“The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn’t induce him to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead. Of such a progression of sentences, each tugging the reader forward until … safely hooked, a writer constructs that fateful unit: the lead.”
— William Zinsser, On Writing Well
With respect, I must disagree with Mr. Zinsser. We all know the most important part of any article is the title. Without a compelling title, your reader won’t even get to the first sentence. After the title, however, the first few sentences of your article are certainly the most important part.
Journalists call this critical, introductory section the “lede,” and when properly executed, it’s the bridge that carries your reader from an attention-grabbing headline to the body of your blog post. If you want to get it right, try one of these 10 clever ways to open your next blog post with a bang.
1. Be Short and Direct
Minimalists rejoice. Less is more in some cases. This method seems to be especially useful for list posts with a compelling and descriptive title.
Example From: 7 Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared On Facebook by Dan Zarella
“Want to maximize sharing of your content on Facebook? Here are seven tips that are sure to help.”
2. The Quirky/Funny Opening Sentence or Paragraph
A little personality goes a long way, especially on a business blog. So don’t be afraid to let loose now and again. When done tastefully (and sometimes not so tastefully), it’s bound to make people take notice.
Example From: Who The Hell Are YOU? by Naomi Dunford
“It will please some of you to know that I almost titled this article ‘What’s My Name, Bitch?’ it will please the rest of you to know that I realized not everyone spends as much time watching hardcore porn as I do and begrudgingly decided against it.”
3. Ask a Thought-Provoking Question
When someone asks you a question, you almost can’t help but think of an answer. Your reader will do the same thing, and you’ll immediately engage them in a conversation. Be careful though. Avoid any questions that can be answered with “no” or “who cares.” In other words, always make your question relevant to your reader’s needs.
Example From: How to Make People Love You When You’re Not Around – Be A VIP! by David Wright
“What do people say about you when you’re not around?”
4. Ask a Multiple Choice Question
A variation on the question technique above, the multiple-choice question is another great way to engage your reader. I don’t know about you, but I love multiple-choice questions. It’s like responding to a poll. As above, make your question relevant to your reader and the article itself.
Example From: How to Change Your Mindset for Growth by Ali Luke
“Pop quiz. Which of these do you agree with?
- Intelligence is fixed at birth.
- Some people are creative, others aren’t.
- You can become a world-class expert through enough practice, whatever your starting point.
- You can change your personality.
“If you agreed with the first two statements, you’re coming from a fixed mindset. If you agreed with the second two, you’ve got a growth mindset.”
5. Share a Shocking Fact or Statistic
If you’ve ever read the cover of a supermarket tabloid like the National Enquirer, or the New York Post, you know how powerful this approach can be. Sensationalism sells, especially when it’s true.
Example From: ‘Infomania’ worse than mairjuana
“Workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers, new research has claimed.”
6. Share Something Personal
This is a great way to establish a deeper connection with your readers. Assuming that’s your thing. Use with caution, however. This is not something that should be used as a “tactic,” but rather as a true expression of your own personality and desire for transparency. Also, if you have a history of writing posts that are all business, you may want to ease into a post that delves into personal stuff.
Example From: How Cancer Changed My Blog by Karl Staib
“I was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. Yes, the dreaded c word. It’s probably not what you are thinking. I don’t look at this health issue as an anchor. I look at this as an opportunity for growth.”
7. Withhold a Compelling Piece of Information
Sometimes known as “the tease,” this approach is a little sneaky, but especially powerful. The trick is to withhold a key piece of information till later in the piece so the reader is compelled to keep reading.
Example From: How to Pull Readers Into Your Content Instantly by Derek Halpern
“How’d you like to learn how to pull your audience into your content by taking advantage of an innate human behavior?
“What if I said that every TV network, movie, blog, book, and other forms of media use this same tactic?
“Better yet, what if I showed you how to leverage this tactic to attract more subscribers and earn more sales?”
8. Debunk Conventional Wisdom
This is one of my personal favorites. The blogosphere is often criticized as being one big “echo-chamber.” That may or may not be true, but the bottom line is, any time you write something that goes against the status quo, it’s bound to get some attention. Just be sure the rest of your article can back it up.
Example From: 11 Smart Tips for Brilliant Writing by Dean Rieck
“Do you sound smarter when you use big words?”
“According to a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, the answer is no.”
