You want your blog introduction to inspire further reading. Your readers want to read further. Use these 15 tips to create a compelling blog introduction that will leave them in no doubt as to why they should!
01. Build a Little Mystery
Don’t give away too much about the rest of your article in the introduction. If you do, you won’t be encouraging your reader to continue. Tease a little and build some intrigue.
02. Address Your Reader Directly
Get your reader personally involved. Use first person speech with words like ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘us’. The more personal the connection you can build in an introduction, the more likely your reader is to continue reading.
03. Make a Promise
You’ve already researched and know what interests your reader. Make them a promise that you will deliver later in your article. A few words like “I’ll show you how” or “Wait and see” will increase a reader’s desire to find out more.
04. Hint at Solving a Problem
We all have problems. If the core of your article contains ways to solve a problem your reader may be experiencing, drop hints that you have the answer. “In the 5 steps that follow…” or “As we move further I’ll..” are examples of how to do this.
05. Use Emotive Language
As already mentioned in tip #2, building a personal connection with your reader will encourage further reading. Using some emotional words and language to relay your empathy will assist in building this connection. Show excitement, frustration, eagerness, uncertainty or admiration with emotional words that will make your reader connect with you better.
06. Be Honest and Straightforward
Disarm your audience with your direct honesty. Don’t use words like “perhaps” and “maybe” as these will discourage your readers. You need to show that you know what you’re writing about and convince the reader that your article will benefit them. Don’t beat around the bush – dive into it!
07. Don’t Brag
You may know that your product or advice is the best but there’s no need to be arrogant about this. Your copy itself will show this and there’s no need to push your beliefs in a domineering manner. This will discourage further reading! Let the facts included in the information you impart speak for themselves.
08. Ask a Question
This ties in with the mystery mentioned in tip #1. Asking a question that you’ll answer later in your copy builds a little intrigue and gets your reader’s thought processes going. If you’ve asked the right questions your readers will be looking for the answers.
09. Use Metaphors and Stories
Depending on what is included in your upcoming copy, metaphors and stories can create a faster understanding. Getting your point across in story form can help your reader to grasp more difficult concepts included in your upcoming copy. The earlier that you can help your reader to understand your article’s information, the more chance there is that they’ll continue reading.
10. Challenge Your Reader
Be controversial and challenge the norms if this will help you to get your points across. Encourage your readers to think for themselves via your carefully considered statements or questions. Nobody likes to be called “a sheep” – offer a different point of view that will get your reader considering your alternative. Don’t be annoying though.
11. Format Your Introduction
Use bold text, colons and hyphens. You can even throw in a relevant link. Drawing attention to key points heightens your reader’s awareness to the truly important parts of your article. Breaking up your text helps with ingesting information.
12. Drop Your Anchor Early
Dropping your anchor early means revealing the core point of your article in the introduction itself. This helps if your core point is the absolute pinnacle of your article that everything that follows revolves around. Dropping your anchor early would necessitate that your article’s future copy forms facts, information or evidence wholly to support your core point. Remember that this introduction method will eliminate any sense of mystery for your readers.
13. Use Short Sentences and Paragraphs
Short sentences allow your reader to ease into your article without feeling overwhelmed by text. If you have a long introduction, split it into more paragraphs. Ease of reading, especially in an introduction, is paramount if you want to encourage further reading.
14. Use Multiple Adjectives
When describing a focal point, create a more enticing feel by doubling up on your adjectives. Describing a “relaxing” holiday, for example, doesn’t convey the feeling quite as well as saying it is a “peaceful, relaxing” holiday. Using more adjectives will make your description more memorable and will build a more effective mind-image for your reader.
15. Create IMPACT!
Your readers need to be grabbed! They will be asking why they should read on and finding that key element that will create an impact for them will seal the deal. Answer that “why” and they’ll read to the end and take home something valuable from your article.
Finally, a bonus tip:
16. Make Use of Technology
AI Content Generators, like ContentBot, have excellent “Blog Intro” features that can generate quick and relevant blog introductions. When necessary, make use of the technology available to supplement your creativity. Generating an introduction for your blog using AI only takes a few seconds and allows you to save time by suitably editing the selected generated result and not always taking time to conceptualise.
Conclusion
Not all of the above 15 tips to create a compelling blog introduction can be used in every article you write. Sometimes you want to drop an early anchor and other times you’ll need to create a little mystery. Regardless of which tips you decide on a certain occasion, there will always be times when the others come in handy.
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