7 Ways to Write for the Online Reader

The information age calls for new forms of media. Below are 7 ways to help you write with the attention-deficit reader in mind while making business blogging worth the effort.

1. Concise + Brief

Short, punchy, to the point statements are preferred. Don’t backslide to scribing Victorian literature novels in your blogs and Facebook posts — there’s enough to read and do online as there is without wading through a hundred semicolons and run-on sentences.

Being too brief is to be avoided as well. Think newspaper writing with more personality and spark.

2. One Point At A Time

Bouncing off of #1, it’s important for online writers to explore simple ideas one at a time. Are you blogging for a real estate company? Don’t spend two days writing 10,000 words on the in-depth details of home loans and mortgages. Instead, break posts up in sections. This allows readers interested in certain elements to skim through and find what they want.

3. Referencing

Like how footnotes in a research essay make writers look intelligent, it’s useful for you, the writer, and your readers to have links to authoritative sources in posts. This opens simple topics to “extended reading.” There are two main ways to do this:

• Add relevant links into your posts that connect to other parts of your blog or website.


• Use outside sources (news articles, other blogs, research, etc.) and link to them.

Don’t worry about external links taking away from your article. If anything, interested readers will see that you know what you’re talking about and can learn more if they want.

4. Media

Multimedia does wonders in modern blogs for businesses. With pictures, charts, infographics, and other elements, you can add some excitement to boring posts. Like reference links, make sure media is properly sourced and relevant to the content.

As a side note, visuals are used by social media platforms when links are copied into posts. A captivating feature image is often what pulls a reader’s attention.

5. Casual Authority

You want your business blogs to have a sense of authority. The authority factor is instilled when you write on informative topics from an objective standpoint and add in useful commentary. The “casualness” comes when you avoid writing like a robot or turning a press release into a blog post.

Use first person if necessary, use modern language, and try to inject humor and entertaining prose when possible. The goal is to get a reader from the top of a post to the bottom.

6. Format Scanning

With images and brief paragraphs, it’s crucial for posts to be formatted for various readers. Some people will find your blogs on their smartphones, Apple laptops, PCs, or tablets — does your website allow for these devices and format accordingly? They should.

While formatting, check for lists, bullet points, and eye-catching statements. Even the most dedicated blog followers will most likely skim through your content. This means you need to form your content to be skimmable (scannable).

7. Pseudo-Promotion

Almost every blog has a purpose. Is it to sell a product, promote a business, or gain traffic to a website? Whatever the reason, most readers understand that blogs are written with intentions.

While this is accepted, do not force promotion into your content. Use it carefully and minimally. If anything, have a brief call-to-action at the end of your posts. A call combined with links to your other assets should be enough.

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