9. Lead With a Success Story
What’s more compelling and inspiring than reading about someone else’s path to success? This is a tried and true approach to hooking your reader. It’s also great for linkbait (but that’s another article). The cool thing about this is the success story doesn’t even have to be your own.
Example From: 10 Simple Tips To Get 250,000 Page Views Per Month by Niall Harbison
“When we started our business 16 months ago we decided to use a blog as the central marketing tool for our business. We did it because we didn’t really have any money for advertising and we never really believed that attending networking events would work for us. We placed the blog at the center of our website and only had one commodity on our hands to make it a success….time.
“It’s been a long journey but 16 months later we now get 250,000 pageviews to our site per month, in the last year we have brought in over $500,000 in business as a direct result of the blog and the business operates in 2 countries and our content has been picked up all over the world.”
10. Start With a Reader’s Question
Reader questions are great. Mainly because you can usually be sure other people share the same question. Also, it’s so much easier to address a specific question rather than have to pull content out of your own head.
Example From: How to Create More Content for Your Blog and Kill 2 Birds With 1 Stone by Darren Rowse
“Darren, do you have any tips for creating more content for my blog? I have grown my blog to become reasonably successful but as it grows find myself with more and more requests and questions from readers that take me away from writing content. What should I do?”—William
“Hi William and thanks for the question. I do have one tip that comes to mind that I hope you find useful. It certainly helped me keep my inbox load light and create more content!”
11. Unadvertised Bonus Opening: Share a Quote
As a post opener, quotes are one of the best. When done well, they not only add credibility to your work, but they also form a solid foundation upon which you can build the rest of the article. For an example, just go back to the top of this post.
The next time you’re stuck on how to open a blog post, roll out one of these eleven beauties, and you’ll be well on your way to clicking the publish button.
Great post Michael. It’s informative as it can be without running long. I usually repost my blog posts in different platforms/sites and in this case, using an opening that differ from other instances could be fruitful.
Do you have any other tips specific for a technical blog post apart from these?
Thanks!
very informative post. we do love blogging. sometimes we are ruining out proper guide and this content certainly can help us a lot. Thanks
Such a treat to have you on Blog Post With a Bang, Michael! Loved this post — and it’s a great illustration that there’s no such thing as one single Blog post. This definitely gives me some ideas and will use it as a template for some of my future posts.
great post
Hey Michael, well written. Thank you for sharing this. It helps me really much how to create my content better.
Great post! Thank you for the solid ideas. I agree that the first sentence is the most important. It’s a challenge when there is so much good stuff that you want to say, but if you don’t snag them on that first cast, they won’t ever get to the ‘good stuff’!
Excellent tips! I’m currently working on my very first blog post for my new online store and can see these being very helpful as I write/type my first draft.
Its indeed a wonderful blog.It will really help the blogger to create a good connection to reader.
Good job!!1
In starting a new blog in conjunction with a retail website, what is the best lead in for the first post?
Cool post! thanks for sharing!
Great post! Thank you for the solid ideas. I agree that the first sentence is the most important. It’s a challenge when there is so much good stuff that you want to say, but if you don’t snag them on that first cast, they won’t ever get to the ‘good stuff’!
nice tips 🙂 i like point # 4 multiple choices , i found that user interact more with post when they are presented with multiple choices , over all great article.
point no 2 is very interesting, using the title of an interesting article / funny can indeed make the curiosity of the reader
Wow. Wonderful points. I’m going to incorporate these in my first post very soon. Thanks a lot Michael!
Great ideas! I’m incorporating them in my new blog I’m creating. Thanks for writing and shining a light on the “path.”
Hi, Michael.
Well written, and some great points. But I have to disagree with both you and William Zinsser. The most important part of an article is the call to action. But certainly, the title is first of a series of important steps to guide the reader there.
It looks that I’ve just used point number 8!
I really like that idea of withholding a compelling piece of information. When used in the correct way, it is a great way to hold a reader’s attention.
Thanks for sharing. Tweeting soon to my followers.
Nathan.
Thanks for the input and kind words Nathan.
If your title and lead are not compelling enough for the reader to continue reading, they will never see your call to action.
This is not really a matter of opinion as much as it’s Marketing 101: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDA_(marketing).
