How to grab attention with your online writing
These days people have:
no attention span
they don’t read things in full
and if something looks like it is going to be too much effort then they are very likely to click away and move on to something else.
This means you’ve got a couple of seconds to capture someone’s attention and make them realise that your blog post, newsletter or Instagram caption is worth their time and attention.
And there are some tips for doing this that I want to share with you in this post.
I learned a number of these tips in a course I am currently doing for the second time now, ‘Ship 30 for 30’, where I have learned how to improve my online writing.
The aim of the course is to write a blog post every day for 30 days in a row. Last year when I did the course I ended up writing daily blog posts for 9 months and I’m currently in the middle of my current 30 day writing sprint.
You can check all my latest posts out here.
Here are some of the tips I’ve learned from the ‘Ship 30 for 30’ course on how to write better online.
1: Make your writing easy to skim
People have absolutely no attention span these days.
Even if someone does click through to read something you've written they will very likely only skim it quickly, not read the whole thing. Think about how you are consuming this article now!
So we need to learn how to get our point across quickly and in a way that is visually pleasing and easy to skim.
Here's some ideas:
the opening sentence of your post should be compelling and catch the readers' attention straight away - pick out the most controversial or attention grabbing sentence from your article and put that first.
avoid writing walls of paragraph text - it is overwhelming for a reader and feel like it will be hard work to read
use bold and other visual breaks to make the writing easy to skim read (like you can see I’m doing in this list)
use emojis to highlight certain parts of your writing and to make it more visually appealing (this is particularly effective in Instagram captions - as you can see in the image below)
use dot points to make an article easy to skim read (again, like I'm doing here!)
make your subheadings tell a story in themselves - so if someone just skimmed the subheadings of what you've written could they tell what your article is about and get the main points they need? If people read your subheadings and are intrigued they will often then be willing to spend a bit more time reading what is under those subheadings
simplify your writing as much as you can and get rid of unnecessary words like:
that
as
because
however
therefore
honestly
basically
2: Never start with a blank page
Starting any online writing task with a blank page is daunting and can even put you off getting started.
Instead have a system for capturing your content ideas as you have them.
If you need help I put together lots of ideas for how to do that in this blog post >>>
I personally have a full content calendar that I spend time populating outside of my writing time. Here’s how it works:
Every month or so I spend time creating the calendar and adding in new ideas for the month ahead.
When I’m brainstorming my topics I also try and include a few dot points of what I could write about or a link to where I’ve got the idea (e.g. if I want to flesh out one of my Instagram posts that has done particularly well). This helps me avoid having to start with a completely blank page on writing day.
Each day when I sit down to write my daily post I click on to the date and see what topic I’ve set myself for the day.
I create this content calendar inside Notion.
The calendar looks a bit like this one below. The calendar below shows my list of published posts but I have the same thing for my post that are in planning stage as well.
This way I never sit down and have to think from scratch about what I’m going to write about - I’ve done a lot of the thinking and planning ahead of time.
If you need help with this you can grab my Notion content planning system here.
I also suggest you create a template for your blog posts or content pieces so you can duplicate that each time you write a new post, rather than start with a blank page every time.
My blog template is pre-populated with headings, images and other elements that I have in every post, which saves me heaps of time when I'm putting together my daily post.
It looks like this:
3: Write what people want to read
Pay attention to the types of topics and style of writing that people in your community are responding to and then do more of that.
If you want people to read your writing then write for them - not for yourself.
Play around with different structures and topic ideas to see what resonates with your community. If people seem to enjoy a specific piece of content you have created then make more content like that.
If people aren’t responding to your Instagram posts or they aren’t opening your newsletters then try a different format or try a different topic.
Don’t keep doing more of the same and thinking you will get a different response next time.
And don’t be afraid to experiment and try lots of things.
Working out what people want to read and what they enjoy hearing about from you is a process that will take time for you to develop.
4: Build a daily writing habit
Finally, to improve your online writing you need to practice, practice, practice.
And in order to practice you need to make time for it in your routine. If you just leave it to chance then you’ll never do it!
The best way to improve your writing is to build in a daily writing habit.
Here's how I’ve built my own daily writing habit:
I have a specific writing hour each morning from 4.30-5.30am. This is when I write my daily blog post.
It's the first thing I do after my morning routine and it means by 5.30am I've done something really productive with my day and produced a helpful piece of content for my community.
I only give myself one hour to get a post written and published - this forces me to really focus and get the article published and not procrastinate with it.
The more I write the better I get at it and the more clearly I think about ideas (and the faster I get at writing my daily post as well).
Communicating your ideas online (and actually getting people to read them!) is something you should be constantly trying to improve. Being able to connect with people online is how you will grow your business and ultimately make more money.
Forget what you’ve been taught about writing in school - the models we were taught aren’t helpful for how we consume content via modern forms of media. Instead think about the way you consume online writing yourself and which articles or Instagram posts you stop the scroll for and spend time reading.
What features does that writing have?
How can you incorporate those ideas in to your own online writing?
Make your writing enjoyable and easy for your community to consume and they will always be coming back for more!
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
