Formatting Tricks to Make Your WordPress Posts More Readable
Blogging can be difficult for the new blogger. Platforms such as WordPress make blogging easy for all levels of blogging. But there are some tips the beginners, and even the experts, may not know.
One of the many criticisms bloggers often face is formatting issues. It’s easy to ignore or not know formatting.
But any internet reader can agree — nothing is more annoying than a blog with blocky paragraphs of text and one that doesn’t use bolding, italics, or subheadings. Even complex blogs such as insurance blogs should follow these formatting techniques.
When you use proper formatting techniques, your blogs are more readable. If you want to improve your article writing format, use these WordPress formatting tips to help you out.
Short Paragraphs
The easiest way to improve the readability of your posts is by using shorter paragraphs. Instead of writing in blocky paragraphs, have a maximum of three sentences per paragraph.
The reason why this is effective is white space. White space is the areas where words aren’t present.
Including the white space and breaking up text helps readers skim through your post. Rather than reading through long sentences and huge paragraphs, readers are easily picking out important words and phrases.
This article writing format can be difficult for some. Education has forced up into writing academic papers.
These are formatted in blocky paragraphs with complex vocabulary. Just remember to write casually. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll immediately become used to adding in paragraph breaks.
How do you format shorter paragraphs in WordPress? Simple: the same way you would any document or blogging platform. Select the area where the paragraph break occurs and select ‘Enter’ (PC) or ‘Return’ (Mac).
Subheadings
Insert subheadings throughout your post. This helps the reader know the topic of the following paragraph and highlights important words and meanings.
Maybe your readers are interested in reading your whole blog, but there are readers who only want to read certain details. Therefore, subheadings help them understand what’s valuable information and what isn’t.
Subheadings also work by breaking up the blog. Similar to shorter paragraphs, subheadings create a white space. Not only will their eyes see a large-print word, that word will be accentuated by white space.
A perfect example is reading the West Palm Jet Charter blog about empty legs charter flights.
WordPress has a variety of subheadings to choose from.
WordPress has heading sizes differentiated between numbers 1 and 6, 1 being the largest and 6 being the smallest. You find these headings in the dropbox on the editing panel. The panel usually has ‘paragraph’ featured as the first option.
Bolding Text
Maybe there are other words or phrases that are important for your article writing format. You don’t need to use all of these terms and phrases as subheadings. You can simply bold some of these words.
However, bolding should still be restricted. While your whole blog is valuable, stick to only certain words and phrases. If you bold too many phrases, it can become distracting. Try to not bold more than two sentences in your piece.
Depending on your WordPress theme, colored text may be more effective. Some WordPress themes don’t accentuate bolding. Different colored text still serves the same purpose.
Bolding is very easy in WordPress. Select the ‘B’ button and start typing. You can also type a sentence, highlight it, and then select the ‘B’ button.
Using Bullet Points or Numbered Lists
Lists are a great way to break up your paragraph. You can either list single words or full phrases.
For full phrases, numbered lists are more convenient to read. For short phrases, stick to bullets.
When you write your blog — especially if you write your first draft in a separate document program — write what you’re listing without formatting. It’ll be easier for you to go back and revise.
Using bullets and lists is easy in WordPress. Like what was mentioned earlier, it’s easiest to write what you’re listing without formatting. But you can do whatever is comfortable.
If you’re writing first, select the list when you’re done writing.
WordPress has two buttons: a button that looks like a bulleted list, and a button that looks like a numbered list. Select the corresponding one with the list format you plan on using.
If you’re selecting the list format first, select the corresponding button before writing.
A number 1 will appear, or a single bullet. Start writing. Each time you press the ‘Enter’ (PC) or ‘Return (Mac) button, the next number or another bullet will appear under the one before.
External and Internal Linking
One of the most effective SEO strategies for your article writing format is linking to and from your website.
External links (or link to another website) and internal links (linking to your own website) help to establish legitimacy and Google pick up on this SEO strategy.
When you’re skimming a blog and see a link, you’re automatically drawn to that link.
If the blog mentions a study and the author links to that study, the reader sees you’ve done your research. If the blog states an idea and links to another blog on their website, the reader may stay intrigued and keep reading your blogs.
However, don’t link to any homepage. That diminished SEO value.
Adding a link to your WordPress website is easy. Highlight the word(s) where you’re inserting the hyperlink. Select the hyperlink button (it looks like linking metal pieces).
A pop-up comes up where you’re prompted to enter the URL. When you select ‘add link’ the hyperlink will come up.
You can also enter the URL alone. However, this is a bad SEO practice.
Improve Your Article Writing Format on WordPress
No one is interested in a blog that is difficult to read. If you want to increase your following, start using these blog formatting tips. Your readership will improve and formatting helps organize your writing and ideas.
WordPress makes formatting your blog easy. Your blog will be visually appealing and easy to read.
When you develop a readership that enjoys reading your content, they will continue to come back for more content. Increase those clicks with excellent formatting.
Are you ready to create your website? We can help.
Please check out our Services and our FAQ, as well as this article:
Why does my business need a website in Cambodia?
Article published by Dale Harris