Its a great article for new blog commentator. I will follow this article for next comments in any blog. I think it will help me a lot. Thanks a lot Michael D. Pollock .
These are amazing ideas. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure 🙂
Indeed very useful, i usually use some of your list in my blog posts, and it is really effective. Good job writing them in this blog post.
Its indeed a wonderful blog.It will really help the blogger to create a good connection to reader.
Good job!!1
Wow Michael, these are very insightful ideas. Been thinking about doing a lot more blogging recently, but have often been stumped on how to begin.
Great beginnings are important for grabbing your readers’ attention and getting them hooked. I see you used idea no 8 in this post (debunking conventional wisdom). Good job.
This blog post has provided a few ideas I can start with. I particularly like ideas 2, 3, 4, and 5, and will be utilizing them henceforth. Thanks Michael.
Really outstanding explaination.
I will definitely try this tips on my blog.
Thank you so Much.
Thanks Dipak 🙂
Great article. I’m a new to blogging and have been struggling somewhat with the structure of my posts so I found this very helpful indeed. Thank you!
My pleasure Louis. Thanks for the kind words.
You’re a really good writer, and these are all ultra excellent ideas! Poor Miklos. 🙁
Big, big smile … thanks so much Suzanne.
I suppose this has been tested with thousands of users and you have extensive metrics to support all of the above?
Why would you suppose that?
Well, you keep talking about “people” and “readers” will do this and do that and how they will respond to all the little things you outline. What are you basing these opinions on (bc they’re nothing more than opinions if you have no data to back up your claims).
Of course the article is based on my opinion. I stated nothing that would indicate otherwise. My opinion is based on my experience of reading and writing blog posts for more than 15 years.
The thousands of people who read this article each month don’t seem to care that it’s based on my opinion. They’re just looking for help on how to start a blog post. Based on your comments, it seems like you do care, in which case, I assume you will not use any of my suggestions if you ever decide to write your own blog post. And I’m okay with that.
Here’s another opinion Miklos. Rather than post snarky comments on blog posts that don’t conform to your standards, you’d do more good in the world by writing something of your own that helps people solve their problems. Again, just my opinion.
Hi, Michael! Thank you for a good post. It`s very interesting and I like it.
My pleasure Joanna. Thanks for the kind words.
thank you for this article. That’s very helpful for my degree.
Hi Michael:
I’m reading your information on how to start blogging! You are great at explaining what it is all about and how to get started. This is great and useful for me. I thank you for getting me started and creativity is beginning to flow. I haven’t created my site yet but as soon as I’m done reading I shall get my feet wet! Thanks again! I’m so grateful to have this at my fingertips!
My pleasure Carla. Thanks for the kind words.
Really really great hence useful tips that anyone can use on their blog.
I really thank from bottom of my heart that you help me..actually I write on health & Spirituality. I have everything Eg:- content,good title,etc but I don’t know how to write proper way that engage readers.
So from today’s onwards I will definitely use this tips.
Hey Michael!
I was stuck with my article and feeling like i am standing in a dead end! But thanks to you at last i got many ideas about starting a new one with a simple but eye catching heading. It was really helpful and i subscribed for having more articles like this one.
Thank you again 🙂
I also think a well-crafted analogy can be a great way to start a blog with a bang.
I’ve utilised the vast majority of these thoughts rather productively, in particular scary studies. When i likewise imagine some sort of well-crafted analogy is usually a sensible way to commence a blog site that has a bang.
Great piece of advice to improve my writing skills in my blog.
Thanks
Hi Micheal, thanks for a really good article. I have just recently got into blogging and have been having abit of trouble with it to be honest. Your article explains alot and has given me some great points on how to make it work. Thanks again
My pleasure. Thanks for the kind words.
thanks, I would want you to be guiding me on hint about blog till am strong to do it myself and have my own blog.thanks
My pleasure.
As i am trying to post my first blog, i am quite conscious about many things as my first attempt…thanks for ur information
I’ve used most of those ideas quite successfully, especially shocking statistics. I also think a well-crafted analogy can be a great way to start a blog with a bang.
This makes sense… Thanks a lot..
God bless
really this will help me a lot.
This inspired me. Thank you.
My pleasure Toni 🙂
Indeed very useful, i usually use some of your list in my blog posts, and it is really effective. Good job writing them in this blog post.
Thanks Paul 🙂