Writing: Format All Your Articles for Maximum Impact

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Writing: Format All Your Articles for Maximum Impact

Posted on October 11th, 2009 in Online Writing by Guy Hogan

This is how to make your content appealing to the reader’s eyes.

Even though I was introduced to the Internet only about ten years ago, I’ve read a lot of content printed on the computer screen. And I’ve read a lot of advice about the best way to format content on the computer screen.

Image via Wikipedia

Without going into a lot of technical jargon about what happens to the human optic system when it is exposed for any length of time to staring at a computer screen, let’s just say the eyeballs get tired. The computer also made people much more impatient when it comes to reading. A writer only has a few seconds to catch a reader’s attention and then the writer must keep the reader’s attention until the end of the article.

Writing must not only grab a reader but it must hold the reader until all of the offered information is consumed. Plus, since we are talking about online writing, the writer’s content must also compete with a number of distractions, like Yahoo! Ads. How can the writer keep the reader’s attention? This is what I have found out.

34 Responses to “Writing: Format All Your Articles for Maximum Impact”

lillyrose
October 11th, 2009 at 3:52 am

You are right. I hate having to read through blocks of writing. I like to see the facts.
A very helpful article. I am learning so much on here my brian thinks its great!
Daniel Sultana
October 11th, 2009 at 6:41 am

haha yes very true…. it isnt the best read blocks of writing!

it was a good artical by the way. you done it well
martie
October 11th, 2009 at 6:54 am

I’ve also learned that pictures that break up the written word helps in many cases and distracts in others.
emmahaynes
October 11th, 2009 at 7:00 am

I ted to write like that and it helps with the writing too because you always have to edit an article so who wants the pain of reading through bog blocks over and over?
Frances Lawrence
October 11th, 2009 at 7:09 am

Helpful advice. You are right, dense blocks of text are a big turn off.
Jane Benitez
October 11th, 2009 at 9:12 am

You are so right because most people have a very limited attention span when reading online. Great article and thanks for some useful information.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am

lillyrose, when I click on to a page with great blocks of prose it’s like bumping into someone I’ve been trying to avoid. It’s terrible to say about a person or prose but it’s true.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:34 am

Daniel, huge blocks of prose make me tired even before I’ve read one word. I use to write in big blocks of information. It’s an easy trap for a writer to get into; but it’s not very reader friendly. Writing should never be about the writer. It should always be about the reader.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:41 am

martie, I’ve recently started to use the insert option that Triond gives us to insert a picture in my articles to break up the prose, like in this article. I think it helps.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am

emmahaynes, I didn’t think of that when I was writing this article, but it’s true. Short paragraphs are easier to edit, too.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:53 am

Frances, when I had time to read novels I didn’t mind those big blocks of prose so much, especially if I liked the author or the book; but the Internet has made big blocks of prose tiresome.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 10:35 am

Jane, I think sometimes we writers forget that we have to think of what kind of reading experience we are creating for the reader. We should want the reader to have a reading experience that is appealing to the eye.
Write Easy
October 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Great post again…I think crisp information is what helps the most on internet…people are very impatient while reading on www and putting in the form of bullets or small paras helps them skim information faster…I try to do it that way..and has helped me grabbing their attention for some time atleast! keep writing…just curious..why the picture of astronaut??
mo hoyal
October 11th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

I really appreciate your articles, Guy! I feel like there is something to be learned from each one you write and that’s like getting to go back to school for free, aha!

Once again, thanks for a very good article!
chitragopi
October 11th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

Very good advice. When ads are inserted some words in the article go missing, making sentences incomplete or grammatically wrong. Recently I found this.
Lady Sunshine
October 11th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Well, I’m screwed, lol. People have short attention spans, esp online. They rather look at pictures than words. You give sound advice for online writing. Plus I like your style, Guy: concise and to the point.
deep blue
October 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

The thing is everybody needs to catch up with one’s article at a fraction of a second in order to comment to dozens more. Your method really helps.
NickFord
October 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Very good advice
blackrockrose
October 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Yes, I certainly fall into the “too much information” trap when I’m writing. It’s like I’m making the selfish assumption that everyoner else is as interested in the topic as i am. I think I enjoyed your article becasue it concentrated on making just one little point, but making it well. Much food for thought.
Snooky
October 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Grabbing attention is definately the key–Thanks
phlybynight
October 11th, 2009 at 5:29 pm

Well done!
Ruby Hawk
October 11th, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Right you are, short and sweet is the way to go.
Drake Harlem
October 11th, 2009 at 7:48 pm

I know I’m turned off by large blocks of text, but this has more to do with my terrible eye sight and the strain on my eyes to read large blocks of text and less to do with impatience.
wonder
October 11th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

True, short and sweet and original.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:48 pm

Write Easy, at first I would use a photo that more or less illustrated the text. Now I just want a photo that tells its own story and it may have nothing to do with the text. In that way I hope it makes the total content, text and photo, richer.
James DeVere
October 11th, 2009 at 9:48 pm

You beat me again. Your article is brief and to the point – well edited. I love adding headings, quotes, bullet points and use the thesaurus for rare and shorter words.

Nice Write . j
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm

Well, mo, I did teach writing to undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh from 2004 to 2006 when I was a graduate student at Pitt. So, I may as well put that experience to good use. My personal teaching code is very modest: do no harm.
Guy Hogan
October 11th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

Even for people with excellent eye sight, reading big blocks of text on a computer screen causes strain.
Avaxier
October 11th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

This is a nice tips! I agree that we shouldn’t write a long paragraph of sentences because a big wall of sentence blocks in an article is unappealing in any way. I’m mostly skipped that kind of article. Thanks for sharing!
Ricky Taylor
October 12th, 2009 at 2:16 am

Hi Guy,
Great article. Besides having good contents I think plenty of white spaces and bigger fonts will help in attracting and retaining readers. What do yo think? – Ricky
magicdarts
October 12th, 2009 at 3:07 am

Very sensible succinct advice, its very easy to fall into the trap of writing reams and reams of stuff because as a writer you are so into your subject matter – that’s fine when the reader already knows what you are about, but I agree it’s difficult when there’s so much competition for people’s time – thanks
bannana114
October 12th, 2009 at 4:26 am

nice
martinpm
October 12th, 2009 at 9:53 am

great article, thanks for such useful information.
mystery writter
October 14th, 2009 at 9:23 am

A great article and something to think about.I happen to like the bigger stories,poetry and articles,but not all does.im still experimenting with the style that suits me the best.