Most Of What You Write Won’t Be Read (Well… Almost)
I’d recommend you read the post, but statistically speaking half of you won’t give a s*** about reading past the halfway mark anyway.

Interestingly enough, most people will never read your entire article. Studies show most engagement occurs somewhere in the middle. The time spent viewing a page before it is shared illustrates that sharing is happening before the article has been read in its entirety. Go figure.

In fact, companies like Chartbeat record and analyze this data in real-time. Farhad Manjoo wrote an epic post on Slate that broke down the numbers of how people read online. The case study even used data that was gathered from the site. The study was able to conclude that only 50% of people that clicked on the post actually read it halfway through.

That is why you must make your content easy to share. Most readers won’t make it all the way through, so you want to give them plenty of reasons to share your content before they end up leaving your site.

[How To] Content So ‘Shareable’ You’re Damn Near Guaranteed A Tweet

In order for someone to hit the ‘like’ button on your post, or share what you've written in a tweet you need good content. Of course, you cannot rely on good content alone.

"You have to grab someone’s attention from the very beginning"

Beyond writing an awesome post, it’s mostly about captivating your audience and making it easy to share your content. If you can’t do both of those things then engagement suffers.

Your post needs to be structured in a way that makes sharing so easy it is almost inevitable. Naturally there is only one place to start, and that is your title. You have to begin with a title that screams “tweet me!”.

Make Your Titles Sizzle

Have you ever heard of phantom exclusivity? Check it out:

While I’m uncertain how long the term has been around (pretty sure the guy in the video coined it), the strategy is timeless.

The object is to craft a post that can communicate a message that appears to only focus on a very small segment, while at the same time appealing to many.

Use ‘phantom exclusivity’ when crafting your blog titles to get more clicks and shares – Tweet this

Use Brevity

Keep it short and sweet. If you want people to share your content you have to make it easy to read. What you have to consider is that most people only scan the page when they’re reading. For this reason you’re better off keeping your paragraphs short and to the point.

Brevity works. It’s worked for statesmen. It will work for you.

Be Sneaky

You’ve see it above and you no doubt see it laid out before your eyes below, politely waiting to be tweeted. In fact, I’ve went the extra mile and packaged it up quite nicely for you if I don’t say so myself.

Make your content so ‘shareable’ you’re damn near guaranteed a tweet- Tweet this

Sometimes you just have to put everything out there in the open (or smack dab in the middle of your article). A well placed call-to-action will increase engagement. It can do miracles for social shares, subscribers, downloads – and let’s not forget sales. You just have to do a bit of testing to find the sweet spot.

Talk With Authority

You don’t have to be considered an authority to talk like one. When you know your industry, understand your market, and know what you’re doing: you are an expert.

Write Epic S***

Excuse me for borrowing a phrase from Corbett Barr, but well… that’s what it comes down to — you have to write epic s***, mandatory. Who wants to read the same regurgitated tips and advice all day? Stand out. Be proud. Strut your knowledge. If you want to see success in business stop being a chicken s***. It’s time to make it happen.

Source Epic Shareable Content

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