Writing blog posts seems easy at first. Unless you are commissioned to write about something you have no interest in, the words flow forth. You have a lot to say, but the internet is a strange beast. All your beautiful thoughts are easily lost if you don’t cater to the needs of internet readers.

A Hard Truth
The fact is no one uses the internet like we expect them to. This is true not only for blog posts, but all internet writing.

When you write a book or an essay you expect everyone to read in the same manner. They will start at page one and work to the end.

That just isn’t a reality on the internet. When you write a paragraph or page worth of text you expect people who stumbled onto your page to start at the beginning and read to the end. On the internet, people don’t read, they skim. Like stupidly distracted crickets their eyes jump from pictures to tables to content back to headers with a quick glance at the bullet points.

Bring Them On In
So how do we deal with readers who refuse to read as you intended? You have to cater to their needs. There is nothing that turns a reader off more than a large block of text. Even plenty of paragraph breaks are not enough. You have to find a way to draw users into your content and capture their imagination.

I fight the good fight with three main tactics:

• Plenty of great headings
• Bullet points
• Media

Capture Interest with Good Headings
The first weapon in your fight against attention deficit disorder are headings. Headings give organization and continuity to your posts. I make it a rule to never go more than a few paragraphs without a header. You have to let the reader see where you are going without expecting them to read everything. Headers concisely summarize where you have been and where you are going.

If you have entertaining headers, the skimmers can quickly decide if your topic interests them. If it does, they might just hop in and follow your thoughts.

Destroy Text with Bullet Points
Bullet points are the hollow point bullets of the writing world. They blow huge holes in lengthy text leaving only a quick summarization. Remember, large blocks of text are your enemy. Bullet points:

• Sum up your points
• Capture interest
• Can be really funny

Bullet points are a great way to capture the attention of skimmers. They may not have time to read your whole post but their eyes are naturally drawn to bullets. The list takes microseconds to process and if it captures the imagination, you have successfully converted a skimmer into a reader. Add some fun to your bullets. They are one of the areas almost everyone actually reads.

Media: The Key to the Kingdom
Often as writers it is easy to get caught up in the world of text. After all it’s what we use all day. We are use to staring at words. Never forget to use the internet’s full capability. This wonderful medium we relish is capable of such more than just straight text and skimmers expect to see it. I make it a point to match images with my headings, insert video where it fits, and add music (warning: never force anyone to listen to music).

Well placed media draws users in. It entertains, informs, and builds confidence. Don’t be afraid of media. Use it to your advantage. I recommend Vimeo as a source for high quality videos that look good on any site.

About the Author
I am a young professional in the internet security industry who spends all day creating documents of a huge breadth and width. In my spare time I run a soccer blog, Advantage Played. I try to put the above philosophy into action with every post I write. You can shoot me a line at grahamfox at gmail.com