9 ways to get readers to click on your story

This week I attended Ragan’s Corporate Writers and Editors Conference in Chicago. As the company’s social media manager, I was there primarily to manage our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn channels, but I also picked up some fabulous writing tips.

For instance, Michael Sebastian, the managing editor of Ragan.com’s sister site, PR Daily, delivered a presentation packed with tips on enlivening dull copy.

Here are some tweet-size tips from Sebastian’s presentation:

1. Draw your readers in. “Be provocative—perhaps with a question.”

2. Learn to love lists. “Embrace the list, in a headline and in your story.”

They’re easily digestible nuggets and entry points for the eye. And list stories, with good content, of course, always rank highly Google Analytics.

As @EditorThink put it: 5 great reasons to write list headlines… 1) Because 2) Readers 3) Cannot 4) Resist 5) Lists