Now for a little formatting.
We’re going to make that blog post or article scannable.
Remember when I said people don’t read?
They really don’t.
Unless they decide it’s worth their time.
And how do they do that? They scan.
First, they read the headline. Is it interesting?
(Let’s say for the sake of argument here, yours has caught their attention.)
Next they’ll take a look at the body and see what’s there.
Sub-Heads (or subtitles) like this come in Handy (<-That’s a Sub-Head)
Make sure your piece has at least two, preferably three sub-heads. (It will really depend on the length, but for the average blog post of about 1200 words, this is pretty accurate.)
Next, where ever possible, break up those paragraphs into smaller bits.
One sentence per paragraph is totally cool.
If you see yourself writing something with a lot of commas, you might be in list mode. In that case, use some bullets or a numbering system to break things up visually.
Your Reader Needs White Space
Remember when I said folks don’t read? One of the things that keeps them from reading is a lack of white space. It might be an unconscious decision, but we all do it.
When you see an article or a blog post, if it’s very text heavy, your brain says, “Um…I don’t think so.” And you skip right on by.
So don’t let that happen to your lovely bit of work.
Open it up and let it breathe.
More tips for improving that piece are coming (so don’t publish it just yet).