1. Write less — It’s easy to get so focused that you write more than you should. To make your content scannable, and without sacrificing readers’ understanding, cut as much as possible.
2. Format for your media — Think about where people will read your content. Will it appear in a booklet, a brochure, a print magazine, or on a smartphone? This can affect how you lay it out, especially if it involves design elements, such as fonts, art, or photographs.
3. Think structure — One way to make your content scannable is to work within the structure of your document, which is why a clear beginning, middle, and end helps. Headings and subheadings provide effective transitions to different parts. You can also place images in certain areas to better illustrate certain concepts. Google tends to appreciate structured documents, which may also lead to higher page rankings.
4. Break it up — Look for ways to splice items in a series with bullet points or numbers and get away with turning sentences into phrases.
5. Variety adds spice — Bold words and phrases, and in online content, links to other sites or media (music, videos), grab attention; if you don’t overuse them, they liven up your text.
Quotes
“The key ingredient to better content is to separate the single from the stream.” ~ David Hahn, LinkedIn
“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” ~ Joe Chernov, Kinvey
Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your writing? Feel free to contact me.
Michelle Troutman
classywriting.com
