Fed-up staring at your screen hoping your eyeball grabbing introduction will type itself?
And I can imagine you certainly don’t want to feel you’ve wasted your time writing your amazeballs blog if your introduction doesn’t do its job and keep the reader on your page.
In this blog I’m going to share with you what makes a great blog introduction and give you 3 tips and ideas for writing your blog introductions to hook your reader in and keep them reading.
What makes your blog introduction good?
A good blog introduction is one that grabs their attention.
It’s specific, to the point and also interesting to the reader.
From your first sentence you want to keep them on the path to reading your blog.
After you’ve hooked them with your first line, your aim is to keep them reading.
Think about the problem you’re writing about for your reader.
- What’s their experience of this problem?
- How does this problem make them feel?
Make it clear from the start of your blog that you know what’s going on for them.
And then you can tell them what your blog is about, how it’s going to help them and the benefits they’ll get reading the blog.
Your reader will love it when they feel understood.
Your reader will love you.
Get them to see you as the solution to your problem.
Idea #1. The Empathy intro (also known as the ‘Yeah that’s me!’ Intro)
This is an introduction that works well if you’ve been where your reader has been.
What have you struggled with but now you know how to do it and get better results?
Empathy works so well in blog introductions.
And you can show empathy by asking your reader questions in your introduction you know they can relate to.
Here’s an example:
Are you fed-up that no-one’s engaging with your content on social media?
Utterly confused as to why others get loads of engagement while you’re ignored?
Are you feeling social media isn’t for you?
(Can you sense them nodding as they’re reading? You can then go on to tell them you understand because you struggled too. It was the same for you.)
This was me 18 months ago!
I’d be spending ages on social media. I’ve lost count how many hours I’d be on there each week.
Until the penny dropped. Big time!
The problem was me and how I was using social media.
It was never going to work doing what I was doing.
In this blog, I’m going to share with you what I did and what I changed to go from zero engagement to getting leads and clients from my social media efforts.
Idea #2. The two big questions and blog explainer introduction
Social Media Examiner do this type of blog introduction brilliantly.
The vast majority of their blogs start with a couple of questions, and then goes on to explain what the blog is about and why it’s going to be worth your time reading it.
Here’s three examples from their website:
Idea #3. Use an eyeball grabbing data or shocking fact
What data or fact would shock or grab the attention of your audience?
Of course not any old fact it’s got to relate to your blog post.
And not one you’ve just made up to get the clicks either.
Using a statistic or a fact at the beginning of your blog can be a great way to get your reader’s attention.
Thinking about your industry, your audience, your ideal client what information could come as a surprise to them that you could use in a blog introduction?
Use the statistic as a way to hook them in, but be sure to create your introduction that takes into account your readers’ experience of this problem, and how it makes them feel.
You’re writing for a human being.
And while you’d love your blog to be read by many, write your blog as if you’re speaking directly to them.
One person.
Want an example of using an eyeball grabbing stat in your blog introduction?
Okay.
Perhaps something like this if you’re a mindfulness coach, but any industry can use it.
You know your audience is spending way too much scrolling on their mobile phone, and you’d like to highlight just how much time they’re spending on it and how this affects their mental health.
4.8 hours a day.
That’s how many hours adults in the UK are spending on their mobile phones – every day!
That’s 1752 hours every year.
Perhaps you’ve noticed you’re reaching for your phone more often? Too often?
You may be feeling you’d like to spend less time on your phone but don’t know where to start?
Or you’re worried all this time spent on tech, like your mobile phone could be affecting your mental health?
Perhaps it’s another concern you have about the time you’re spending on your mobile phone.
In this blog I’ll explain what happens to our brain when we’re on our mobile phones, why we can all benefit from switching them off more often and how to easily reduce our time scrolling.
Should I write my blog introduction before I write my blog or after I’ve written it?
As this is a question I get asked I thought this blog would be the ideal place to chat with you about it.
My honest answer is “It depends.”
It’s true.
There’s times when writing your blog introduction flows.
It’s as though it writes itself.
And times it doesn’t.
It can feel a real struggle to get it written.
Sometimes I write my introduction first because this helps me to keep me on topic and stops me going off track.
Sometimes I have no idea how to start so I’ll write my blog first and my introduction last.
But what I always do is I step away from my blog for a few hours after I’ve written it.
I come back to it with fresh(er) eyes and sometimes the introduction gets the green light, gets scrapped completely, gets a few tweaks or survives.
Find what works for you and your reader.
But the key is to write an introduction to encourage your reader into your world.
See it as the start of a lovely conversation with them.
Which of the three ideas will you use for writing your blog introductions?
Want to write more effective blogs?
Check these blogs out:
Unexpected benefits of writing a weekly blog to promote your small business
How to create awesome blogs that turns your website into a lead generating machine
Why is it important you write your business plan before writing blogs?
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