Internet users are known to be quick browsers and they tend to just scan content rather than read entire blogs and articles. People are quite busy, they do not have all the time in the world to sit down and read lengthy content. They do not read articles online word-for-word.
When users browse through content on social media sites, their behavior change. They will be scanning to determine which they want to read and which they do not want to. There is a wide variety of content available online and the massive amount can be very overwhelming. It is normal to find a lot of interesting content online and not have enough time to read all of them. Most often people are eager to finish what they are reading and move on to the next.
This is why it is very important for website owners to create compelling content, something which will catch the attention of readers. The competition is stiff and if you do not do anything about your content, you will be left out of the game. It is imperative for website owners to examine their content and determine if their content is high quality or not. You content should have good structure and style and it must also be readable.
How to structure your content
Use short sentences
People get easily bored when they read long sentences and they also tend to lose focus. Writing shorter sentences will give the readers the chance to relax.
Write shorter paragraphs
Large blocks of text can easily get readers lost. So, make sure that your paragraphs have at most 4 to 5 sentences only. More people will read your content if you do this.
Only have a single idea per paragraph
If you see that your blog post is quite long, what you can do is slit it into several paragraphs. You should have only one idea per paragraph.
How to develop your content’s structure
Another aspect of your content which you must pay attention to is the structure. Structures have a lot of parts and you must examine each of them carefully.
Table of contents
As mentioned earlier, people do not have the time or desire to read lengthy sentences and paragraphs. They just do not have the time and they get easily bored. Breaking the content into different parts and using a table of contents will allow users to navigate the sections easily.
Summarisation with lists and bullets
If the message is clearly outlined, readers will understand it more. Use bullet points when the sequence of entries is not important. Make sure that your list has no more than 9 items and use numbers for your lists when the sequence of entries matters.
Visual hierarchy
Hierarchy will help guide readers through your content. It will point readers to where they should start and it also helps differentiate the various parts of the content.
Pyramid of a Good Content
How do you write good content? The top of your content should have the most important information. This will help drive your point across to the reader. The middle part of your content should support the top part and the bottom of your content should be the nice-to-have section.
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