How To Format Your Content to Increase Engagement

With so much content being published online, it’s important you find a way to quickly attract your readers to your content. This means you need to know the fundamentals of content writing so it resonates with readers right away. Much of this doesn’t have to be done by changing your whole website around because what I’ve noticed is a few formatting tricks will ensure you can accomplish this. I was reading this awesome article by Neil Patel and it provided formatting tricks that I wasn’t aware of. I want to compress the article and provide them below.

Let’s get started…

The Space and Width

Here’s something very interesting and if you’re a serious blogger, then you know how readers like to find content quickly. They hate going back to search for information when skimming through so it’s important for value to be visible. For example, when I’m reading through a long tutorial and need to go back, then I’ll hate NOT being able to find it when I need it. This can be solved by spacing out your content so sentences can be explored quickly. You’re essentially taking words that have been compressed and spacing them out further, increasing line height.

This is simple HTML and CSS but if you’re using WordPress, then this can be done by adding a plugin or simply editing the CSS file from the backend. Install Firebug, which will allow you to find the code you need to change.

Remove Sidebars

Sidebars are recommended by everyone because you can promote affiliate products and your popular posts. However, they can get in the way. Imagine reading content and from the side of your eye you can see flashing banners, etc. Even though having sidebars on the right side bar have been common practice, you might want to test how people respond to NO sidebars. Start by checking out average time on page by skimming through your Google Analytics or other tools you’re using. Then you can remove sidebars and analyze the difference within Google to see if it had a positive change. Sometimes having banners will force people to click-through on another page without reading the entire content, decreasing time on page.

This is very easy to implement because if you’re using WordPress, it’s as simple as removing them from within your widgets.

Break Up Your Content

There are other ways to break up your content in a very engaging way aside from images. By doing this, you are keeping people on your page and still adding value at the same time. Here are the MOST commonly used:

Adding Social Media –

Sometimes adding simple social media buttons in the middle of your content is a great way to give readers a rest and a chance for them to share your content. With so many plug-ins available, this can be done within minutes then all that’s left is for you to test out different things.

Tables –

These elements are great when you are writing analytical content summarizing case studies. They are also a great way to split up content and give people a visual sense of your content. However, implementing tables can be tough because you want to make sure they are mobile optimized at the same time. I suggest trying different plug-ins until you find one which works great.

Quotes –

Quotes are great when writing about pioneers in your industry or even expert interviews and I’ve included quotes within my content numerous times. They are also a great way to break up content because many times, when adding quotes, they’ll be a different color with a highlighted background. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when using quotes within your content:

  • Make sure they are relevant
  • Make sure they stand out and break up content. Simply use color and highlight background.
  • Make sure they add value.

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