How to Get Readers to the Bottom Line of a Blog Post

bybrandonacox

2.9K followers

7 years ago

It's unfortunate that web copy runs so long vertically. What I mean is, people read more by scrolling. It creates the illusion that the flow of thought is always line-after-line, downward.

The fact is, web copy runs more like a timeline through people's minds. Each element of a blog post is like another dot in a dot-to-dot puzzle. And after each dot, the reader is asking, should I bother finding the next dot?

In other words, the title's purpose is merely to get people to read the first line.

The first line's purpose is merely to get people to read the first whole paragraph.

I know you think you know what's coming next, but you're wrong. The purpose of the first paragraph is not to get people to read the next paragraph. It's actually to get them to quickly scroll and scan to the bottom of the page.

At the bottom of the page, the last few lines of copy are then designed to motivate the reader to scroll back up and invest the time necessary to slow down and take the whole piece in.

And when they get to the bottom line the second time, if all has gone well, they'll act on what they've read.

If there is no call to action, they're free to leave.

So, how do you get people to the bottom line?

1. Write a compelling headline.
2. Create curiosity with the first sentence.
3. Build credibility in the first full paragraph.
4. Make the bottom few lines appealing.
5. Fill in between with relevant, re-assuring information.
6. Call them to action at the end.

Am I right? Does it make sense? Tell me in the comments.