In the past few years, creating content for the web has become more than just writing. Most bloggers and creators now combine text with visuals, media, and interactive elements optimized for mobile and social sharing to keep readers engaged longer.
Writing skills should remain your main focus but sometimes you just need a little extra “something” to get people’s attention. There’s nothing wrong with that, though. The internet is full of content, so you need to set yourself apart somehow.
If you read this post, you’ll learn how to spice things up on your blog and publish more engaging content. Check out the following seven writing tricks to make your content a whole lot more engaging.
What is engaging content, and why do you need it?
Engaging content combines text with other elements that grab attention and make readers want to keep scrolling. It can also involve structuring your content so it looks more approachable and easier to follow.
Have you ever chosen one article over another even though both covered the same topic? Maybe the first one looked more inviting — perhaps because of its design, tone, or the use of visuals. Small details like these can make a big difference.
Studies consistently show that engaging, multimedia-rich content keeps people on the page longer, earns more shares, and converts better, especially on mobile.
The truth is, the amount of available web content is overwhelming. People won’t read your article unless it’s useful and enjoyable to consume. That’s why making your posts more interactive, visual, or simply easier to read can go a long way.
How to create engaging content
What exactly can you do to write engaging content for your followers? We propose seven tactics:
Use visuals
If your post is long-form (over 1,000 words), include visuals regularly to keep readers’ attention. You don’t have to stick to a strict “every 200–300 words” rule. Instead, add visuals wherever they help illustrate a point or make the section easier to digest.
Visuals can include images, GIFs, charts, infographics, videos, embedded social posts, or stylized quotes.
Even short posts benefit from at least one strong visual, especially for sharing on social media.
Present the content with an appealing layout
After your text is ready, don’t just publish it as plain text. Use formatting and structure to make your post easier to read.
You can experiment with layouts. For example, adding section dividers, buttons, highlighted quotes, columns, or callout boxes. Most modern themes or page builders handle this well, so keep it clean and consistent rather than overly decorative.
The goal is to guide the reader’s eye and make scanning effortless, especially on mobile devices.
Break text down into short paragraphs and headings
When they see a long article with huge chunks of text, most people feel discouraged to read further. Some of them would look for another article that presents the information they need in a friendlier and more intuitive way.
When you stumble upon an article that uses headings and short paragraphs, you usually find it more readable and, hence, you’re keener to give it a chance.
Think of it like reading a book: pages with dialogue or shorter sections feel lighter than long descriptions. Funny, but this is how the human brain works. The same applies to web writing.
Speak in a friendly, informal tone
When you write for the web, the reader wants to identify with you so, unless you’re writing for a scientific magazine or the government’s official website, try to address your readers as if you’re addressing a friend.
Impersonal text tends to be tedious and won’t stick around for long when there’s so much content that speaks directly to the reader. When you’re documenting a story (e.g. a traveling experience), adding a personal touch to it will also gain the user’s sympathy.
It goes without saying that specialized terms that nobody understands won’t do. Be plain, friendly, and informative. That doesn’t exclude supporting your claims with links to the original studies, sources, or statistics posts every time you state a fact.
You can also use AI tools to help you rephrase, simplify, or brainstorm ideas. Just make sure the final text still sounds like you.
Add a call to action
Through calls to action (CTA), you’re inviting people to do something you want them to do.
It’s basically copywriting that you can include in your article in order to urge people to share your post, subscribe to your email list, download your eBook, buy a product via your affiliate link, comment on your post, take part in a campaign/challenge, etc.
So feel free to add social sharing buttons, widgets, embeds, and other elements that you want people to notice. Anything that people can react to or interact with counts as engaging content.
Include engaging forms or tools
Interactive elements can make your posts much more memorable. These could be polls, quizzes, surveys, calculators, chatbots, or checklists. Anything that invites the reader to participate.
This trick takes more time on your end because it requires you to create those elements beforehand. So you need to put together some extra work.
Modern tools make adding these features easier than ever, even without coding.
These interactive forms will improve your readers’ experiences with your content and will keep them longer on your blog. Let alone the fact that they might be coming back and turn into constant followers of your content if they enjoy it.
Diversify your content
Even though you might have a content pattern in place or favorite content types, you should think about diversifying your strategy. No matter how great your content is, people get bored easily. They always want something fresh.
So you can try to post all sorts of content types on your blog and see which ones work best for your audience.
Popular blog post types include how-to guides, listicles, checklists, interviews, reviews, and personal stories, expert roundups, and even newer formats like AI-assisted explainers.
Try to mix it up and diversify your editorial schedule with new post types because you can both delight existing readers and bring new ones on board. You can also get valuable statistics from every type of content.
Create more engaging content today
We need to accept that the era we’re living in is all about visual and interactive content. The podcasts, vlogs, and immersive experiences are at their peaks, so written content needs to embrace the changes and keep up with the times.
Creating engaging content is the answer. It can be entertaining for the authors too, not only for the readers. Here’s how to do it, in short:
- Use visuals
- Present the content with an appealing layout
- Break text down into headings and short paragraphs
- Write in a friendly, informal tone
- Add call to action elements
- Include engaging forms and tools
- Diversify your content
Stay flexible. The best creators mix timeless writing skills, readability and formatting practices with new tools and formats as they emerge.
What else do you do to create engaging content for your website? Let us know via the comments section below.
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