This is a guest post from Monica Crowe
The clock is ticking right now. You only have nine seconds to captivate readers online. So if you want blog readers who become fans of your products or services, and who spread the word to their friends, you have to understand what excites people.
Enchanting your readers is not only about what you say, but how you say it. The following is a crash course to writing content with reader attracting elements and a twist of pizzazz for interest.
Attract Readers with This One Skill
The magic of a spellbinding blog post begins with the humble headline. It might not be sexy, but it’s the No. 1 key to pulling readers into your site, getting them to read your newsletter and to engage with you on social media. Good headlines come in many forms, but one of the most effective headline writing methods is to hook readers by giving them a taste, but not an entire spoonful of information.
Leave them wanting more, and readers will delve into your content to find answers.
Snippets from a few effective headlines I found today in my e-mail inbox were “Last chance,” “Very sorry … ” and “Peek inside.” These all bait readers to learn more.
Baiting, or being a touch mysterious, is one of many ways to attract readers with your headlines. But to become a master headline writer, train yourself to recognize effective headlines.
Do this today.
Set up a “junk” e-mail account, and then subscribe to as many e-mail lists as you can, from leaders in their respective industries to lesser known bloggers. This will give you a cross section of content marketing skill levels to evaluate.
Soon, your inbox will fill with headlines. Some of them will immediately get your attention, while others will hardly register. Copy and paste captivating headlines into a digital file to save. Scan your “junk” e-mail inbox once a week, continuing to add to your file, and eventually you’ll see common threads. It won’t be long before you begin thinking like a marketer every time you write a headline.
Hold Readers’ Attention in Two Easy Steps
Blogger babes beware! A snappy headline isn’t enough to keep readers engaged. It’s the honey and milk, but not the full meal. After enticing readers to open your newsletter, or peruse further into your blog post, you must deliver on the headline’s promise.
Ideally, the first sentence of each of your paragraphs will continue to coax readers on into your content. Tease the reader with a juicy morsel of much wanted information and promises of more. If you give away too much too soon, the mystery dissolves and so do your readers’ interests.
The key to writing scintillating introductory sentences is to first consider what your readers want most. What are the problems that they not only want to solve, but need to solve? Zero in on a problem, and refer to it in the first to second sentence of paragraph.
Now that you have readers thinking about their problems, let them know your article provides answers. The more directly you address what your readers want, the more you’ll have their attention.
Finally, you do not want to overlook this key to captivating content. Unfortunately, a lot of bloggers do, which is too bad since it makes all the difference between a post that is read and one that is only skimmed. It’s the sub-headline – the overlooked wallflower cousin to the more glamorous headline. When used effectively, the sub-headline entices people to focus and read your content more closely. To write an enticing sub-headline, simply employ good headline writing techniques.
The Internet age has wired our brains for shorter attention spans. It is a confirmed fact that when they are not fully engaged people skim content rather than read word for word. Use these three keys to captivating content, and you’ll attract loyal fans who delight in reading your content and can’t help but spread the word.
About the author: Monica Crowe writes captivating blog posts and sales pages for creative, passionate entrepreneurs, so they can do more of the work they love and help the people they most want to serve. Get her free content creation guide for attracting more leads and subscribers, “Content is Cash: Four Powerful Ways to Get More Leads for Your Business,” and read her blog for more writing and content marketing tips at www.monicacrowe.com.
For more tips on writing captivating content, read How to Create Mouth Watering Content For Your Blog.