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7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content



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7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content

When you start writing content for your blog or website you will notice some people coming in to read and interact with your posts.  This of course only happens over time after you've built your authority, but that will come eventually.  One thing that people don't think of is reader fatigue and how it could be hurting your own sales and profits.  If you're just staring out blogging, you might not understand what reader fatigue is, but luckily you've landed on this discussion 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content

Reader fatigue is basically what it sounds like, people start reading your content and then all of their energy seems to be sucked out of them.  This happens when the content is unclear or boring, maybe even both at the same time, which results in people closing your website and moving on.  You'll want to keep people on your website as much as possible, so let's try to avoid reader fatigue as much as possible.

Reader fatigue is rampant among the internet because of low quality content, but you can avoid it by following these following 7 tips:


Have a clear and concise message
When people are reading, their attention spans are very short, especially when they are reading online.  You'll need to capture their attention within 5 seconds of them reading and keep them interested every 10 seconds, which isn't an easy thing to always do.  If you're just talking about how great you are or how amazing your blog is, you won't see much of a response to your content and people will get fatigued fairly quick.

Post great content that is clear and concise, and you will see people staying on your website longer.


Don't saturate your content with keywords
You don't want to over optimize your post because it will not only be hard to read but you will notice a keyword density penalty because Google and the other search engines will think you're trying to abuse their ranking systems. 

Write your content how you would say it.  You wouldn't write an article about dog collars and say "I love dog collars so much that diamond dog collars are better than red dog collars!".  This just looks like you're trying to stuff keywords into your content as much as possible and people will also hate it.  It's not readable and people will leave after the first sentence.


You are now a journalist
You need to write like a journalist within your niche if you want to be taken seriously.  Now, there is a fine line between being a journalist and writing like one.  You're not actually a journalist so you can put some emotion into your writing, but you still need to think of how a journalist structures their content in order to keep people interested and never get fatigued 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content


Publish content on a regular basis
Many bloggers will publish content once a week or even once a month, which isn't even close to enough if you want to be taken seriously.  Think about it, if you're posting once a week, that means you only have 52 posts at the end of the year.  If you're posting just once a month, that's only 12 posts a month!  If you're publishing content to your blog, on a regular basis, you're probably writing up quality content 3 or more times a week in order for your readers to always have something new to read.  Also, if you're posting 3 times a week you'll have 156 posts compared to a measly 12 posts if you were only doing one a month 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content

Remember, your content still has to be high quality.  You can't slack off on your writing because you're doing it more often.


Engage with your readers
One of the main things that creates reader fatigue is lack of engagement.  I've been to thousands of blogs and I would say that only 10% of the people actually publishing the content is engaging with the readers when they ask a question or give praise on a good post. 

If you want to increase reader engagement, you need to engage as well.  You can't expect your readers to have a conversation with each other, even though that could happen, you need to get in there and do the work yourself 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content


Hit your post with some formatting!
I talk about this alot when going over how to publish content.  Many people think that a simple line break (when someone presses the "enter" button) is enough to split up their content, but it's not.  You need to add in some bold characters, increase font size on your headers, underline some stuff or even add some pictures in there in order to keep your reader interested.

Not formatting your content will have them land on a wall of text, and they will leave almost immediately.


Use some Call to Actions
Making money from blogging is something we're all trying to do.  If you're not trying to make money from your blog, you need to start thinking about it, because it's a great revenue generation method 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content

Throw in a call to action here and there within your blog posts, if it fits well with the content, in order to increase your revenue.  You don't have to put a "buy now" button after a paragraph, you can just add some adsense and see if people click it over time 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content



In Conclusion
Writing on your blog, or your company's blog, is never an easy thing to learn how to do.  You won't be the best right away, but you can learn how to do everything over time.  Avoiding reader fatigue is something that you should learn fairly early, so it's a good thing you've found this discussion 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content  So get to writing and test out different writing practices in order to increase your time on page and engagement 7 ways to avoid reader fatigue when someone is reading your content



Remember to follow me!
https://www.seoclerks.com/user/Razzy


Thanks!

Razzy

Comments

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centurion
Thanks for the beautiful article. Yes. This is nice techniques all. I am blogging about my freelancing and outsourcing work and I have been working with freelancer and outsourcing work for the last few years. Calls to action, regular writing, write as a journalist these 3 techniques are super. I like to follow these techniques for the future time. I write regular. Regular update is very much necessary. I have been trying to update my website and my website have third party ad show service.

