More Than Killer Content

There are several techniques to effectively catch your visitors attention and quickly convey your message. Reading blogs is different than pleasure reading: your visitors will make the decision to stay in about two seconds...really.

You have some great killer content and you need to make it as easy as possible for your article to be noticed and read. Here's how to do that.

Your Title Is Wimpy

I am not good with headlines - you can make a career (so I'm told) just writing good, catchy headlines/titles. There are really two ways to title your article. The first is what grabs the reader's attention, the second is what the search engines can see.

For example: If I Had a Million Bucks = <Effective Ways to Manage Your Money>

"If I Had a Million Bucks" may be your main title, but it tells you nothing about what you are actually writing about, but it may catch the eye of your visitors.

<Effective Ways to Manage Your Money> is your so-called custom title and should be written for the search engines, that is, it should clearly describe your content. This will be more SEO friendly and help the search engines index the article.

The custom title <title> is usually found within most blog/web applications.

Headlines and Spacing

You are not turning in a term paper. Use "subheadlines" for each section. This can be a larger case than the actual text. The subheadlines will grab your readers attention to give them an idea of what is actually contained.

After the title, your reader will glance, quickly, down the page and may read the subheadlines. After glancing down the page and reading the subsection titles, the first sentence might be read (if you still have their attention). The first sentence should describe what they are about to read.

As I have done, you should add a line between each one to two sentences. While you are breaking the rule of paragraphs, you are improving the readability of your article.

Remember, you want your article read.

Words and Wordy

Use words that the average person might use, not your colleague and not your professor. If you are writing above the level of your reader...they'll leave.

Most posts/articles should be rather to the point, lasting no more than 500 to 600 words. More than that, think about breaking up the article into smaller posts.

Remember Your Audience

I think the hardest thing to remember is that you are not writing to your colleagues (unless, of course, you are writing here or for a docs only site). Don't get worked up into believing that every word is going to be critiqued and ripped apart by someone of your same background.

Write to your audience. In my case, while I do have followers from other retinal specialists on my blog, I have to remember that the majority of people reading are patients, non-physicians, etc.