Give People Reasons to Read Your Content

On the larger websites, a lot of the pages are just content. Reams of text, lots of information, and bullet points can make pages difficult to read.

I am currently working on rewriting an insurance website. There are lots of different categories and pages to go through, and there is also lots of information relating to different types of insurance products.

One page I wrote was only a list of insurance companies and what they specifically offer. Does this make for exciting and compelling reading? Of course it doesn't! When we are looking for insurance products, we typically take the easiest way there. People just want a quote and want to buy.

So how do you get those people to actually read through all of the descriptions of the insurance companies? It's not very interesting and it's not particularly compelling, it's only a list of information.

Begin every page with a reason for the people to keep on reading.

It doesn't matter what your page is about, it could be about insurance, parenting, software or anything else. Finding the way to keep people reading is vital to not only getting people to your website, but keeping them there.

One way I like to do this, is to write a couple of questions at the beginning of every page. The main advantage of posing a question to your readers is that it automatically makes them think of an answer. As soon as they do that, you will find that the rest of the information on the page will fall into the reader's personal context. You are directing the information to them and making it relevant.

Take for example, if you are writing about home insurance you could start by asking a question along the lines of: "Do you know if you are covered in the event of a natural flood?"

What I'm trying to do is to paint a picture that the reader can actually see. Also I'm trying to make the reader think about whether or not they are covered in the event of flood at their home. This then provokes a reaction in the reader, and they start to wonder if they are in fact covered.

Do the exact same thing with every page that features lots of content or information

There are so many sites that have lots of information on them, and a lot of text can turn some readers off. This is not to say that the information on the websites is not useful or relevant. People like to know that when they have read it, they have gained something from it.

This is why asking a question that relates to the information on the website can make it seem more personal to a reader.

When to use this technique?

The page this works better with is any page that has lots of content on it. Sales pages don't really need this sort of technique. Try it and see what it does for you. I guarantee that it will work if done correctly!