Thanks
Centurion



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Corzhens
Regular writing for uploading contents to the site is imperative particularly for bloggers. But to avoid reader fatigue I guess you have to change your writing style once in a while because the format may be boring if it is always the same in your blogs. Adding images and pictures can alleviate the readers from the reading fatigue especially when the article is pretty long that it is not only mental fatigue but also eye strain.



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Alymae
Great! I am a beginner and I have been thinking of doing my own blog but I don't know how to start and what to do. I'm still learning. This is a big help for me. It's really nice to learn from people who are already experienced. Do you know of any sites that gives tutorials? I'm researching but there's a lot. I want to narrow it down. Your help will be greatly appreciated.



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ballyhara
One of the best places for tutorials is YouTube. I know, you can find very annoying ones, but you can have some good tips over there. Just like you, I always feel like I don't know where to start, and what I do mostly is to base my writings on my own experiences. Check out some tutorials, use your living experiences and you will be ready to start your blog.



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edencaga
Wow! Thank you very much. Such a beautiful article. This one really helps aspiring writers to get better in writing articles. It's really important that readers will get entertained not to get fatigue of reading articles. This must be shared for all writers them for them inform that there are ways in not getting fatigue when reading your article.



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lei08pineda
This article is really helpful specially to beginners. The pointers in this article have to be taken note because it really helps not to get your reader upset with your blog. Adding some graphics might help too,I guess.



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DenisP
“You're not actually a journalist so you can put some emotion into your writing...”

Implying that journalists these days aren’t sticking their emotions and opinions into just about everything they write, haha.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I feel like every day more and more journalists are becoming extremely opinionated and bias. I’m a fan of video games and I’ve found this to be an increasingly common issue in video game journalism. For example, Kotaku was once a respected video game news outlet before it started getting flooded with overly opinionated and emotional “journalists.” Now it’s basically an SJW blog.

Still, I understand what you’re getting at. I’ll be keeping all of these tips in mind as I expand my blogging career.



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amelia88
This definitely seems true in my neck of the woods as well. Articles by journalists are no longer impartial but loaded with emotion and bias on both sides of the political arena.



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Youngshark
This is true with politics. I do not know whether a majority of them are bribed to sway the public or not. You just read from their views and comments that tgeir impartiality is nowhere to be seen.



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DenisP
“I do not know whether a majority of them are bribed to sway the public or not.”

While they’re not openly referred to as bribes (for obvious reasons) anyone would have to be naïve to assume that the opinions of politicians aren’t swayed by money being handed under the table.

This is what lobbyists are for. Companies can’t go and directly give politicians money so that they create laws in their favor. Instead, they fund lobbyists to “persuade” politicians into taking their side, and next thing you know climate change doesn’t exist and oil companies are getting subsidies.



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mitan143
It's just sad to say that it is the reality. Journalists who are working under mainstream media nowadays are very bias. If my memory serves me right, they say it is just for work. They blog and write articles for the sake of their company. Well, I don't easily believe on articles written by well-known journalists under mainstream media. And I'm more interested with bloggers working alone, they don't need to consider company's reputation and its allies before writing.



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aeon
Thanks for sharing this, a new idea for me. Sometimes some articles using a lot of words which is not really helpful and just makes the readers to get bored. Additional humor will help the readers also to become interested on the article, but not too much.



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Chinet23
Thank you for sharing your tips to keep readers engaged in your content and not to lose their interest. I know it is never an easy task and there's so much to learn. I'm thinking about blogging in the near future if this endeavor is meant for me. It's good to know that these information coming from seasoned writer is just right at my fingertips.



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overcast
These are some of the nice tips that you have shared here. I remember running away from some of the blogs. The reason being it was getting boring. And it was not easy to make the most out of the content. So I think most of the time many such bloggers are going to make it harder for you to read if they are only promoting. I have found out my experience that we have to engage with users in comments. And that is definitely a good idea if you ask me.



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fishbate
Yeah, people nowadays are more into high quality content. Gone are the days of pure promotion contents and contents with low quality. It's good though because its to have people that reads because of interest and value.



