How to get your Article Read

 

Simple!  Get the reader’s attention and then tell them what they want to know.   You get their attention with the title and then the summary description.   You tell the reader what they want to know within the body content.      

 

Title

The title is the headline that needs to grab their attention. Try to choose keywords that the prospective reader would use.  Wrap those words in a compelling headline that promises to answer their question.   Here are some helpful tips:

• Keep it short, 3 to 7 words is ideal!
• Put 1 or 2 keywords close to the beginning!
• Be bold, be outrageous, be opinionated!
• Be descriptive!
• Create a little fear, provide something a reader must know!
• Call to action, use “How-to” and “Ultimate Guide” type titles!  
• Tell a secret, give a technique or something exclusive readers should know!

 

Summary Description  

Describe your content, what will they find.   Describe the benefits, not the features.  Keep description to less than 20 words in length and use 2 to 3 keywords.  You need to give not only a reason to click, but a reassurance that the reader’s time will not be wasted.

 

Content

The content must be useful and relevant to the reader.   You need to make the content so compelling and comprehensive that people are excited to keep reading and want more.  Here are some helpful tips:

• Do not add the title again into the content area.
• Put most important information first!
• Use a List (keep it to less than 5), it provides bite sized pieces of information!
• Easy words are better than hard words!
• Break up your information into paragraphs of two or three sentences each!
• Use informative sub-headings (H2 and H3 tags) with keywords! 
• Use more verbs instead of nouns to convey your ideas!
• Links should be informative, avoid the “click here”!
• Focus on “what’s in it for the reader!”
• Understand who the reader will be and then figure out what will catch their attention!

Warning

If your article is published on another site or sites on the internet, you need to modify the article with updates or other changes (try changing title, headings or initial content) so search engines do not recongize the article as a duplication of content and not index the article.

 

More

Marketing specialists Chip and Dan Heath made the following observations in their book “Made To Stick”.   There are six principles that define sticky ideas:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories

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