Whenever I do this I drastically decrease the rate at which people stop reading my articles — increasing my read ratio and chances of going viral.
You need to stop wasting people’s time.
Stop wasting so much time on your intros.
It’s a mistake many new online writers make.
Let me tell you something — nobody really cares about what you write or say, especially as a new writer.
Writing as a content creator is a battle for attention. Even more so if you’re writing on a discovery-based platform like Twitter or Medium.
At any given moment there are so many other things people can do other than read your article.
They clicked on your article because after seeing the value your headline promised, they thought it would be the best use of their time in that moment.
If your intro doesn’t make them feel like they were right about this, then it’s over. They’re bouncing.
Why do you want to prove them wrong by drawing out the intro so much before you finally give them what they came for?
They are not going to waste another second keeping up with your nonsense. Especially when you’re a new writer and they’re not even part of your regular audience.
Check out this intro I used in one of my previous online articles.
Look at my headline:
This new IDE from Google is an absolute game changer
The value I’m promising is very obvious — a new and innovative coding tool made by a major software company.
There’s a clear curiosity point too — “what’s this new tool?”
So what was my very first sentence?
The moment the article started I instantly affirmed the value I promised in the headline.
I didn’t start talking trash about how Google makes so many great products or why we need IDEs or what an IDE is or…
I just went straight to the point — I affirmed the headline.
Your article intros have to affirm the headline’s value quickly — implicitly or explicitly.
Here I did it explicitly — essentially repeating the headline in the intro.
It’s like how MrBeast starts his videos by instantly affirming the video title.
Even if there are things you need to explain before getting to the real value your headline promised, you still have to affirm the headline and “tease” some of that value in the intro.
And what was my next sentence in the article?
The article is already on the way.
In only the second line I’ve already satisfied the curiosity point I created in the headline — I’ve already started delivering on what I promised.
I didn’t wait until I’ve written thousands of words before revealing the name of the “new IDE” from the headline.
Some of you create curiosity points in your headline and then you deliberately take forever to reveal them.
Because you’re afraid they’re going to stop reading once they satisfy their curiosity.
False.
Unless you used a really clickbait-y headline or they’re not your target audience, them being curious enough to click for any reason means they’re naturally interested in the topic.
In reality, revealing information you withheld in the headline only makes them more likely to continue reading.
That’s what I did at the start of this very article.
So if you’re still here, you just proved my point 😉.