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overcast
Yes and it can be really hard to write content for the web now. Because people have small time span for the attention. And writing the 1500 words content is not going to cut short. And we have to consider how the work may be different for the people there. I guess we learn from the mistakes. It may not be that easy but it is something totally doable.



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Kakashi2020
This is a good topic many writers don't really analyze their work, if it's boring or not. I think most writers just want to finish an article with the notion that the longer it is the better it is. That could be true then, before the internet age, but nowadays readers really don't want very long articles, they would opt for short concise ones with straightforward facts. If you try to spin a topic longer than what it should be readers would drop it. Also it should be engaging and it has to have something unique or new so that readers would learn something from it.



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fishbate
Yeah, people nowadays want to learn fast but at the same time a no nonsense content. The demand for good contents are really on high level which i think is good competition between writers.



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Zelmontero
I agree people nowadays want straight forward content so they will not be bored. Readers will not read a very long article because they think they will be wasting their time. It is really important to make an article short and entertaining.



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jaymish2
I believe that content is the best way to try and sell something because it imparts knowledge and is a great incentive for readers to visit our website. The problem I have always found is how to keep your readers reading, inevitably to impart knowledge you will have to write in depth. This are great tips especially the formatting. I believe in short paragraphs. In my writing I make use of one sentence paragraphs and sub-headings. I believe it keeps the reader engaged



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treecko142
Also, try to mix up your content from time to time so that your viewers get to experience something unexpected and fun compared to your usual content, that way it's always fresh and not monotonous.



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fishbate
That's true, the way you write and the way you make the content is significant for the readers enticement. Mixing it up is a good idea as long as you keep it straight forward with the topic. A little twist could make it more fun and catchy.



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treecko142
Yeah, even TV shows often have episodes which are different than their usual formulaic story, and they add more twists and turns as the series goes longer so that their viewers don't get bored.



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amelia88
The formatting definitely helps and it’s probably one of the reasons why I enjoy reading your great articles on here - they’re always easy to follow because they’re formatted so clearly! The helpful content is also wonderful.



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Crypton
Thanks @Razzy for your wonderful and detailed article. Reader engagement is the most important when it comes to most online successes, be it news, anything. That's why your heading or article title should have the bulk of engagement strategy in order to pull readers first to your blog, then the rest comes afterwards.



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Youngshark
I agree with the monetization aspect. If you have a place and opportunity for the readers to invest or take up courses, programs etc you are way ahead. Taking action will allow them to put into practice the skills and tips you offer and as such makes them more active with the content.



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fishbate
Exactly, it's an additional motivator. Monetizing not only helps you in the manner of writing, it also allows you to create more quality content which i think is a cycle of sustainability for both writers and readers,



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Youngshark
Exactly since you do not want to jeorpadize your ability of convincing people to sign up you will always publish quality content. A lot of times you will get people seeking your advice regarding how you do or did it. More reasons will thwn present themselves in this form for you to create more training programs.



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NesMarcos
This is a well shared article not just for beginners but for everybody who is into content writing. I strongly agree with the thought, 'Engage with your readers.' Engaging with the readers can make them feel that their voices can be heard too. It is a matter of conversation and understanding.



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amelia88
When I write I also just enjoy engaging with those who are reading to get their thoughts - and often the interactions inspire more writing! It's a win-win if you ask me.



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NesMarcos
Indeed! Hearing your reader's thoughts on the topic your presented and knowing that someone reads and understands it and showing an interest to your writings, make a win-win. Appreciation for the writer and new information for the reader.



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fishbate
Yeah its a great strategy in writing. Engaging and allowing readers to be part of the content makes it more enticing. Writers who do this are more likely to get more success on their work specially those who write about relationships and life.



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NesMarcos
I definitely agree with this. Many readers are interested with writings about relationships and life because these are contents that everyone can relate their lives. Interaction should be one of the priorities for a successful work.



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Kakashi2020
Yeah, I agree that engaging your readers and opening up to reviews and comments is the best way to get inputs to your content and Site. Getting comments good or bad can help you tweak your site.



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cmoneyspinner
Formatting makes it so much easier to read a person's content. I particularly love bold letters. They help me remember.

People always say use CTAs. For some reason, I'm not that skilled at doing that. Working on it!



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amelia88
Bold, straight to the point headings definitely help me too. It's so much easier for me to zero-in on the content that I really want to read, or pick out the parts that are important for me and my business.



