Your readers do not naturally want to read every word you write. You must format your articles, or posts, in such a way that your readers want to read the entire article and not…click away. Grabbing the attention of your readers AND maximizing your SEO is easy!

Readers vs. Skimmers

There are those that read and those that “look” or skim.

Readers are those that start from the top of a page and read every word from top to bottom and from beginning to end. I personally can’t do that.

I love to skim the entire page in search of clues as to where to read and what to read. I don’t want have to read an entire article. I’ll read highlighted areas, captions, headings and subheadings.

Great copywriting will satisfy both types of visitors, both the readers and the skimmers.

Reading Behavior

Most readers scan in the following manner;

1. Headline: Read from left to right

2. Vertical Scan: Scan down the page looking for subheaders

3. Read the first line of the opening paragraph

Headline

While careers are made developing catchy headlines, grab their attention by giving them a clue about your awesome content. Remember: readers on the Internet are looking for answers, your headline should grab their attention by quickly telling them what lies within your article.

Sub Headers

Sub headers have three functions. It quickly clues in the reader about points you will be making urging the reader to continue!

Sub headers are also indexed (as is the title/header) by the search engines to improve your SEO. While it is true that the search engines catalog every text file and .pdf on the Internet, headers and subheaders receive slightly higher priority than text for SEO purposes.

Sub headers also physically break up what can be a long ominous looking paragraph into sizeable “chunks” of reading!

Bullets and Lists

Bullets and lists can not be overemphasized. The eye naturally gravitates to bulleted lists. Make the list about 3-5 items long. In this way your point is quickly made. It is a simple tool to motivate your reader to continue reading.

Short “Paragraphs”

Avoid long sentences and lengthy paragraphs. Sometimes you can’t avoid a long sentence, and I’d suggest curtailing any paragraph to 3-4 “lines.” So too, with the paragraph, keep them brief and no more than 3 sentences or so.

Smaller blocks of text are easier to read, give the feeling of brevity and speed to the reader.

Remember, you’ve spent a lot of time on your copywriting. You’ve written some powerful articles. Make sure that you give your readers every opportunity to read your content!