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Abstract

guarantee that your articles are widely read. It will give better exposure and it is important, but it’s not the difference-maker, I discovered.Subheadings are just like the headings, too. They only matter when you make them matter. Promoting your articles sure matters a lot as well. But the effect can only be for a while. Promotion won’t make people read the article. It just makes them know it exists. It’s a necessary part of the process (like publishing in the right publication), but it is not the difference-maker.The difference is tailored content. It’s never about what you are writing. The ideas you’re communicating really don’t matter. What really matters is who you are writing to.Let’s take an example.Let’s say you write an article about shoes. If you decide to publish it as a shoe article, it will probably perform poorly (unless you are already famous or a celebrity). But you could take the same article and write it for women who do public speaking. In that way, a woman who falls into that category will find it difficult to scroll past that.Another example? Okay.You write a humor article about dogs. You could publish, and it will depend on your credibility as an established humor writer to do well. But you could take the same article and craft it for dog owners. And, of course, dog owners are those who will find it funny.A great example of such an article is one I found recently — <a href="https://readmedium.com/5-things-that-only-freelancers-will-laugh-at-d414e67ea2e0">an article only freelancers will funny</a> by <a href="undefined">Tessa Palmer</a>. If you are not a freelancer or you don’t bond with the idea of freelancing, it wouldn’t interest you

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. But if you do, you’ll totally want to know what’s in there. And the content in that example did not disappoint.After I noticed this principle, I began to notice how much the top writers on this platform use it. So tailor your content to a specific audience. Write for the audience, instead of expressing the idea.This is the No. 1 difference I saw in my articles. Those articles where I wrote for a specific audience and called them out in the headline performed exceptionally well. Those articles where I just centered on the idea did not perform well, regardless of how good the idea was.Take a look:<figure id="884d"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*oq7ZDl6mdTeHeldO-Sq-Vg.jpeg"><figcaption>The audience is general here, and it didn’t perform so well</figcaption></figure><figure id="fb88"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*47GRmstUIaDGWzYCnBqPzw.jpeg"><figcaption>You can guess the people who were opening this article. The article was doing so well even before it got curated</figcaption></figure>This is not to say that all your articles must now take this form. For example, I write for several reasons. In some cases, I don’t care about views and reads (like when writing an article to attract potential business partners). But in cases where I care about views and reads, I am taking this No. 1 difference seriously.Never forget to call out your audience in the headline. This is the secret. Also, your content must not disappoint. If your content does, you will have a hard time getting those people to return to read another article, no matter how good it looks.I hope you have gained something from this.</article></body>

Get More Reads: Make Them Stop Scrolling and Open Your Article

The No. 1 difference between my widely read and highly unread articles

The difference is tailored content. Let me explain.

Writing is hard. But not for me. I find it easy to flow once I grasp the message I’m trying to pass along. Finding ideas isn’t really hard, either. My issue has always been keeping up with the ideas and working on them in due time. And therein lies the problem.

Sometimes I write a very brilliant article, but it gets very few views and reads. In some other cases, I just write something that I don’t think much of and it gets an awesome reception. What, then, is the difference?

I began experimenting with some of my articles just to find out for myself. And I think I have. It’s something you should know, too. But before I explain further, let me show you what it is not.

The difference is not the headline, but the difference has to be expressed in the headline. The headline is important because it’s what’s supposed to cause people to stop scrolling past and open the piece.

Being creative with the headline isn’t going to do much. In fact, using trigger words will not make any difference unless they follow the number one difference.

Publishing in the right publication is important. But that in itself will not guarantee that your articles are widely read. It will give better exposure and it is important, but it’s not the difference-maker, I discovered.

Subheadings are just like the headings, too. They only matter when you make them matter. Promoting your articles sure matters a lot as well. But the effect can only be for a while. Promotion won’t make people read the article. It just makes them know it exists. It’s a necessary part of the process (like publishing in the right publication), but it is not the difference-maker.

The difference is tailored content. It’s never about what you are writing. The ideas you’re communicating really don’t matter. What really matters is who you are writing to.

Let’s take an example.

Let’s say you write an article about shoes. If you decide to publish it as a shoe article, it will probably perform poorly (unless you are already famous or a celebrity). But you could take the same article and write it for women who do public speaking. In that way, a woman who falls into that category will find it difficult to scroll past that.

Another example? Okay.

You write a humor article about dogs. You could publish, and it will depend on your credibility as an established humor writer to do well. But you could take the same article and craft it for dog owners. And, of course, dog owners are those who will find it funny.

A great example of such an article is one I found recently — an article only freelancers will funny by Tessa Palmer. If you are not a freelancer or you don’t bond with the idea of freelancing, it wouldn’t interest you. But if you do, you’ll totally want to know what’s in there. And the content in that example did not disappoint.

After I noticed this principle, I began to notice how much the top writers on this platform use it. So tailor your content to a specific audience. Write for the audience, instead of expressing the idea.

This is the No. 1 difference I saw in my articles. Those articles where I wrote for a specific audience and called them out in the headline performed exceptionally well. Those articles where I just centered on the idea did not perform well, regardless of how good the idea was.

Take a look:

The audience is general here, and it didn’t perform so well

You can guess the people who were opening this article. The article was doing so well even before it got curated

This is not to say that all your articles must now take this form. For example, I write for several reasons. In some cases, I don’t care about views and reads (like when writing an article to attract potential business partners). But in cases where I care about views and reads, I am taking this No. 1 difference seriously.

Never forget to call out your audience in the headline. This is the secret. Also, your content must not disappoint. If your content does, you will have a hard time getting those people to return to read another article, no matter how good it looks.

I hope you have gained something from this.