Imagine how disappointed you’d be after putting your time into content, only to lose your reader’s attention after the headline. It would be like slaving over a five course meal, only to have your dinner guest fill up on garlic bread.
Keep your readers savoring every word by avoiding these four common mistakes:
1. Too many headlines.
But headlines are attention grabbing!
One headline is attention-grabbing. Subheads compel and clarify.
Breakup hard-to-read or complex content with subheads that clarify the main headline and compel the reader to move through the article. By the time a reader scans through your content, they should be able to understand the gist of it.
2. Too much copy.
But this five paragraph explanation of my process is the bread and butter of my website!
If you have more than a couple of sentences explaining what your company does, you’ve already lost the reader.
Brevity is the bread and butter of your copy. It doesn’t matter how great your copywriting is, readers have a tendency to scan. You’ve probably jumped around reading this post, haven’t you?
Keep it snappy, friendly (this doesn’t mean unprofessional), and easy to scan by including line breaks and short bulleted lists.
3. Not including links.
But I want people to read this page, not go somewhere else!
True, it’s a good idea to keep readers within your site, but that doesn’t mean you should exclude links.
Internal links to your own essential content or giveaways (melticons 20 free icons) keep people on your site and provide evidence that you’re an industry leader. External links show that you’ve done your research and want to share quality content from other experts.
4. Highlighting everything.
But everything is important!
When I was cramming for art history in college, I had a tendency to highlight everything I thought was important, which had the same effect as highlighting nothing.
Bolding, italicizing, and underlining too much content keeps readers from remembering any of it. Be strategic and only highlight the key points.
Now It’s Your Turn
Go through your content and see how it can be improved by making these simple changes. Cutting down your content into smaller, digestible sections can make it much easier to stomach.