Why They Won’t Read Your Business Blog Post to the End

“I’m going to be brief, because you’re not going to stick around for long,” Farhad Manjoo writes in his Slate blog. People online don’t, he says (read to the end). An analysis by Josh Schwartz, a data scientist at the traffic analysis firm Chartbeat, shows that readers can’t stay focused. “It’s everywhere online, adds Manjoo. When people land on a story, they very rarely make it all the way down the page. A lot of people don’t even make it halfway.

So how can blog content writers face up to those short-attention-span facts and still make at least minimum impact through an SEO marketing blog?  The Guardian Media Network blog has a list:

Include key information upfront.  
In corporate blogging training sessions, I stress showing readers – right away! –  they’ve come to the right place.

Use bullet points.
Organizing the information helps readers’ eyes move quickly through the material.

Use images.
When you use pictures in blogging for business, you reinforce the information in an alternative form.

Use novelty.
When you put two things together that don't seem to match – that can be a good technique to capture people's interest through blog writing. Suggesting a totally new way of using your product or service, that may open up new possibilities for that potential customer to do business with you.

Present information in a logical, sequential pattern.
When the blog content “walks” readers through logical steps to a conclusion, that can increase the likelihood of them staying around to read all your key points.

Tell the reader what they need and want to know, and no more.
Attempting to cover too much ground in a single blog post, we lose focus, straining our readers' attention span.

So maybe (OK, probably) they won’t savor all of (OK, not even most of) your absolutely great blog content writing in its full glory.  But maybe, just maybe, the right readers will!