentences on the left and an image on the right, then scroll down slightly and put an image on the left and content on the right. I'll repeat this process until I get all my content on the page, or if I think the page is long enough.

You need to keep your posts short and sweet if it's a sales page. A long sales page converts less people compared to something that is 1/3 the length but optimized for conversions

If you're just writing an article to get content out there, you don't have to worry too much about the length, but it's still good to stagger the paragraphs in order to get people to get pulled in and read everything

So many times have I been to a website and just got annoyed because of the crumby layouts of the pages and content. I'll just bounce off the page because it's so much to take in all at once that I know for a fact that I'm not going to read everything.

Another good trick is to change the colors of the background for each section. It will be like a page refresh or a new chapter that people are starting to read and they will stay on the page longer

I actually do this a lot and have seen a good amount of conversions on the sales pages that have something like this

10 years ago

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MendasDigital

You've got some great tips there

Most people apparently "scan" information and don't actually read it

If a post is more than a tidbit, I always scan it so that I can hopefully get the gist of each section. I have a bit of a short attention span

. Based on that I decide if I want to read particular sections, the entire thing, or cut my losses. For example, when I scanned your post I saw:

Hey, guys [...] tips [...] more people to actually read what you are writing [...] apparently "scan" [...] doesn't mean [...] short [...] bullet points [...]

Based on the scan results I decided to go back and read every word, excluding the picture, which I've merely seen by accident. For those scanning, the OP's post is worth the read, as is mine.

I would add, have grab sentences, and make them stand out, to the list. Depending on the circumstances, adding a TL;DR to the bottom could also be helpful in convincing some people to read the whole thing (kinda like the back flap of a book).

10 years ago

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chetaseo

Another good way to make people read your book is to write it in form of stories or in any form that will raise curiosity or suspense in the mind of the reader to want to read more to know what finally happened at the end. you can come up with some form of text or phrase topics that will catch the attention of any reader to want to know what the content is all about.

10 years ago

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EliteWriter

The formatting is very important. As a writer I am fully aware that a good part of the readers who will be seeing my content are not going to read it from start to finish. So it is really important to make sure that there are plenty of subheadings, relatively short paragraphs that include point form in bulleted lists, and the keywords in bold or another color. Adding pictures and other visual aids helps a lot of course. And even though lengthier articles will include more information, I still think that from a readability point of view short articles do much better.

10 years ago

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nextsocialworld

You need to have quality content and it should be of people's interest. Need to share through social media also, with all possible formats. You can also get quality from quality writers at affordable rates.

10 years ago

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Lynne

Brilliant tips here Cristian.

I get really annoyed when I am searching for a specific piece of information and I arrive on a website only to be greeted by page full of text that I can barely read.

It makes a massive difference to write with short paragraphs and sentences. Adding headings is also great. I love reading but if I am looking for something specific then I will scan down the headings to find the information I am looking for,

When I arrive on a website that has terrible formatting it doesn't matter to me how quality the information is, formatting can make or break a website post.

10 years ago

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nextsocialworld

Thanks for sharing such nice tips!

9 years ago

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vinaya

You have 10-15 seconds to impress a reader. Therefore, you will have to grab your readers' attention with the first few lines. Therefore, you should have a brilliant opening.
Online readers do not read content, they view the content. which means an online reader will scan the content and read some sections. In order to encourage reading, you will have to divide your content into sections, use subtitles, bullet points, quotes etc.

8 years ago

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Corzhens

In my experience, I enjoy reading an article that is spaced neatly with paragraphs. Not too long paragraphs but not too short although a variety in length is just fine. With the words, I had been mentioning this time and again that I get turned off when there are too many big words that I would be needing the dictionary. That is not a good read for me unless it is a technical article that I need to know. But for a blog, I wouldn’t read that kind of article. What I want is an article that is reader friendly.

8 years ago

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vinaya

I think the first thing that grabs a reader's attention is the feature image. If you have a good feature image, a visitor might stop at your article. Second important thing is the title, the title should be catchy and tell what the article is about, third is the description. Give a short description just below the title. The description should be something that tells the reader about the topic and make them want more.
The content formatted with short paragraphs and sections with subtitles attract readers more.

8 years ago

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SEOClerks

How to get people to actually read what you are writing.

How to get people to actually read what you are writing.

Comments

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idealmike

Everett

TommyCarey

MendasDigital

chetaseo

EliteWriter

nextsocialworld

Lynne

nextsocialworld

vinaya

Corzhens

vinaya

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