With more content being generated each day, a startup blog or website really needs to focus on their edge in the market. That being the content that is displayed when a visitor comes to the website needs to be both informative and high quality. However, those qualities are not enough anymore to keep a visitor interested, which is why I have created this guide to writing magnificent online content that will attract and keep visitors on your website or blog.
Understanding The Average Internet User’s Ideology:
The web has changed how we read and absorb information. I guarantee that most readers of this site will skim through this content until something pops out at them, grabbing their attention for fractions of a second, before moving on. Don’t forget – you will always be competing for visitors interest with the billions of other websites on the internet.
There have been many internet usage studies, but they all conclude the same end result:
The average web user only spends a few seconds on each website before searching for another result.
What does this mean for web content producers? It means wasted bandwidth and a lower conversion rate. This is why I felt this series was necessary to increase visitor conversions and give anyone the knowledge they need to write “magnificent” online content.
The Article Headline: It Makes or Breaks Your Visitor Commitment
Ensure that the article headline is informative and makes the visitor want to continue reading.
- Try and get the visitor excited about what you have written – IE: “10 Ways you can Lose Weight without Dieting” (this addresses people that want to lose weight, but also gives an insight into the added benefit of reading this article, which is not having to give up eating their favourite foods)
- Alternatively, you could take advantage of controversy and create a debate question – IE: “Global Warming – The Biggest Scam in Human History” (this title will offend environmentalists but will attract other people that agree with your opinion, the end result being both of the people fighting out their opinion in the comments area of your website)
- A boring article title will nullify any emotional response to your content and most likely result in a loss of an interested reader – IE: “My Incredible Dog, Sparky” (…yawn.)
The Colour and Font also Play A Role:
- Bold fonts (Arial, Helvetica) get the point across to the new visitor faster than thin fonts (Georgia).
- Neutral colours such as Dark Blue, Black and Dark Grey appeal to the largest amount of web readers. Reds, Greens and Yellows are more of a niche colour – Use these with caution.
Coming Up Next – Part 2:
The next post in the series will look at how to hook a reader into your content by placing one of the most basic (often overlooked) components of writing below your headline. Stay tuned, or better yet, subscribe via RSS.
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The Definitive Guide To Writing Magnificent Online Content – Part 2 – The Hook
In the last article, I talked about the importance about using an informative headline to attract readers to your content. Although a title is a crucial element in keeping your visitors on your blog, you must create an attention grabbing “hook” to further interest the reader in what your article is about. Hence, the graphic above which signifies what this post is going to be about.
The Thinking Behind The Hook
Using an image after a headline attracts readers to an article like a moth is attracted to a flame. This technique works so well due to the massive amounts of media that have adopted this method in their articles for decades. Think of a newspaper – The front page has a large headline and then directly below it is a large image.
San Francisco Chronicle – 1945:
The Examiner – 1962:
The Arizona Republic – 2008:
Why does this work so well?
The human eye is drawn towards colour or complex shapes. It will try to figure out what the object is and the environment in which it is stationed in, all of this usually happening within hundreds of seconds of you first seeing it. By placing a relevant image after your headlines, you are replicating what has made newspapers (and print media in general) so successful in selling copies of their product.
There’s no new science here folks, just a simple technique that will retain visitors better than just a straight jump to a body of text.
Finding Pictures for your Headline “Hooks”
There are thousands of sites that have stock photos for you to use, free of charge. Almost every article on here has an image from Stock.xchng (The leading stock photography site).. I have never needed to go to any other source for my pictures.
Alternatively, you could visit these places for photos:
Part 3 – The Opening Paragraph
Stay tuned as we take a look at what makes an opening paragraph so crucial to the success of your article.