Use Headline Hierarchy to Engage Readers
Avoid Monotonous Walls of Text Like the Plague
Making a Blog Post More Readable
While blogs and articles are still a thing, more and more readers want a quick experience. Facing a wall of text with no visual relief is likely to cause would-be readers to bounce. Why? They are probably searching via Google for specific information or might be drawn in through a social media post for a reason. They click through and see endless reams of sentences, don’t know where to start, and hit the back button. Even paragraph breaks don’t help when all text is the same size and style.
To be fair, walls of unbroken text have never been appealing, which is why the hierarchy of information has been part of typography in graphic design since its dawn.
Typographic hierarchy shows the reader which information to focus on—which is most important and which is simply supporting the main points.
In a blog post or article, this device helps readers know what to read first, see what's coming, and decide whether to read the details. They are more likely to continue.
I apply this skill and knowledge to my writing.
How to Apply Hierarchy of Information Principles
Think of it as a system of headline (H1 is usually the main title), subhead (H2), and even sub-subhead (H3) typestyles that you can use to break up sections of text, like the ones I have used above. These should be available in basic editing tools in your blog platform, so you can apply H2, for example, to the text you mean to be subheads, and they will take on the assigned style. It changes whole paragraphs, much like in Word. If you don’t see them in the styles drop-down, ask your web developer to create them for you so they look consistent among posts and the rest of your site, and so it’s easy to do (manually changing the font, weight and size each time is painful).
What Do I Apply What To? Why?
Landing on a blog with text broken into obvious sections with subheads, bullet points, and space between paragraphs is more visually pleasing and mentally easier to tackle than a wall of text.
Subheads. This One Is An H3
Practically, subheads allow the reader to scan the information, and decide if they are in the right place and if they want to keep reading, or to find specific information. Look for opportunities to add them when you're introducing an idea, making a new point or talking about the next step. They would be just a few words and related to the following content. Aim for two or three paragraphs max under a single subhead. H3 is handy if you must further break thouhgts down within a main section, like I have here, within “What Do I Apply What To, Why?”
Work Devices Into the Body
Use bold and italics within the body copy to make certain words and phrases stand out or to add emphasis. If you are making a list, whether as bullets or several short paragraphs, consider bolding the first word or a phrase to add visual interest and visually separate them. You can also use quotes pulled form your text or somewhere else (with credit due).
A Sight For Sore Eyes
When readers see bullet points, they literally think with relief, “Man, I’m gonna blow through that quickly.” How bullet points are great:
As a series of items, as opposed to in a sentence with commas.
To share more ideas, in brief, without crafting entire paragraphs.
As numbers instead of bullets to indicate a specific order or countdown.
Inspiration for a series - each one has the potential for a dedicated post.
How to Generate Subheads
Once you get familiar with using a visual hierarchy of information, generating and applying them will become easier and more natural.
Depends on Writing Style
There are different styles of writing blog posts, which may drive how you use them.
Five paragraph essay style: subheads relate to your three supporting points, plus one for the conclusion.
Top Ten list: may not have many or any subheads, but would definitely use bullets or numbers to make the list, with some bolding added.
Storytelling: where you insert subheads may be more organic.
Before or After?
You can use subheads to outline and plan your post or freestyle it and add them later. I often do a bit of both: if I use my outline as subheads, once I have fleshed out the body, I go back and make them work better, more artfully. For example, the final section in my outline originally said ‘conclusion.’ As you will see, I rewrote it.
It’s an Art in Practice
Using the hierarchy of information design to improve readability in your blog posts is really very practical in nature. It uses how the human brain processes information to get more people to read what you have to share by making it easier. You can certainly make subheads practical and pragmatic. But don’t treat them throw-aways by simply duplicating the first words of your paragraph. At the very least, reword the phrase. Even better, take the opportunity to grab attention, elicit an emotional reaction, or further your argument. Craft them with thought and care to draw rushing and scanning readers in.
HOT TIP: Google likes it when we designate subhead styles and bold significant words. It helps search robots pick out what's important. Kind of like humans.