Your content is essential when it comes to attracting the right audience to your business. Yet, even the most beautifully crafted blog may not achieve the heights of success you are hoping for.
This video gives you some ideas about how to create great content. However, that is not the end of the story. There is more to getting likes and shares than writing amazing articles and blog posts that inform and engage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygiAqYJq8No&feature=emb_logo
Are you frustrated because you work hard to draft amazing posts only for them to remain unread? Rest assured, you are alone. However, even though it’s a common problem, it’s certainly one you can avoid. You need to attract readers and get shares and comments to maximize the potential of your content. Its whole point is to boost your brand reputation and drive up traffic and sales.
So, how can you resolve this issue? Well, the answer may not be as difficult as you imagined. In fact, the answer lies in how you format your content. Indeed, the right formatting can’t make a poorly written post more engaging. But it can push a well-constructed one to a new level of success.
Blog Reading and Regular Reading – the Differences
Blog writers should look to journalism to see examples of good formatting. Newspapers make sure their content is punchy and short. To grab the attention of their readers, they use eye-catching images and intriguing headlines. Then to hold their attention, the articles are brief, to the point, and simple to digest.
When writing online content, making the content skimmable is even more important. Patience is in even shorter supply on digital devices than with actual reading materials. This is because there are more distractions, and you cannot immediately see the length of the post.
Readers often scroll down to the post’s bottom before reading to decide whether to bother. During this process, they scan for anything interesting. Therefore, peppering posts with engaging content is vital.
There’s another disadvantage to blog posts compared with physical formats. It is more difficult to read onscreen than in print, and eye strain is common. Nevertheless, that does not mean posts must be extremely short. If the content is engaging and well-written, articles can be as long as you need them to be. The key to success is to style posts to be approachable and visually appealing.
So, how do you do this? Read on to find out some top tips to help you format content to avoid reader boredom.
Writing Headlines
The headline of any post is the first (and maybe only) chance to make readers notice you. Therefore, you should not waste it.
The above statistic shows how important it is to get your headline right. Fail, and a fifth of your potential customers will look elsewhere rather than read on.
The key is to write engaging headlines, describe the topic, and include the focus keywords for SEO. A post title that is interesting and eye-catching makes a huge difference. It will draw in the audience and encourage your customers to start reading in the first place.
Using Subheadings and Headings
Just like headlines, subheadings and headings are vital to helping readers understand what the article is about. More importantly, they tell your audience why they should be reading it. This makes them a vital formatting tool.
Do not allow subheadings and headings to overwhelm your posts. But you need to make sure you’ve used enough to break up long blocks of text. At least three headings in each post is a good starting point.
Use a range of subheadings and headings in each post. Keep higher-level, H2 concepts a larger size than H3 or H4 subtopics.
Choosing Images
The chart above shows that, although using lots of images is something few bloggers do, it is a highly effective tactic. Include high-quality images in every post. This is essential to keep readers interested and engaged. Add an interesting image you want to feature at the head of each post. Then add more relevant images as needed.
Break Up Paragraphs
You can make the content skimmable by breaking up the text into shorter paragraphs. The ideal paragraph has between one and four sentences.
However, if every paragraph is just a single sentence, your post will read and look choppy. So, mix and match, and whenever posts appear too text-heavy, break it into more paragraphs.
Choose A Font
It is important to choose a font that is not distracting or loud. This will cause your readers to focus more on the font than the content itself. Once you’ve chosen a suitable font, maintain it for consistency across all your blog posts. This will reinforce your brand.
Font size is also important. While a minimalist, smaller look may be your preference, many readers ignore articles with small types.
The chart above shows that a mid-sized font is most popular with readers. It will not look childish or strain the readers’ eyes.
Consider A Content Table
Most readers prefer to know what they are going to get before they start reading. One way to make things easier for readers is to choose a logical blog post layout.
All posts need a clear beginning, middle, and end. They also need lots of subheadings and headings to guide readers throughout. Adding numbered lists is also helpful since this indicates automatically how much text remains.
A contents table is a good way to help readers out. They can then jump directly to the section they are most interested in reading. They can also skip the ones they do not want to read rather than ignoring the post in its entirety.
Embrace A White Background
You may think a colorful background is the way to go for your blog. However, you should probably avoid black, blue, yellow, or red.
Bright backgrounds make websites stand out, but it can strain visitors’ eyes. Many colored backgrounds make it hard to digest the contents, even when the text is a contrasting color. Therefore, white or a light hue is ideal.
