Keeping focus is an important part of life. From a young age, kids are taught to keep focus in school and in sports. In the adult world, focus is needed in work and relationships.

As someone who edits many blog posts, I’ve found that focus is needed in blog posts as well.content focus

Many times when I’m handed an article to read, I get to the end and forget how I got there. The title had nothing to do with the content and the entire second half could have been a complete separate blog post. Although it may make sense to the author, there’s a good chance you could lose a reader – or a potential customer – halfway through.

Keeping one distinct focus in a blog post is important to keep the attention of the reader. On the Internet, your audience is one click away from leaving you. If they get lost in your writing, they’re gone for good.

Finding One Focus

Each blog post should have one focus. Hold yourself to that. Write down what your blog post is in one sentence. Build out your post from there.

Each time you start a new paragraph, ask yourself if what you’re writing builds on the topic. Is it answering questions? Is it backing up your point? If not, don’t hit delete; put it aside to go back another time.

Often when I start a blog post, I end up writing two. One will be what I sat down to write, but the other will be something that stemmed from a thought or paragraph I started while I was working on the original post.

Don’t Write Just to Write

Don’t add words just to increase word count. This isn’t a paper for high school; it’s a well-written blog post that you want people to read and share. Go for quality – and properly making your point – over quantity every time. If someone is going to share your article, they need to know the focus of it to share it.

Use Subheads

I love subheads. I’ve written about them before. I use them in every blog post I write. Why? They make content very easy to read on a screen.

But equally importantly, they give you a way to change the topic a bit. Don’t change the focus in a subhead, just offer a new idea or approach to the topic. For example, this blog post is about keeping focus, which is the main point throughout the piece.

I started with a personal story then added subheads with a different piece of advice in finding and maintaining your focus.

Keep Your Focus

Next time you sit down to write a blog post, make sure you know why you’re writing it. Don’t write it just to get your name out on the Internet. Write because you have something to tell your audience.

That’s your focus.

About the Author

Brian Pasch is the founder of PCG companies. PCG provides customized marketing and training solutions for businesses that are committed to dominate their local market.