Writing for Internet audiences is different than writing for print.

The main difference is that when people read stuff online, they tend to have short attention spans. Thus, as you as you lose their interest, they start scanning the rest of the article quickly, and then leave altogether.

So how do you maintain their attention from top to bottom?

Start by acknowledging their need right away. That is, the title of your article should clearly identify its purpose. Take a look at the title of this article, "How to Write for the Internet". That's about as clear as I can get. It's gets your interest, at least for the next few paragraphs.

Second, the first couple of sentences of the article should deliver the "money" statement. This is the piece of information that delivers your biggest point. The rest of the article simply goes on to explain this point.

And that's what I did in this article. The first sentence acknowledged your problem, so that you believed this article will tell you what you want to know.

The second sentence delivers the "money" statement. I didn't waste any time in telling you what you wanted to learn.

Imagine being in a library, looking for a book on lawnmower repair, and getting lost in the card catalogue and bookstacks. But what if a book actually spoke out to you, "Lawnmower Repair!" You'd bypass all the other books, walk straight to that one, and read it.

That's what you have to do.

Use Teaser Sentences

A teaser sentence is usually a short, one-sentence paragraph. It's purpose is to keep you reading further. It transitions the reader from the last paragraph to the next one.

The third paragraph of this article is a good example. Doesn't it make you want to read further?

Use Subheadings

Notice how I have broken up this article into subheadings. This is another good way to maintain a reader's interest.

The idea is that by the time you've provided the details of your "money" statement, the reader will start scanning the rest of the article for items of interest. Using subheadings is a great way to focus their attention to interesting topics.

Search Engines Are to Blame

People seem to know that the Internet has the answer to EVERYTHING. This is why they have short attention spans. When they run a Google search, they know the answer lies somewhere in those results. They don't want to waste time surfing through the wrong webpages.

If one of the results doesn't acknowledge their need within 5-10 seconds, they click on the "Back" button of their browser, and try a different result.

Hence, you can end their quest by acknowledging their need in the title, and in the first couple sentences.

It's the Opposite of Newspapers

Newspaper articles tend to do things the other way around. The title of the articles are designed to picque your interest, not acknowledge them. And the articles themselves spend two to three paragraphs of background and commentary, before deliving its "money" statement.

The reason why this works with newspapers is because people are in "exploratory" mode, as opposed to "search" mode. They pick up a newspaper to find out what's new in the world. Hence, they're relaxed and ready to spend an hour of reading.

When people are in "search" mode, they're eager to find the answer as quickly as possible.

Labels: Copywriting