7 Sure-Fire Ways to Get People to Read What You Write

Mar. 01, 2011

Sure-fire content tips You spend a lot of time on your content, most marketers do, and if you’re anything like the rest of us, then you get frustrated when, after taking so much time to make content that you think is compelling, you realize that no one is reading it.

Sorry, folks. It’s the ugly truth.

While there are many reasons why people will gravitate towards (or away from) your content, there are some quick copy tips you can implement to help make your writing appear instantly more interesting to your readers.

Sound too good to be true? It isn’t. Trust me.

Keep it short and sweet. Your readers are looking for a quick fix for their content needs. They’re most likely searching for the same reasons that you normally search: they want a quick answer to a query.
Keep hierarchy clear with headings. Headings make your content easier to read and interact with. Period.
Use lists! Bulleted and numbered lists are quick and easy to read and help you get a lot of content into a small space. There’s really no downside.
Include relevant links. Linking to other pages (internal and external) that supplement what you’re saying allows you to keep your content short and to the point but still valuable and relevant.
Add EMPHASIS. By bolding important sections of text, and making it clear which parts of your content are the most important you give your readers the ability to both read all your content (if they are inclined to) or skim to the important bits (if they want to).
Use words that elicit emotions. One of the best ways to grab attention and encourage readers to interact with you content is to choose words that cause an emotional reaction in the reader. Power words like love, death and money are used a lot because they work.
Make it strange, interesting, compelling or unlikely. Looking at things in a new way helps to capture readers’ attention because of the incongruity. People love things that are odd, controversial or interesting, so give it to them!

Today’s marketers tend to wear many hats. I don’t know very many marketers who aren’t also writers, analyzers, content developers, artists and a whole bunch of other things as well, and the reality is that it’s impossible for marketers to be the better at all of these than industry specialists in those areas. A marketer is most likely never going to be as strong a copywriter as someone who does nothing but write copy for a living. So—how do we combat that? We develop tricks (we’re crafty like that) which help us overcome the imbalances and appeal to our audience’s baser instincts for instant gratification through content. Sound good? I’ll take ingenious plotting over hours spent perfecting my writing skills any day.

Posted by Amberlie Denny at March 1, 2011 8:30 AM