Articles That Attract Readers Like A Magnet
Our host today is Jay Medina. If you're interested in getting in front of the readers of Site Sketch 101, check out our guest posting invitation here.
For many, writing good quality articles can be a daunting challenge. In fact, many new bloggers and website owners share with me that writing isn’t their strongest quality. Do you feel you have what it takes to write a compelling article?
Well, if you could use some help, there’s good news! You can find yourself writing compelling articles that will have your readers devouring every word you write in just 3 easy steps.
Writing compelling articles will serve two purposes for your blog. One purpose is to provide excellent content that is useful and informative to your human readers. The second purpose is to have your articles be juicy to search engines as well.
The most important thing to remember is that a successful blog will have content that’s written for humans first, and search engines second.
Why? Because good quality content is what will keep readers coming back as well as attract new readers. As readers are your blog’s lifeblood, the search engines will equally gauge your site’s relevance based on the content your readers crave.
What I’ve found that works for me is to break down the writing process into 3 easy steps. Done enough times, these steps become second nature, and in no time at all, you too will be writing compelling articles that will attract readers like a magnet! Here’s how.
Step 1 – Decide on a topic for your article
The topic is a specific concept your article will convey to the reader. Try to narrow the focus of the topic to one specific thought, idea, or piece of information. The more narrow your topic, the tighter your article will be.
An example of a broad topic would be something like how to wash and wax your car. Break up broader topics into single topics for your articles, and now you have more articles to write about! By doing it this way, you’ll now have one article on how to wash your car, and another on how to wax your car.
Step 2 – Craft your killer headline
A well-worded headline will draw your readers in an instant to your article. The headline is by far the most powerful part of your article. I use it as a starting point for all my articles, after I’ve decided on my topic. That’s because headlines that work well will spark interest in your reader to find out more by way of reading your entire article.
Stay away from headlines are that over the top sensationalistic, but by all means, do use power words that will grab the reader’s attention and invite them to read your article. That’s because a reader isn’t really a reader until they actually click on your article to read it.
There can be an entire series of articles just on how to craft powerful headlines, however, suffice it to say, a powerful headline worded in the right way is a great way to get your compelling article started. Take a look right here at SiteSketch101 and see how these headlines work. Do you find them compelling? Based on the volume of readers this site enjoys, I’d have to say they work extremely well.
Step 3 – Write From The Heart, And Stop Being So Formal
More times than I care to count, new bloggers and website owners somehow change from being a normal human being to some sort of copywriting cyborg. When it comes to writing articles, I’ve seen tone and demeanor change faster than Taylor Swift at an awards ceremony.
The idea here is to not change who you are for the sake of the written word. In fact, the more you can translate your true personality into your writing, the more genuine you become. And that’s what attracts readers!

When you try to write in a formal tone, and take on a persona of a fancy copywriting mogul, the opposite of the desired effect happens. Your writing is in danger of appearing stuffy and not very inviting, which ultimately ends up in your reader simply clicking away to someone else’s article.
Try writing in a relaxed tone that’s from the heart, and really shows more of who you are. One area you can start with is to use apostrophe’s more than you normally would otherwise. Instead of writing “you are going to love it”, try typing “you’re going to love it!”
Let your excitement shine through, and write as if you’re typing an e-mail to a friend. If you can make friends of your readers, you have the ability to connect with them that much easier!
Better yet, write your article as if you were actually talking to a friend about your chosen topic. Be conversational, be natural, and most of all, be yourself!
With these 3 easy steps and a little bit of practice, you’ll be writing articles that your readers will find juicy and extremely compelling. Now let’s go write some articles!

Ron Boracay said:
Jay, nice piece, I just started out my own blog and dunno if I should write professional or write what my heart and mind tells me to write.
This is timely for me. I also love the concept of “don’t over do your writings”. It will keep your article simple, fun to read and at the same time informative.
Jay Medina said:
Ron Boracay –> Thanks for the comments! I do believe that less is more, and that in itself can bring more impact to your writings. I look forward to reading more of your work, whichever style you choose. I’m also glad you found value in the information presented via the article. Thanks for reading!
ZXT said:
If you gonna ask me you should write with what your heart and mind tells you. Blogging is different from articles you see in news. Now you even said that it is personal blog then you should write from your heart.
Jay Medina said:
ZXT –> I agree that writing could be more effective for the new blogger if it’s relaxed. It presents the writer as more human. In fact, I would suggest that even writing for business would be more relaxed and less formal, as that would help to stand out from the crowd of stuffy and non-genuine business sites that exist.
I’ve seen numerous examples where writing in an informal tone makes the reader feel more at ease. I leave the fancy formal stuff to the big corporations, while I work to connect with those that don’t want large corporations, but want one on one service instead. Ron Boracay and ZXT, thank you for diving deeper into this fascinating exchange of ideas!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ron Boracay –> I think that it’s a great topic. I think that it’s good to clean up an article a little bit by making sure that you’re using proper grammar and that you’re spelling words correctly but at the same time you need to ensure that you are not compromising who you are. People want to read your personality.
Ruchi said:
I agree with all the points Jay , great article. Killer headlines can really attract visitors.
Jay Medina said:
Ruchi –> Thanks Ruchi! I appreciate your feedback, and I agree about headlines. They are so important that they cannot be underestimated.
Huzzer Magazine said:
Those are definitely great tips.
For the first two, I think I have done it for my blog.
However, for the last one, that is the element that my blog lacks off. I found it is pretty hard though. Maybe, it is because I am used to write formal stuff for too many times for my professional accounting program.
