Adding a summary sentence to the top of a blog post helps a reader decide if they want to stay and read your post.
My team took a great course on writing for the web where we learned a number of tips and techniques to improve our blogs. I want to share some of what we learned so you can be a better blogger
The average user spends 10 seconds looking at a web page before they decide if they want to stay and read it. That means you have 10 seconds to convince them they want to read your post. Now having said that, not every post is intended for every reader. When I write a blog post about the Imagine Cup competition it is aimed at university and college students taking Computer Science or Engineering. Whereas this blog post is aimed at bloggers. You don’t need to hook all readers, just your intended audience.
The easiest way to tell someone in 10 seconds or less what is in your blog, is by adding a summary sentence. I find putting it in a different font size or color helps it stand out.
Don’t believe me? Test it out
Look at this blog post for 10 seconds. Do you know what you will learn if you take the time to read that blog in full? Was 10 seconds enough time for you to make a good decision as to whether you want to read that blog?
Now look at this one. A little intro paragraph at the beginning helps doesn’t it?
Now look at this one. See how the opening two lines give you enough information to decide if this blog is of interest to you?
Now look at the first sentence of the blog post you are reading right now, did that sentence catch your eye? Did it help you understand what you would learn by reading this post?
It doesn’t take long and your readers will appreciate it!
HockeyGeekGirl 