9 ridiculously easy steps to get more

readerships for your story

In this competitive world of New Media, its a task to get discovered - content is either lost or
buried under Internet debris. This is because we fail to understand that the web behaves
differently than the print medium. What we learnt in school/college as essay writing or prose
writing doesnt apply to the dynamic web. For example, abstract headlines, especially, are
detrimental to your content - because neither does it have the stickiness factor to the story nor
does it tell the reader anything about the story. We want to change this. We want everybody to
understand how the web functions and what kind of content is the most shared and discovered
on the Internet.

*This document will highlight some ways to deliver your content and tell you how you can
optimise your content for the web. This document deals with very technical aspects of producing
content on the web - it is applicable for any kind of story you create - single media, word or a
picture story.
Note : Follow the hyperlinks in blue for examples.

1. Start Your Stories With A Easy-to-Understand and
Impactful Headline

There are many ways to write effective headlines, but we figured itll be easier to categorise them
into these six types for easier understanding.

a. Headline/title that is based on a question

Titles that begin with How, Why, Where, When create more curiosity for the reader. Such titles
have more call-to-action and click rate as the reader is eager to find the answer to the question.

For example :

How to measure your bra size
How can I get better at English
Why Facebook Is So Interested In Indias Elections
HOW TO WRITE SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLES
How Sanitary Pads Can Help Women Improve Their Health and Education
1


b) Headline/title with personal messaging

These titles talk to you directly. They are addressed for you and are asking you to read more of it.

For example :

20 lies parents told you when you were a toddler
If you want to get better at speaking English, read this
How can your vote help save the country
Travelling with your best friend is always the best!
11 entrepreneurs from Manipal University you should know about


c) Headline/title with Exaggerations
2

This is something weve seen all over the Internet these days.

For example :

Two Very Powerful Women Get Asked About Double Standards. Their Responses
Probably Won't Shock You.
This 19-Year-Old Pedophile Has Never Gone Near A Child. And He Needs You To
Hear His Story.
This Beautiful 2 Minute Video Shows How A School Going Kid Can Inspire A
Billion People.
Get Ready To Be Horrified At What Schools Are Telling Kids About Sex


via Upworthy.com


d) Headline/title that are Toplists or with Counters

Posts which start with a number in the beginning of the article. Something that is a counter or a
top list.

For example :

15 things you didnt know about All India Bakchod
54 Powerful Tweets Explaining What It Means To Be An Empowered Muslim
Woman
24 Things Only Your Best Friend Knows About You
15 random things, now GIF friendly
3


e) Be Smart and Make Your Headline Discoverable on Google

Remember that a story that has the maximum number of relevant keywords pertaining to the
article will show up when someone tries to search something about it on Google.
Google searches for relevancy from Left to Right in a title.

For example: If your story is about Maintaining Bras
Your title should be : Bra Hacks : How to Maintain your fancy, expensive bras

4
f) Be creative with your headlines - intrigue your readers, make them curious

These titles are not your essay headlines which are abstract, not telling you anything about your
post, but are instead headlines that immediately catch on - Like pun intended phrases, humour,
simple words or direct emotions.

For example:

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Drug Dealer
If youre a student and you voted, clap your hands!
What happened to language and other poems?
The fourth seat in the local train will never be yours. Heres why.





2. Give your Story the description/summary it
deserves

Every story will carry a description/summary/subtitle that tells the reader what your post
is about in a gist. The Internet, like mentioned before, searches for keywords to highlight
your post - the scanning follows a simple Top to Bottom routine. So, your relevant
keywords and content should be at the beginning of the story. If you dont have a
summary to your post (even if its a poem), you lose the readers attention immediately.


5

For example,
Headline : 'Sexy College Girl Smoking Cigarette'
Description : On why it's a damned pain being a female smoker in India.


3. Make the body of your story Internet-friendly

1. The body is the second strong element of your post, first being the title. The body of the
story also follows the same principles of keywords - Top to Bottom scanning.
2. If youre uploading and inserting images in a text heavy story or a pure picture story - the
Internet cannot read the images for keywords, but it can read the images file name (as
stored on your computer or the web). Which is why if youre uploading a picture of
Spiderman - the name of the file should be Spiderman and not DSC001.
3. The second very necessary and important aspect of pictures are captions - relevant
captions will bring up the photo in search more than a picture without a caption.








6
4. Dont forget to format your post - this is where
authors lose the game


1. Use tools like Bold, Italics wherever necessary.
2. Numbering, bullet points and Font size variations are used for emphasis on points and
short bits.
3. Use the quote tool to highlight certain quotes or highlights of the article. It makes for better
reading. People generally browse through long form content. If you give them small
bursts of the content, they are more likely to read your article than otherwise.
4. Use images to aid your article. Choose free images from Google if the story doesnt have
pictures of its own. How do you search for free images? Simple. Google Images >
Search Tools > You can set the size > Usage Rights > Not filtered by license.
5. If you dont find an appropriate image to your article through this search, give attribution to
your image to the source from where it was taken. If it is an image that needs some
explaining, give it a caption. There should be no hanging photos.
6. Hyperlink relevant keywords, information, lines (that can lead to further explanation),
people, ideas.



As seen on campusdiaries.com



7
5. Remember that your content is powerful NOT the
word limit

There are 2 types of good and well-received content on the web.
a) Content that falls into a word limit of 500-700 words. It is observed that a less word count is
consumed faster on the Internet.

b) Content that falls under the bracket of 1200-1700 words or more. If you produce such a story,
make sure you follow a simple 3-2-1 formula to keep your post dynamic-

Three subheads: Subheads are bold, one-line headlines that break up long chunks of text
and organize information. Keep the same headline-writing rules in mind when you write
subheads.

Two links: Links offer additional information for readers who want to go deeper, and they
also give your post authenticity and transparency about where you information came
from without getting into long, narrative attributions.

One graphical element: A photo, a chart or anything else that is visual, helps readers.
Whatever you use, make sure it advances the story: don't just put a photo in the post for
the sake of posting a photo.


True story, bro.
8
6. Keep your story scannable and easy for the eyes

The attention span of a reader on the Internet is very low, unless you pack your story with
subheads (as mentioned in the previous point), quotes - that highlights certain aspects of your
story. Like for example, on campusdiaries.com when youre producing a story, the editor allows
you the option of changing the font size from Large, Medium to Normal. It also allows you to
separate some text as a quote - giving it the due highlight it deserves.


As seen on campusdiaries.com


7. No one likes to read posts with bad grammar

No one likes a know-it-all either, which is why - take help and give help to those who need it
instead of scoffing at others. Any article that shows more red lines on the editor than your
answer book in an exam is a big loss for you and the reader. Refer to this website for better
understanding on grammar and also read through some common mistakes we make while
writing that makes us look foolish. Heres a funnier, comic-y version.


via theoatmeal.com
9
8. Always give the reader something to take back
with them

It is always advised to have some call to action at the end of your post - whether its a picture
story or a word story, the reader should have something to take back from your article and click
on something that gives them more information and knowledge about the subject than they
already had. Hyperlinking stories toward the end of the article, like this story, gives the reader
more toward the end.


#Justkidding


9. Connect your stories and engage your reader

Hyperlinking certain keywords or phrases in the article helps the reader to understand your
content better. It is advisable to hyperlink words that are most relevant and beneficial to the
reader, also keep in mind that when youre writing for a content platform, hyperlinking stories
from the same website makes more better reading.



(contd.)
10

Shes his lobster!

For example, see this story - here the author has featured other people on the website and linked
articles on the same issue on the same website for better understanding of her own article.




11