What Format Has The Highest Retention at Scale (From 1,000+ Read Articles on Medium)
3 styles of formatting that make the reader stay
Articles that have thousands of reads and likes are screaming something that we’re missing when writing.
Most people do not like to write about news or what is trending.
This is a problem if you are looking to earn money and get more reach.
Topics like this are often seen as short-lived or have a tendency to FOMO.
While that could be true, you can’t afford not to learn the hidden message that helps them retain the reader’s attention.
Don’t worry, there’s more than one way to do that, and I will show you how, and they all work to a certain degree.
1 — The sandwich style (image text image)
When we talk about formatting, it actually has more to do with structuring.
Writing an article is no more than putting up an idea and telling a story that relates to it.
Writers add their style between the images for a better understanding of the main idea of each mini part or point.
This is a very effective way to retain readership that doesn’t leave during the middle of the article because it feels refreshing each time the reader gets to scroll by a new image.
It feels new, and this helps fight the reader who gets distracted easily.
2 — The standard one image and all text-based
This is basic enough that I don’t need to give any examples.
You can find it in every 2 articles (or 50%) you read online.
There are a few common styles within this form:
There are basic texts with minimal formatting. (suite for longer storytelling)
The one in the middle that adds a couple of subtitles between paragraphs. (good for an idea with basic steps or a few key lessons)
Full stack format with points, numbers, and examples. (This works well for an article with multiple steps and mini-courses within it)
Within styles, we sometimes see writers overuse formatting that makes it hard to read or understand what was the main idea of each section.
3 — The researcher (including images and charts)
This is an unpredictable style that combines both 1 (sandwich) and 2 (standard), but intentionally uses the full stack formatting to a degree that still remains readable.
It can look like this
The purpose of this style
To show you that the reader reads an article with formats
They expect an easy read while enjoying the deep thoughts you have
Having a strong visual aspect, as many people learn through images
It’s your job to make it interesting while not just formatting to the point that you can’t even read it with flow.
The worst thing to do is to overdo anything.
It wastes a lot of time for little return, and the longer-term effect is that the reader stops coming back because they don’t see value in your writing, just because it was hard to read.
You need to practice one of them every time you write and edit.
Thanks for Reading
This story was originally published on [Medium] and is cross-posted here for a wider audience.
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