They don’t read it, they just scan it
This is the truth in this present era of blogging. Advancement in networking technologies has affected people a lot. People including me are becoming lazy day by day(something that must be accepted). Lazy not to browse but to read.
I don’t mean everyone scans every blog post they see. I just mean that most readers first scan the content before going to a brief reading. Blogs have started becoming newspapers. Like how people scan articles in newspapers, they have started scanning blog posts too. And scanning or reading is also these days influenced by the popularity of the blog however the blog post’s quality is. A fact that has to be admitted by every one of us.
Lesser the popularity, higher is the probability of a reader scanning it. Seriously this is one mindset that is common among geeks. Something I call the Scanning Mindset. These days people expect a lot out of bloggers. Uniqueness is always the most awarded. Some of the few reasons why odd blogger is popular.
Few of many reasons for the Scanning Mindset include laziness, ugly-looking blog, way of writing and most importantly Social Media. Social networking has influenced the way people use the internet. These days internet is nothing without social media inclusive of blogging.
How do we avoid people just scanning your posts?
Here are few tips that can modify your reader’s scanning mindset.
1. Tweak your blog’s design
Bounce rates also mean people are just scanning your blog post. A blog design always has an effect on people’s mindset. A nasty blog design means higher bounce rates. Higher bounce rates mean, people are scanning your posts. Having an attractive blog design enables people to go through the blog. At least they might do something more than scanning the posts.
2. The Post Title
Your post title conveys the overall idea of a blog post. Post titles are friends for search engines. Post titles and permalinks also influence SEO of a blog. Similarly they also influence the mind-set of people. A unique post title, may be an unconventional one conveys the uniqueness of the post. However the content might be, unique post title makes people read, instead of scanning.
3. The First Few Lines of the Post
The first few lines of your post have a crucial impact on the reader. The first few lines of the post have the power to persuade the reader to read the full post. So care while writing the first few lines is very important.
4. Images
In most of the conventional blogging tips, this is something very commonly said. Images relevant to the post are important while writing a blog post. Not only that they must be relevant, but they also have to be attractive. Attractive enough to persuade the readers mindset.
5. Using Text Formatting and also Avoiding Long Paragraphs
Text formatting options provides a great reading comfort. Using text formatting options in the text helps a little. However readers hate reading huge paragraphs. Long paragraphs annoy people. Splitting paragraphs into parts or putting them under specific headings titled according to the paragraphs is important.
6. Original Content
Its is disgrace if readers find plagiarized content. Plagiarism is one of most hated practices on the internet. Everyone gets frustrated on knowing that their works have been plagiarized. After all sometimes it might be taken as an offense. People expect originality in the content the we provide on our blog.
7. Unconventionality
One of the many reasons why Glen Viper Chill went viral was the way he gave unconventional content to his readers. His niche was viral marketing, which is one of the most popular niches on the web. But still his unconventionality made him unique and popular. That’s how unconventionality influences readers.
Remember readers at first scan your blog posts rather than reading it. Impressing them at first sight is work of your blog’s design. Catching their eye sight is the work of your title of the post, making them continue reader instead of scanning is the work of the first few lines of the post and the images and unconventionality makes them loyal readers of your blog posts.
Blogging is all about engaging with a community of readers. Engaging with loyal readers is more important. Building a loyal readership is tedious.
Readers make up a blog and a post communicates with the readers, with you as a medium. So keeping the reader on a positive side throughout the article is very important.
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