The first words in your essay or article play a very significant role as they determine whether you lose or grab your reader’s attention. For this reason, your title, your first paragraph, your subtitles, and the rest of your paragraphs need to be written so well that your reader will want to keep reading your entire article or essay. For starters, what would first draw a reader to your article? The answer is your title. Although you may not realize it, you will likely click on the topic that sounds most enticing whenever you are looking for a certain topic and scroll by the search results, even if all your search results are basically on the same topic.

This is why some people choose to use clickbait because, unfortunately, by the time the reader realizes that the article’s content or essay isn’t actually what they thought it was, it will be too late. However, using clickbait isn’t a technique that will help you grab and retain your audience’s attention. Other useful and tested techniques used by reputable and seasoned authors, such as the WritePaper authors, will help you write better articles and keep your readers coming back for more. Here are some of these techniques.

1.   Have a Title That Excites Your Reader’s Senses

With this technique, you could choose to either subtly provoke your reader’s thoughts, or you may go the more obvious direction. For instance, you may decide to go with an exciting topic such as, “Did you know that turmeric did this?” or you could go with a subtle, provocative topic such as “7 amazing uses of turmeric that you didn’t know!” Now, whatever way you choose to go, you should avoid making your topic allude to something that is not actually in that article.

The point is to make your readers curious by making your topic sound enticing and intriguing. Like in the turmeric example, these two topics above will be more likely to grab your reader’s attention rather than “Other uses of turmeric.” Don’t just use your title to inform your readers of your article’s contents. Intrigue them as well!

2.   Hook Your Readers With Your First Paragraph

Consider your essay or article writing as a fishing expedition. Your title is supposed to act as bait and bring fish close by, but to catch the fish, you shall need a hook. Your first paragraph should act as your hook and keep the readers interested that they will want to keep reading. In order for the first paragraph to work this way effectively, you need to give them a peek into what awaits them in the rest of the article. 

By amazing them, surprising claims, and adding some interesting statistics, they will want to stay and find out more interesting information. Avoid boring them with facts and information overload; so that they don’t feel like they have gotten as much as they can take from your article or essay.

3.   Give Your Audience Useful and Interesting Information

After you have been able to draw in your audience using your catchy title and introduction, you should give them the info they clicked on your essay for. Please give them the information that you hinted at in your first paragraph, in an interesting way. Once again, don’t bore them with facts and complex terms that they may not be familiar with. Keep your essay engaging, informative, and at the same time simple to grasp and comprehend.

4.   Use the Correct Style

There are many writing styles for you to choose from. Although you can use whichever you want to, some styles work better than others. Therefore, if you want to have better essays, avoid styles where you use abstract sentences, a difficult language that may prove to be an issue for your readers, and use the third person. Instead, opt for simple vocabulary, first and second person, as well as short sentences.

This will generally make your reader feel comfortable and engaged. On the other hand, refrain from overdoing it. A final tip is to imagine that you are talking to your reader when writing your articles and essays. This way, it will be easier for you to write in a relatable and easily understandable style.

5.   Use High-Quality Images

It doesn’t matter how good your words or how good a writer you are; you need to complement your writing with high-quality images. As a writer, you may be drawn by words, but this may not be the case with your audience. Human beings are visual beings. Therefore, a few great images may do more for your article than you think. Don’t just go for any image that will serve the purpose. Instead of rushing to find images that are grainy, watermarked, poor quality, or inappropriate to your article, take your time.

Look for a clean, high-quality image that will go well with your well-written words. Several sites offer high-quality stock images, and some are even free. Do your research and settle on a good site from where you shall be sourcing your images.

Take Away

Apart from these five tips, a good amount of vulnerability will grab your audience’s attention, and they shall want to keep coming back as they will find you genuine, relatable, and easy to connect to. Try any of these tips, and your essays and articles will be read by more people than you anticipated. Do please let us know if you are any questions, criticism or any tips of your own in the comments below.