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NesMarcos
Absolutely! I also love highlighting the important details on my content, making it bold helps the readers see the details needed to jot down or remember.



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treecko142
You may have a really good article, but if the formatting is out of order, it makes it so much harder to read and is very annoying for the reader since the article's flow is also disrupted.



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NesMarcos
'Have a clear and concise message,' this is absolutely a good point and a must when we want our readers to stay and continue reading our content. We must also know who our readers are so we can present a topic that can boost their interest more.



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NesMarcos
'You are now a journalist,' this can be achieved by reading more of the journalist writings and get some ideas from it. Know its strength and how the journalist catch the interest of the readers like you.



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Kakashi2020
Publishing your content on a regular basis or on a schedule will give it regularity and more prestige because followers would learn to wait for your content also it gives your site a sense of stability.



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fishbate
Yeah, consistency always have a good effect in any business or profession. It's like coffee in the morning, once your readers knows your content and the regularity it will be more of a habit for them.



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Barida
Ensuring that we format what we are writing in the best possible way is ons good way that we can get people reading them without getting tired. Making effective use of paragraphs and catchy headlines is one of the better ways we can get that happening.



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aeon
I agree, you should engage with your readers. A simple conversation with your readers will be the reason for them to keep coming back. Readers need the answer also based on their understanding about the articles, and the writer should always have the answer for that.



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Martinsx1
I would just come out point blank, don't sound boring in your writing because no matter how good what you wrote on or about is, once you have presented your writing in a boring manner, it's definitely going to be uninteresting for people who try to read them. When you write, add some firely words in your content and see it capture readers attention.



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NesMarcos
I believe 'presenting your writing in a lively manner' can catch the reader's attention big time. Most of the times, writers lose a reader in just seconds. Presenting interesting topics is a must therefore, you should also know who your readers are. Knowing them will help you get a topic that will earn their interest.



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aeon
You're right about this, and if the writer just want to become serious about the content to make it looks professional, just be straight to the the main topic two lines of sentence are enough.



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Kakashi2020
Here's some things that I try to include in my articles.

Be sure that some part of your content is uniquely interesting.

Create a sub topic that has some humor in it.

Suggest something beneficial to your readers



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rlpzbeermoney
When writing, the author also needs to consider how the reader will read the content. Some don't consider the layout or font size for example. A lot of sites I noticed are more focused on the quantity of information rather than the readability of their works. Poor visibility in Powerpoint for example, results in the audience not getting the point of your presentation.

One lesson that stuck with me all these years comes from my thesis adviser. "When writing your dissertation, imagine the one reading it is a 10 year old kid." What she meant by this is that I needed to use more common words in my work rather than the more technical jargon kids won't know. It's all about thinking about the reader first if anything.



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NesMarcos
"When writing your dissertation, imagine the one reading it is a 10 year old kid." Not all readers have a rich vocabulary bank. I absolutely agree with this. If you want to catch the interest of readers, common or simple words should be imposed. Nevertheless, business content should be a bit more advance.



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vinaya
Good tips. I want to add some inputs.
When you are writing, always have the audience in your mind. You cannot make everyone happy, therefore, try to approach your article to a particular group of people or the people having an interest in your niche.
Always write for humans, do not write for search engines.



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TheArticulate
Great tips! As someone who produces video content for social media, a lot of your writing tips hold true for video production as well. In particular, keeping your message concise is important in video as well. It's crazy how our attention spans are shortening as time goes on, and we're constantly having to get our points across faster and faster in the content we produce for the web.

It's definitely a huge factor in keeping people reading and watching what you make, so it's really important to get the hang of being concise ASAP!



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ajahcuizon
Good thing that there's an article like this! It could help a lot of people who wants to blog. It is true that you have to build a certain communication with your audience, on that way you could also gain trust from them and then they will keep on patronizing your blogs because they know that you're giving good blogs. Also, what you said about being concise is good, I, personally, finds a hard time reading too long and broad blogs, its kinda time consuming. Just do what you love and make some money from it! ????



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Corzhens
I had read in one discussion that you need to spread your keywords all over your article. Maybe that is the reason why I come across with some articles that are redundant with some words especially with the terms pertaining to the niche. I didn’t know that keywords have an effect when it is included in the article. I thought all along that the keywords are in the meta tags that are embedded in the web page.



