Think about how much content is thrown at you on any given day. It’s a lot, isn’t it? We’re bombarded by articles, social media posts, emails, podcasts, videos, etc. We come across a lot more content than we could possibly consume in any given day and the chances are that a lot of it is really good.
As a result, we’ve all become pretty good at scanning and then picking and choosing what we actually want to read, watch or listen to. That’s why it is important to break up your content and make it easy for your readers to scan through it.
If you can’t show them at a glance what your article or blog post is about, the chances are fairly high that they’ll move on to something else. Here are a few different things you can do to break up your content and make sure it’s easy to scan.
Use subheadings
Take a look at this blog post. Do you see how the different elements have been broken up using subheadings to make the post easy to scan? You can do the same with your content. Think of the outline of a blog post you’re writing. Each point in your outline could be a subheading. Start with those and then fill in the content.
If you prefer, start with the content and then go back and add the subheadings. Create the content and work in the subheadings in whichever way works best for you. The important thing is that they are in there before you press ‘publish’.
Keep your paragraphs short
Reading online is very different from reading something on paper. Books, newspapers and magazines can get away with long paragraphs. Online, however, it’s a different story. Text is harder to read on digital devices and our attention span keeps shrinking.
One of the most effective things you can do to keep your readers reading is to keep your paragraphs and sentences short. Try not to make your paragraphs any longer than five lines.
Use lists and emphasise important key terms
Next, go through your content and see if there’s anything that you can present in the form of a list.
- Use a list instead of several related sentences.
- Use a list to share examples.
- A list is a great way to break things up and grab a reader’s attention.
- Lists can be as long or short as you need them to be.
There are other formatting options to consider too. For example, you can bold important key terms, italicise them or underline them for emphasis. All of these formatting options make it much quicker and easier to scan a piece of text and figure out what it’s about without having to read every single word.
Pull them in with graphics
Last but not least, let’s talk about graphics. An image is one of the best ways to convey within seconds what your blog post is about and generate interest. Think about what grabs your attention. Just scroll through your Facebook feed and look at what makes you stop scrolling. Or how about browsing through Pinterest? Images hook you and pull you in. They are also a great way to break up longer sections of text. Therefore, make sure you use them to their fullest advantage.
Break up your content — new and old
As you write new pieces of content from now on, keep the above points in mind. Use them to break up your content to make it easily scannable, increasing the engagement of your readers. When you have time, go back over previous articles or posts that you’ve written and apply the same methods. Be sure to share links to the amended versions. That way, you can attract new readers and also catch the eyes of your existing audience who may previously have dismissed the articles or posts.
Image credits
Main image: Kenny Eliason on Unsplash. Second image: Brett Jordan on Pexels. Third image: charlesdeluvio on Unsplash.
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