I’ve been watching the stats lately on my blog. Always happy to see visitors, and hopeful that what I write is useful to people.

I got to thinking and a few google searches later leave me thinking that it’s nothing I didn’t know already.

1. Make text scannable

Not just to search engines, but most importantly the human eye. I always think newspapers are a great example of this. Headlines grab your attention and dangle their bait in front of you luring you into read the story.

Using paragraphs and white space to break up the text well is another good tip, and another one well employed by newspapers.

2. Say something interesting

This is so obvious it’s obscene. If you’re not saying anything anyone wants to hear then why would anyone listen?

3. Speak to your audience

This bit is maybe the hardest. Whilst I know who is most likely to read this at the moment, whilst it’s in it’s infancy, I hope to speak to a wider community.
I don’t really want to prescribe that but I guess I have to in a way so I’m speaking to you in the right way.

4. Use Lists

Who doesn’t love a list? High Fidelity’s Top 5 lists running throughout the film, the charts, your todo list. You might hate all the todos but having them in a list is your way to tame the those beasts.

5. Use Pictures

Pictures scan well, grab attention quickly and add some eye candy that text just can’t cut. Often a photo can sum up a story quicker and give the reader more than you can say in a 1000 words.

6. Keep it short

Short and concise.