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Zelmontero
A very helpful article especially for those people who are still starting. I think engaging to your readers is the most effective way to prevent your reader fatigue. Letting your reader know that you care to them is very good factor. Being clear and concise to your message will not be to tiring to the readers. Consistency in publishing contents is also a plus to make your readers to watch out for your articles.



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stbrians
There are times when you waver from track and just write. You forget your target audience and write for yourself.

It happens to me. One has to look for content that people seek. Reading the content should entice the reader to move on. Answering the question you paused should be a culmination of your article. Do not blubber about in your articles.



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Steve5
We're all guilty of doing this at some point. We start to write more about our own interests and forget to factor in potential readers. And so we notice their lack of interest compared to when we last made content they like.



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stbrians
How I wish I wold keep on reading this post so that it reminds me to write for my target audience rather than my own. It is good to lean and do.

Always being aware of the fact will help.



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Steve5
Yes, it helps. Another way to remind yourself is to put your audience first. Every time you write something, practice writing about what excites people other than you. It will become a natural habit in no time.



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anchoreztin
Your article is so relatable. In a reader's point of view, I was smiling ear to ear while I am reading this. I kept saying to myself, "Oh, that is why I dont usually finish that blog!" and more like that. I love reading but there are really some blogs that are really tiring.
In a writer's point of view, I appreciate hour point number 5. This is one reason why readers usually goes tired of a blog, the absence of engagement to your readers. I like how you pointed this out. I will keep all of this in mind.



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Steve5
Me too. This is a great article about blogs. I usually end up skimming pages instead of actually reading them. Another common error is blocks of text. It's when the writer puts a bunch of words and content without proper spacing.

It's very uncomfortable to look at as a reader. This is why I close pages quickly after seeing that.



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jeffreyjose48
That's right! Just go directly to the point. Be concise and yet have substance.



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Gilgamesh
Beside of the preciseness and credibility of your written context condensing the information is a big factor too. It is because a condensed structure of sentence may be short but it will be full of remarkable knowledge that will not turn off the readers to finish you work. I am advicing it into all of the writers that we must condensed the information instead of stating it in a boring way, we shall also develop a catchy approach into the readers so that we may be able to connect to them by our writing.



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kinja90
Great article! That will help a lot that is making their blogs or website. You just need to be clear and concise. It's like a customer service as well like on how you assist the customer. You need to use clear, concise and simple words. Your formatting and how you design your site should be good in the eye. Use simple colors and it should match the primary and secondary color. You can try to visit some sites about the colors that match your primary color. Keep in mind how you would react if you're the one reading your blog.



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romyter013
Nice. Love the 7 ways you provided. Its true making web and writing about is not the easy. Still you need to get the attention of people if they will read it or not. Sometimes you have to be unique just to get their interest to check your site. But make sure don't go to far just stick to your brand so your customer won't get confused. Yes I agree too, by choosing right colour combination something like cool, light and colourful can attract more the customer too. And its always works for me.



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mitan143
It's true. Most people or not everyone is willing to read the content of your blog or article or whatever it is when if it become not so interesting already which you gave them a reason because of how to write it and construct your thoughts on it. It is also very important to consider the overall physical form of your writings as well as its content so the readers will not be going to get bored or get tired of reading it. I also agree with your suggestions and reminders for keeping your work interesting from the beginning until the end of your discussion or story. It would be really pretty cool if you add some catchy parts so the readers will be more curious and would continue to read and to learn from your blog or article. Just like yours.



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jpk0007
Yes, a reader constantly needs to remain interested in whatever stuff you publish online on your blog every day. doing it consistently for a period of time must be very difficult. I think creating content which can keep your reader engaged in the blog or site on a regular basis must be a very challenging endeavour which would require a lot of experience and skills. once you are able to capture the imagination of your readers and they start visiting your blog on a regular basis, the road ahead must be becoming far more easy and exciting for the creator of the site or the blog.



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angie828
I really hate writing for a client when they ask me to oversaturate the article with keywords. It just seems that I am stuffing the word in too much, which is not natural. If I were speaking, I would not use the word that much.

Another thing that drives me crazy along this line is the keywords that do not make sense. There are some keywords that are hard to fit into a sentence to make it sound natural. When this is the case, it makes it very apparent that you are just using keywords, which I feel is annoying when reading online content.



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