According to research, approximately 17 posts are published every second on WordPress sites around the world. However, it takes around 2 – 4 hours to write and publish a single WordPress post. This implies that around 1,22,400 posts are published at the same time that you take to complete a 2-hour post. This also means that even if you write as well as William Shakespeare, it’s of no use if your writings are not noticed by anyone.
So, what makes your post readable?
How can you stand out from a never-ending crowd?
Can you enhance the same content you already have?
WordPress Formatting Tips
1. Write In Short And Crisp Paragraphs
The best way to make any lengthy post readable is by dividing it into short and crisp paragraphs. These small paragraphs can range from 4-5 lines. Writing in short paragraphs helps you to ensure that a good amount of white space is left on your blog. White space is the unmarked space in the design between any two elements like paragraphs. It makes your post readable.
The relevance of white space in a post can be compared best with that of silence in music. Without silence, music is unstructured much like noise. Moreover, without white space, your content looks unstructured and weak.
Creating white space is considerably easier than creating music though. You have to take the cursor to the point where you want to add an extra paragraph and press Enter. And that’s all. So, now you decide on your own if you want to create music or noise.
2. Use as many Short Sentences as possible
Short paragraphs equipped with short sentences are the best recipe for an engaged reader. Short sentences make your content free-flowing and conversational. These can also be used to create punches and state important information in the blog.
Also, for informational and technical blogs, this is the best practice to follow as readers of these blogs look for the information they are looking for instantly in the blog. If they cannot find that particular thing, chances are less that they will read your complete blog. Hence, keep your sentences short and to the point if you want increased readability.
3. Create Multiple Well Defined Subheadings Using the Correct Heading Hierarchy
Subheadings are an important usability and accessibility hack that help readers understand the outline and find the desired information in your blog. Every post can be easily divided into subheadings that are catchy and informative. Subheadings not only help viewers skim through the information quickly but also help confused readers to gain back reading momentum if they lose focus. Subheadings must be written either in Title Case or Uppercase for best impact.
Creating a subheading in a WordPress blog is easy. Type the subheading where you want it in the blog. Then, select the subheading and click on the ‘Paragraph’ dropdown. Then select any of the options from ‘Header 1’, ‘Header 2’, or ’Header 3’ and others according to the need.
Not only in formatting, creating subheadings can also play a crucial role in shaping the structure and content of your post. Using the correct heading hierarchy helps Google to estimate that the post is relevant and well-structured for the reader. Hence, headings must be nested perfectly.
For nesting headings, keep these 3 points in mind.
- H1 Heading is best for the title of the blog.
- H2 Heading is best for Primary Subheadings of the blog.
- H3 Heading is best for Secondary Subheadings or subsections of the Primary Headings of the blog.
4. Boost Your Post Readability and SEO With Bolding, Italics, and Underline
Excessive use of headings may lead to bad SEO results. According to SEO, two following heading tags must be used after more than 100 words. Hence, if you’re planning a blog with many headings, you can use bold tags instead of headings. Italics and Underline can also be used to highlight the main points. These three are considered to be some of the best and easiest SEO techniques for keyword optimization. Make sure that those are LSI or the main keywords to get optimum results.
Apart from this, these formatting features also are a great method to attract any reader’s attention. To make any text bold, italics, or underline in WordPress, select the text that you want to highlight and Click on ‘B’ (Bold), ‘I’ (Italics), or ‘U’ (Underline) in the WordPress editor.
Remember, do not overuse any of these features as it becomes hard to read and loses its uniqueness that way. Some WordPress blogs related to children or music use colored text too. You may do this as you like depending on the context. However, for professional websites, we would not recommend you to do so.
5. List It Out With Well Sorted Bullet And Numbered Lists
Bullet and Numbered Lists play a significant role in improving the readability of a post. Lists attract readers as they help in organizing the key ideas in the post. These create the right impact on the reader as your content is presented in crisp words instead of longer sentences. There are organized (numbered) and unorganized (bullet) lists. You can use them relevantly according to your need.
For creating a list in WordPress, divide your text as a list into different lines by pressing the enter key. Then, select this text and click on the ‘bullets’ or ‘numbers’ list button. Your list will be created.
6. Employ BlockQuote or Called Out Text Wisely
The BlockQuotes or Called Out feature in the WordPress editor is a great way to highlight the primary objective of your post. Easy to use, these work best when used once or twice in a blog. To use BlockQuote, select the text you want to highlight and click on the “blockQuote” button as shown in the picture.
An excellent way to highlight the primary objective of your post, these can become distracting if they are used a lot of times. Hence, use them smartly.
Also Read: WordPress SEO Tips to Increase Search Engine Rankings
7. Arrange Your Content with Indent and Text Alignment
The correct Text Alignment and Indent setting let you present your text in a sorted way. This makes your post more readable and maintains a balance with the images. Creating a connection with the reader is an essential aspect of blogging. This is the best way to create visual connections among related elements of your blog.
The three primary types of horizontal text alignment are left alignment, right align,ment and center alignment. To use these, you can select the text you want to align in the WordPress editor. Then, click on any of the four alignment buttons according to your requirements as shown.
- The left alignment makes the selected text begin along the left margin of the blog.
- Right alignment makes the selected text begin along the right margin of the blog.
- Centre alignment makes the selected text begin along the center of the blog.
Indent Setting is used to separate a paragraph from the left or right margin. It is best to start a paragraph under another paragraph. It makes your content flow in the right direction and helps deliver a better reading experience to your readers. To use it, you can select the text you want to indent in the WordPress editor. Then, click on either the increase or decrease indent buttons according to your requirements as shown.
If you click on the increase indent button, it will add spacing to the left of the paragraph.
If you click on the decrease indent button, it will remove spacing from the left of the paragraph. You need to click on the indent button according to the space you want. Press it multiple times to increase and decrease the spacing accordingly.
Also Read: Make Your Pages And Blog Posts More Effective with Optimization
Final Thoughts On WordPress Formatting Tips
Till now, you must have understood all the WordPress Blog Formatting Tips That Leave An Impact on your reader’s mind. These are easy to understand and easier to implement. Go back to any of your previously finished posts and try these formatting features now. Do a quick edit and tell us if these WordPress formatting tips help you get some comments, tweets, and shares. Hopefully, they do!
Publish your blog today and use these 7 WordPress Formatting Tips That Leave An Impact on every person who comes across your blog. Let the world know your thoughts and opinions and achieve what you always wanted.
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