15 Second Rule: Getting (and retaining) Someone’s Attention Online
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As anyone who works in the realm of the internet knows, it’s hard to keep the reader’s attention online. There are at least 5,000 ads, blogs, and websites competing to catch your eye each day!
Luckily, SOS Media Corp is comin’ in hot with a few tips and tricks that will keep your reader interested.
15 Second Rule
When it comes to an online audience, you have to hit ‘em with the essential information ASAP so that their attention isn’t diverted. This is where the 15-second rule comes in.
Okay, so this is a pretty loose “rule”. You have 15 seconds or less to drive home a central idea and make an impact.
But…how do you capture their attention, exactly? Simple. Kickstart the article with essential information or with something witty and entertaining.
How many times have you clicked on an article or a blog, and the first few sentences bore you so much that you click out of it? Probably more times than you can remember.
Get people interested as soon as possible, and chances are they will keep reading or watching.
Posting at the Right Times
If your audience isn’t online when you post, they may not see your content until later…if they even see it at all. It’s essential to post content at the most opportune times.
- To help with this, there are a LOT of articles online that outline the best times to post for each platform, and even for particular audiences.
- Some social media platforms offer an overview of your audience, such as Facebook Insights for business pages. This way, you can figure out who to target and when to reach them.
Capturing Attention
People won’t pay attention if they don’t care or if they aren’t intrigued. To capture your reader’s attention, try these tried-and-true tactics:
- Include videos or images. When people can visualize something, there is immediately a higher chance that they will stop, look, and even click on the content.
- Make it emotional. This doesn’t mean you have to make a super-sad video or to get people riled up. But taking an audience on an emotional ‘journey’ of some kind (even if it’s quick) can help to get their attention.
- Surprise! Hold up…. don’t take this as an opportunity to scare people or shock them too much…that would most likely backfire. We never want to scare people before they’ve had the chance to interact with your content. Instead, try subtle surprise (or even mystery) elements to generate immediate interest.
- Don’t rely on just clickbait alone. Getting someone to click on something is a good start, but your content should be great once they get to where the link leads them (an interesting blog, a cool webpage, etc.). Keep it consistent, and your audience will grow!
Be clever, but don’t confuse people. Using wit, humour, and clever content is great, but don’t make it difficult to understand. If someone can’t figure out what you’re saying or showing them, they might not click or continue looking into the content.
These tactics will help people notice your content, but keeping their interest is also important. Stick to the 15-second rule, continuously publish quality content at ideal times (targeted towards the right audience) and you are much more likely to have success at holding someone’s focus.
Pageviews and clicks are good, but retaining attention is even better.
Stay digital,
SOS Media Corp