avatarLinda Ng

Summarize

How to Engage Readers to Increase Your Read Ratio

Here are four painless ways to spruce up your article

Photo by mali maeder from Pexels

I have seen blog posts that are a wall of text. There is no white space, no graphics and no breaks. When I see a post like this, I usually lose interest in a few seconds.

Maybe I’ll read the first few lines.

But when I get further down, my eyes start to glaze over. It just becomes boring very quickly.

Avoid eye-glazed readers by implementing these four quick and easy tips.

1. Add Graphics

Beautiful pictures can supplement your article so effectively.

You can reinforce your point by choosing a relevant photograph. It also provides the reader with a small break from reading text.

Go ahead, include some screenshots or some approved stock photos and add some punch to your post.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels

2. Utilize Medium’s formatting options

Medium has a limited number of formatting options, but it’s enough to add some life to your article.

Photo provided by the author

Use the bold and italic functions sparingly to highlight certain words and sentences.

The pull quote option allows you to tell the reader to pay attention to an important point.

Ensure to use these options sparingly and as needed.

3. Add a link

Adding a link is a win-win option. You can promote previously published articles AND give the reader a quick break.

Use links sparingly as well.

Throwing in a thousand links in your post will undoubtedly annoy your audience.

You might also encourage them to leave the current article prematurely.

4. Add white space

An easy way to break up that Great Wall of Text, add spaces between paragraphs and add separators.

Photo provided by the author

Remember, articles are read on mobile phones too. Imagine a never-ending scroll and just seeing a bunch of text. So tedious.

Would you want to watch a movie with no music or sound effects?

You’d probably froth a little bit at the mouth and hit the stop button. How boring is that!

Make sure to implement these tips for an aesthetically pleasing and engaging article. Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support me, please consider buying me a coffee. Thank you!

Are you enjoying the articles on Medium so far? Consider joining Medium to read all the articles you want!

If you join with the link below, I will receive a small commission.

Sources

Photo by mali maeder from Pexels Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels

New Writers Welcome
Writing
Writing Tips
Medium
Tips
Recommended from ReadMedium