Print readers could settle into a long page. Online readers are often on a phone, between other tasks, deciding in seconds whether to stay. Structure is how you keep them. The goal is not to write less but to make what you write easy to enter and easy to follow.
One idea per paragraph
A paragraph should make a single point. When a new idea begins, start a new paragraph. This gives readers a clear sense of progress and makes it easier to find their place after an interruption.
Vary the length
Short paragraphs are useful for emphasis and pace, but a long run of one-sentence paragraphs reads as choppy. Mix lengths. Use three or four sentences for explanation, and one short sentence when you want something to land.
Put the point first
Start paragraphs with the main idea, then support it. Readers who skim can follow the argument by reading the first sentence of each paragraph, and readers who want detail will continue.
Use subheadings as signposts
Subheadings break up the page and tell the reader what is coming. Make them informative. “Why most outlines fail” says more than “The problem.” In a long piece, a heading every few paragraphs is usually about right.
Use lists for parallel items
When you have several items of the same kind, steps in a process or options to compare, a list is easier to scan than a sentence. Keep each item short and begin them in the same way. Avoid turning everything into a list, though; ideas that depend on each other belong in prose.
Use bold sparingly
Bold text is a signal. If every other phrase is bold, nothing stands out. Reserve it for the few terms or warnings the reader must not miss.
Think about the narrow screen
On a phone, a paragraph that looks like four lines on a desktop may fill the whole screen. Preview your post on a small device before publishing, and shorten any paragraph that feels like a wall.
Leave white space
Space around text gives the eye a place to rest. Good line spacing, a comfortable line length and generous margins make long reading easier. If your theme packs text tightly, consider whether a change would help your readers.
Make links and images useful
Use descriptive link text, and put images where they help the reader understand, not simply to fill space. Add alt text so the content works for readers who use screen readers.
Test it
Read the piece as if you were a stranger who found it from a search. Can you tell within a few seconds what it is about and whether it is for you? Can you find the part you need? If not, adjust the headings and the opening.
The principle
Structure is part of the writing. A clear idea, presented in a form that suits the screen, is read more often and remembered longer than the same idea buried in a block of text.
