When is the last time that you read a whole online post or online article? You probably aren’t even going to read this whole thing. You likely are going to just look for the information that you want to see, or are looking for before you even get to the article. As you can see below, about 30% of people don’t even go in depth when reading their news, which just shows the lack of thorough reading. But, there are some techniques though to get people to notice your writing online, and I will share my thoughts on those techniques.
One of these techniques is to use the Inverted Pyramid style of writing. This means, up front including information that users must have, then additional information that is helpful but not crucial, and then lastly would be nice if they had it. This is important to follow, because if you are looking to get readers, you need to get their attention on what they want right away. Also, there is importance in including a good hook. If you have a good hook, that may get the reader to read more of your online content. Here are some cool types of hooks below that could work:
Appearance is also a crucial part to making sure that someone is going to read your online work, as you need to include pictures, bullet points, among some other things to keep the reader engaged. I think media is a major part in this because if you don’t include any pictures or videos, the reader may become disinterested and just stop reading.
Another main point is to make sure that you are talking to the reader. I really agree with this point because if you try and make a connection with the reader, the more likely they are to be engaged. This would also help you gain a relationship with the reader and might bring them back for another online post of yours since they feel connected to you.
Another major part to keeping the reader engaged is making sure that the paragraphs remain short and concise. I think that short paragraphs keep the flow moving, and readers have an easier time following along and can help their attention. I also like the idea of including one sentence paragraphs to really stress certain points to get across to the reader, especially online.
Overall, I feel that the best thing to do to maintain the readers attention online would be to stress your main points right away and to add some flair, and some graphics to keep the reader engaged the whole time.
Hi Evan, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I enjoyed reading about your opinions with the inverted pyramid style and keeping paragraphs concise. I agree that the inverted pyramid can help the reader see the main points of internet content and give them a good idea of what they are in store for. Keeping format short and concise helps the flow of reading and also keeps an audience interested. I also appreciated your visualization of different hook examples as they opened my mind to new possibilities. Would you suggest using a specific hook style for a specific type of writing piece or genre?
I appreciate your use of your own strategies towards the end of this post. Using short and concise paragraphs, that were placed with alliteration, with words that talked directly to me drew me into that section. However, out of those three, I found your points about speaking to the audience directly the most powerful. That personal connection is something that cannot be replicated with any aesthetic strategies other than understanding the audience. Having that understanding not only creates a connection and brings the reader back but also gives the text an unreplicable quality, your personality.
I think it is a really great point of incorporating what we learned from “How to Write with Flair” and the blog prompt together, it is a great point that the flair of the writing can impact the audience’s reading experience, thank you for pointing it out! I really like the 10 hook that you introduced, I never thought of using that to grab the attentions. In a business writing, which hook would be more appropriate to start the passage and grab the attentions without stepping out of the boundaries?