In theater, there’s a saying that audiences will forgive much, as long as the beginning and end are great. That’s because audiences are most influenced by their first impression of a piece and impressed for the final time by its last scene.
Online marketing copy follows similar rules. Here’s a look at how to make sure your readers walk away feeling like they’ve just hit the jackpot of valuable information after reading what you post.
Strong Headers = Strong Messages
Online readers tend to scan. They look at titles, subheadings, and bulleted lists, then go back and read more closely if they’re especially interested. To take advantage of this reading style…
- Write relevant headers. Your titles and subtitles should not only be optimized for search engines they should also succinctly summarize your message. Think of it this way: if you could communicate your message to your readers only through titles and headers, what would they say?
- Be concise. You can always go into more detail in the body text. But if your readers don’t get enough (interesting) information from your headers, they probably won’t bother reading any further.
- Keep it visually appealing. Online, large blocks of text look intimidating. Readers feel their eyes start to burn and click away. To prevent that, use lists, subheadings, and short paragraphs to demonstrate to your readers that you will feed them manageable, bite-sized nuggets.
End on a High Note
You shouldn’t hold back any crucial information for the end of online copy but don’t just sputter out, either. The end of the article is generally the place where readers have a chance to comment, like, or share what you’ve written.
To prompt interaction with your readers, try ending with a call to action, a link to another page of your website, or a question likely to spur responses.
We’ll start: What sets your heart a-flutter online? That is, what kinds of posts are you most likely to react or respond to?
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