Why Your Content Is Not Getting Read By Anyone!
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Top Three Mini Commitment Errors You Are Making Right Now!
Does your content actually get read? When you are creating your blog posts, sales copy or emails, do you focus on what you want or what the reader wants?
I have a friend that I am helping with a new blog and it is in a niche he is extremely passionate about. The expertise and knowledge that he has about this topic (natural health) is incredible but his presentation sucks.
Not that he is not passionate about the topic and helping people… but the challenge he faces is he focuses the delivery of his content on assumptions and we all know that assumptions make an ass of u and me (ass u me).
Now I am not saying he is making an ass of himself at all… if anything that is farthest from the truth but if he did not have my help I could guarantee that he eventually would.
Over the past 2 years especially, I am seeing a huge amount of proof that as content providers, we NEED to focus on not getting our readers to make one big commitment but instead a bunch of mini commitments.
These small commitments are 1 to 2 second decisions that we all make and are what you want to focus on so that your reader will actually read your content.
Below are the 3 biggest assumption that I see being made everyday that cause your readers to NOT read your content.
1. Its Not How You Say it But What You Say
This is such a big stumbling block for so many people. We get stuck in our head that the content will do all the selling and we never pay attention to how we structure and present our content.
The internet has made us an ADD ( no disrespect to anyone diagnosed with ADD) audience and as youtube and twitter have proven to us… people want the content given to them with as little effort as possible and in a small of segments as possible.
Do not make people have to do a full page scroll more then 2 or 3 times MAX when reading your content and break your paragraphs up into no more then 3 to 4 sentences.
This PROVES to help people not feel overwhelmed by your content.
2. People Want to Read What You Have to Say!
Sorry but 9 times out of 10 your biggest fan is usually yourself and the biggest mistake most people make when starting out is they think that people will want to read everything.
In the real world however, what usually happens is you end up talking way over your audiences head or you talk to them from more an encyclopedia stand point than actually relating to them from a personal perspective.
You need to relate to your reader and talk with them, NOT AT THEM. The micro commitment here is that they feel you relate to them right away and as a result they want to continue reading.
3. Your Title
I see so many posts on blogs that simply are two to three words that do nothing to get the readers attention.
The most effective thing you can do here is create a targeted headline (title) that is 5 to 9 words and gets your audiences attention and then immediately have a good sub headline that answers any questions the headline/title poses.
For example…
Headline –> LOSE 15 POUNDS IN 2 WEEKS!
Sub Headline –> New Diet Helps Increase Your Metabolism and Reduce Your Appetite With No Side Effects and Amazing Results!
This is just an example but you can see the headline gets thier attention and then the sub headline answers the question of how.
These are just three simple examples but the point here is remember… focus on talking to your reader, engage them, relate to them and do not overwhelm them with too many words.
What are your thoughts and comments?
This is the first time I’ve seen someone mention a sub-headline and I’ve been reading posts on blog tips for some years now. I can actually think of some of my own posts where that would have come in handy.
Interesting stuff. I can’t argue with a lot of it, but I have to admit that there are times when some of my posts are extremely long. I try to write just enough to get my point across, but sometimes, it just takes me all those words.
Then again, I’m also not writing for commitment on my blog, just being informational most of the time. Maybe that’s not the purpose or the point; I’ll have to think about that one some more.
Great postJohn. I would also like to add. I believe catchy headlines is important to not only to attract clicks but also make your writing better. For sub headlines, my favorite is to ask questions that most are looking for an answer to.
Great stuff. I always thought the sub-headline was more for the bots to make sure the post was relevant to the headline.
So, if you can make the sub-headline, not only attention grabbing, but content relevant, you have a winner!
Thanks for the post.
This is the first I have heard someone mention sub-headline. Good advice. I will certainly try adding a sub-headline.
People became so lazy.. even me.
I didn’t read the whole post, I just scanned through the bold points. :/
Nevertheless, you are right Jason.
Headline, Subhead and the way you speak will go a long way!
Igor
very good points and a little embarrassing too! Like Sire, I am impressed by your mention of subheads.
I tend to connect them with sales latters and not blog posts.
Personally, the presentation, the length, and the language of the author affect my interest in reading a blog. I believe this conveys professionalism especially the blog design or layout. I think putting my stand as a reader helps me to choose what field I can improve on. I pretty much agree with number 2, since most of the audience looks for learning, use a language which will be understood by most of them. I remember my doctor leaving me clueless of my own condition because he used up too much medical terminology.
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I’ve seen so many great articles on sites that just over do it with the length alone. It’s a shame because even though they have the other keys (attention grabbing headline, and good sub heading) these articles will almost never be fully read.
Just knowing my own reading habits, I can tell you I’m a skimmer and the 2 most important parts of an article/blog post (besides the headline) is numbered items/bullet points and the use of bold lettering. My eyes just naturally focus directly on those items first.
Steve
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Great post Jason.
I’d like to add this mistake I often do before though…
I assume.
When I write stuff (articles, emails and blog posts), I write as I speak to myself – which I believe is wrong because most often I assume that people “understand” what I’m saying.
For example, some people might know what “SEO” means but some won’t.
And a good way that I’ve found to prevent this is to reread my article and to have someone critique it.
Being that writing is not my strong suite this post is of great help. I definitely need to start using sub-headlines when writing as well as keep a ‘Get to the Point’ mentality. I have a tendency to add unnecessary fluff.
I usually have pretty catchy titles, but don’t use subtitles–but I will now!
Thanks John Cow. Your post is very helpful. I have never taught about the sub-title answering the question at the main title. This will realy help my post.
John,
Great post! One thing I learned was the sub headline and as you say this answers the readers question of how.
Thanks,
Tony
People with money are busy earning it.
People with time to read long posts rarely have money to buy what you’re selling.
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John
Great point regarding sub-headings, will be experimenting with those in my posts. First time I too have seen it mentioned and I think its a really useful tip.
Thanks
Tom
Some excellent points here. Writing for your readers (instead of yourself) is an art form. It requires knowing who your readers actually are! I see quite a few bloggers who never even take the time to find out who they’re writing for.
Lee
This is a great post. I sometimes struggle with titles and arranging content in a way that will make people want to read it. I am going to implement this immediately. Thanks.
Thanks Jason a little refresher on writing was just the ticket as I’m composing my GoGVO stuff!
The idea of structuring a post… like an ezine article submission with a header and subheader was something I had forgotten!
Thanks, good advice and certainly food for thought.
Hi Jason,
Thank you for another valuable post. I asked myself the same question few weeks back. I may use your suggestion on the sub headline. Great idea to attract targeted visitors too.
Jason you keep making some great post dude.
Thanks
Jason Berkes
Hi John,
I’m really glad I found your site and this post.
I tend to write long posts which may turn off some readers. I do try to break them into paragraphs but based on what you say I will make them even shorter.
One thing I may have been doing right is the length of titles. And I did that in spite of some e-book in which it was advised to keep the titles short.
I have used sub titles on occasion but after reading your post I’ll use them more often.
Thank you for providing such a great content packed with good advice. I just downloaded your e-book and look forward to reading it.
Vance.
John Cow, this is great, I have never realized the full potential of what you said, but that title and subheadline really got my attention. I realized that people even myself would not read that topic that long and I would really need to be ‘engaged’ first before I put my eyes on the topic on the net. Thanks a lot. I will apply this now in my webpages.
Great suggestion of using sub headline… Thanks for providing valuable post and useful tips.