Whatever background color you choose, make sure customers can see plenty of it. If you crowd your site with content, images, and text, it will deter readers. More space means more focus on your content.
Using Lists
One quick and simple fix to format any blog is to utilize more lists. Bulleted and numbered lists have helped to make content more visually appealing. Even 36 percent of people prefer headlines with lists.
Lists attract the reader’s eyes, break up larger chunks of text, and help readers to understand similar concepts. Numbered lists for quantifiable sets of ideas are especially popular.
Adding Emphasis
It is important to add some emphasis to phrases or words that you want to highlight. However, you need to get the style of that emphasis right. The best option is to use bold text.
Bold text represents an excellent formatting tip. It can help skimmers to find key points easily and quickly. However, do not overuse it.
Be wary of italics. While they also emphasize ideas, they are more difficult to read. This means you should use them only if you need to highlight a specific word.
When it comes to capitals, the rule is to avoid them. They are annoying and loud, so you should not use them unless you need to scream something. Underlining is also a bad idea since people associate underlined text with hyperlinks.
Using Block Quotes
You can emphasize text effectively by using block quotes. Although these usually highlight real quotes by real people, you can also use them to highlight concepts and thoughts. While drawing attention occasionally to important points in this way is beneficial, avoid overusing this tactic.
Using Attention-Grabbing Additions
You need to capture the attention of your readers, so you are going to need to get creative.
The above chart shows the number of shares on average different types of content receive. This helps you to see why adding other forms of content into your posts will boost reader engagement.
You can turn heads by using content, such as:
- Infographics
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Slideshows
- Graphs
- Charts
- Tables
- Embedded social media
These persuade readers to continue reading and encourage engagement.
Captioning Images
One formatting tip that bloggers rarely use is image captions. When a reader scrolls through the post and notices an engaging image, he or she sometimes lingers on it. When there is a blurb written below that image, he or she reads it. Taking advantage of this simple, virtually unknown technique can help you increase your readership.
Keep Readers Coming Back
If you want to write successful web content, you’ll need to ignore some things your teachers taught you. As we’ve already pointed out, people don’t read web pages in detail. Rather, they scan them. Therefore, you need to work with this instead of fighting it.
It is best to cover complex topics by breaking them down into several posts. It keeps readers returning for more. It also helps readers to digest the content more easily if it comes in smaller portions.
Begin by stating a conclusion, then supporting that conclusion with the sentences that come after. This allows scanning readers to move easily between points and determine what they’d prefer to read more about.
Adding Helpful, Relevant Links
Adding internal links to your posts that link back to your cornerstone content helps to keep readers on-site. It also keeps them reading some of your very best material. Meanwhile, adding external links demonstrates you’ve done your research and are keen to cite other specialists in the subject.
Never Skimp On Your Content
Although many have recommended you use shorter formats when you’re creating content, that doesn’t mean skimping on content is excusable. Search engines, such as Google, prefer digital content that provides enough information to satisfy readers’ searching needs.
This does not mean you need to write a book for every post! But, your content needs to be comprehensive. Evidence shows that search engines tend to favor content with at least 1,000 words.
As the above chart shows, 1,000 to 2,000 words is also the optimal length of posts shared on social media. Since this is something every business wants to use to boost its brand image, it’s important to remember this.
At an absolute minimum, your blog posts need to be at least 300 words long. Fewer than this and the chances of search engines picking it up are very slim.
Simplicity Is Key
Although we’ve given you plenty of helpful formatting tips here, there’s one thing to note. Make sure you only use these format tips sparingly. You only need to use them when they improve the feel and look of your posts noticeably. Using them too frequently makes posts look cluttered. This is just as much of an issue as an unbroken, long chunk of text.
Use your common sense to judge whether your blog has the right visual format or not. Look at it objectively. Would you want to read it if you came across it online? How could you improve it visually?
Also, remember that consistency is important. Whatever formatting you choose to use, make sure it’s consistent across all your content. Choose the same font type and size for every post. Use the same color background every time.
Although formatting won’t suddenly make poor-quality content readable and sharable, it will help to make good content more noticeable. Concentrate on creating high-quality content and then use these tips to put the icing on the cake. With the formatting features in place, you can make your blog posts stand out.
If you’re struggling to do this yourself, it could be time to outsource your content marketing. Here at Varci Media, we are experts in the industry. Our content writers are masters of their craft and understand how to make your posts shine. Well-trained in the use of these formatting tips and tricks, they can guarantee your brand stands out from the crowd.