So, do you have any tips to overcome this problem?
Cheers!
Jay Medina said:
Huzzer Magazine –> First off, thank you so much for reading the article, and finding value in it. There’s a couple of things that I do to help me get into a more informal frame of mind for my writing. One idea is to speak into a recording device as if you were having a conversation. Not an interview, because that tends to be formal and too structured. Instead, speak your thoughts into the recorder as calm and relaxed as you can be. Just let the thoughts flow. Then transcribe much of that into your article. You’ll find that if you write like you speak, your article will seem more relaxed.
Another way would be to think of yourself in a room full of friends. If you were with friends, what would you say? How would you say it? Even if you’re writing about business, write as if you were in a room speaking to a group of friends. If you can take out the image of yourself “doing business” with your writing, you’ll find that you have the informal tone you’ve been seeking. If you’d like me to have a look at some of the writing you’d like to improve, contact me offline, and I’ll be happy to lend some pointers. You can reach me at my blog, helpfuladvisor.com.
Fran Civile said:
Yes Ron I agree with all your points and
one way I know for sure where to put the apostophe is to read the phrase
outloud… like ‘you’re so right’
On the other hand should I want to say ‘you are so right’ it would
be with emphasis on the ‘you are’ and making me want to bold those two words… or with emphasis on the ‘so’ making me want to capitalize the ‘so’
Rereading the above it occurs to me
that I may WANT to say…
Oh boy what do you think of paragraphs filled with words that are either taller or thicker? lol
Jay Medina said:
Fran Civile –> Thanks so much for giving this a try. Whatever way works best for you, I say do it.
The point is to be genuine and have your words come from your heart, which will make it sincere. By doing what you suggest, you are still going a long way toward connecting with your readers, and I think that’s great! Keep up the great work.
Luisa Mercado said:
Yes, Nick, you are right!
Good title and good content do make a better article.
We are just trying…
MikenLuisa
Luisa Mercado said:
Oh. it’s Jay Medina. Thank you very much for your help.
MikenLuisa
Jay Medina said:
Luisa Mercado –> No worries, it is after all, Nick’s blog. So, thanking him is no problem, as without him and this blog, many of us would still be wandering around looking for a great community to belong to.
Thank you for reading the article, I truly hope you found value in it.
Bruce Teague said:
Oh how I struggle with number 2. I’ve read several articles on creating headlines, but it’s just something I struggle with.
Whenever I write anywhere but from the heart, my articles always stink. They may still stink when I write from the heart as well though
However they’re less painful to write at least.
Jay Medina said:
Bruce Teague –> Bruce, it takes practice and lots of patience. However, sooner than you think, the lightbulb will go off, and suddenly you’ll just “get it”. Many print magazines and newspapers hire people that only write headlines. That’s how much of an art form it is considered to be. I have an e-book about writing headlines that really helped me out. Hit me up at my blog and I’ll send you my copy.
Dawn Farias said:
Great advice, thanks!
Angie (Losing It and Loving It) said:
Great tips! I especially like step 3 but have a hard time with step 2, creating killer headlines. Gotta keep working at it!
Gabe | freebloghelp.com said:
Perfect three step approach. Writing from the heart is a great one since I see too many people treat their blogs with too much formality, almost inhuman. You’re not writing a text book, people!
As a general rule, I try to keep my posts as informal as I would an email. I try not to straddle the super-informal line though so you won’t see things like OMGZ! on my site. Also, this doesn’t mean I skip the basic punctuation or caps rules.
Anyway, I’d like to think I’m doing a good job of not being a stiff. So far, no one has told me that yet so I guess that’s good.
Jay Medina said:
Gabe | freebloghelp.com –> I completely agree! You touched on a great point. Being informal doesn’t mean the rules of proper grammar go out the window. I’ve seem some sites that use a ton of texting-type abbreviations and I get worn out trying to decipher it all. At that point, I just give up and go to another article on another site.
Good spelling, proper grammar, and as few abbreviations as possible really do your readers a favor by making your article easy on their eyes and really allow your content to flow.
Thanks for pointing that out, Gabe!
akira07 said:
Nice tips, jay
Maybe it’s because i’m too formal, so my reader is boring to read an article on my blog. Need to learn how to make a bit jokes then…
Jay Medina said:
akira07 –> My writing background started in high school where I would write creative stories for my advanced literature classes. When I got out of school, I used to write lengthy computer network assessments that were put into big thick binders. Each assessment contained tons of information, diagrams, and narrative to my findings on our clients’ networks that I was assessing.
Needless to say, my writing for the web needed serious help as all the rules for business writing simply do not pertain to writing for blogs and websites. However, Akira, if you feel your writing is too formal, have fun with it while you tone down your formality. Remember though, be yourself, and try not to force too much to be something you’re not.
But, for as relaxed as you come across on your comments here, be equally relaxed with your writing. I know you can do it!
Rob said:
Great article!I agree that a good headline is killer to attracting visitors along with killer content.
Keep up the great work and posts! I look forward to reading more.
Jay Medina said:
Rob –> Thanks so much for the positive feedback. I’m grateful to Nick for allowing me the honor of a guest post for this awesome blog.
Andrew said:
Great post Jay. I’m happy to have spent some time with you covering this concept already, but this post will become a reference point for me as time goes on and I (as we tend to do) forget the little things.
Reza Winandar said:
A good title and a good first paragraph will be the secret weapon for your blog. That’s already happened on my blog.