A good introduction is one of THE most important parts of your blog posts!

Writing the perfect introduction to your blog posts is vitally important! Having a great introduction can literally be the difference between your article being read or not. Whenever I (or anyone else for that matter) am reading through a post that I have clicked on, you can judge how good the article is going to be based on the intro. If it’s boring or hard to read because of poor spelling & grammar, then in all likelihood, the article is not going to get any better. Already that post would have lost my attention and I’d navigate to another website.

You have to remember that people online are bombarded constantly with things vying for their attention, whether it be advertising, sales promotions, YouTube videos, social media, etc. You, as a writer, need to realize that all of your readers are just one click away from navigating away from your site, so you need to grab their attention straight away with your blog introductions!

Your post introductions lead to the rest of the content. If people don’t enjoy your intro, they probably won’t read the whole post, no matter how great it is.

I’ve written my fair share of blog posts during my blogging career, and by far the hardest part is writing both the headline & introduction. This post is all about blog post introductions, so to read more about writing headlines, check out our ‘How To Write Great Headlines‘ post.

6 Ways To Write Great Introductions

1. Start With A Statement

A bold statement is also a great way to start your blog posts (just like the one we used!). It should make people want to read your article and know the reason behind using the statement.

For example, ‘Get Started Today!‘ or ‘Change Your Life Now!’ can have an impact on your readers.

Statements like these instantly grab the attention of readers. They will be interested to learn how they themselves can ‘Change their life’, and so will continue to read your post.

2. Start With A Question

Another good way to start your post introduction is to ask a question. Your readers will naturally think of an answer and will want to read the post to see how you answered it within your article.

Questions spark curiosity! Your readers won’t be able to stop just at the introduction. They will read your article to the end to find the answer to the question you asked.

Think about what you are writing about. What questions do the information within your post answer? What questions would draw your attention to reading the post that you have written?

As long as you keep your readers in mind, coming up with a relevant intro question should be straight forward.

3. Start With A Fact

People love facts! I love facts, especially ones that can be proven!

People browse the internet to find information, that’s why it is often referred to as the ‘information super highway’. By including a fact at the beginning of your posts, you instantly draw people in.

For example, ‘Over 90% of people lost weight on this diet!’ That is a fact that will draw the attention of people looking to lose weight. They will be interested to learn what the diet is, and whether they themselves could use it. Of course, facts like this will need to be backed up with evidence, but you could write about that within your post.

4. Start With An Inspirational Quote

For anyone that has seen our ‘Inspirational Quotes‘ page, you will know that I like quotes. There have been many great people throughout history that have left some pearls of wisdom in the form of inspirational quotes.

People like these types of quotes because they can inspire them to do great things. In other words, quotes are able to connect with people, and using a quote to start your article puts your reader in the right frame of mind to read your article.

“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”- F. Scott Fitzgerald

The key thing of course, is to pick a quote that relates to what you are writing about. There’s no point in quoting Pavarotti, when talking about weight loss! Remember that you are trying to draw the interest of your readers, so be selective when picking a quote.

5. Start With A Story

People like stories that they can relate to. Using stories within your intro, whether they are personal or fictional, can help to draw in the attention of your readers.

For example, “I’d been thinking about starting my own online business for a while now. That’s when I decided to start my own blog…”

Many other people will be able to relate to this, so they will be more likely to continue reading your post.

6. Be Funny

This depends heavily on your writing style & subject matter, and even then it can be tricky to get right. But if you can, then having a funny intro can really attract readers!

The blogosphere is filled with information, but the vast majority is very serious. Making it a bit light-hearted can make your content stand out from the crowd. Readers want to be entertained AND informed. After all most of us are bombarded with bleak news stories, long hours at work and financial worrying TV shows that seem to suggest that we are all living miserable lives. But it could be worse, you could be Piers Morgan!

Summary

A good intro can make or break your blog post. Learning to write great introductions for your articles is a good skill to develop. You will get better at writing them with time.

Remember that although the intro is very important, it is only one aspect of a full post. You still need to produce quality content for your readers. After all, you can spend all the time in the world coming up with the perfect introduction, but if the rest of the post is rubbish, then you will lose readers.

I hope you found this helpful. Please leave your comments below and check out our other posts about ‘Writing Content‘.