The size of your audience is a direct reflection of the size of the question you are answering - Nicolas Cole

1/3/2/1 & 1/5/2/1 The basic structures of online writing are 1/3/1 and 1/5/1. Once you learn these, you can then start to play with rhythm a bit more and elongate your introductions. I cannot stress enough how much you do not want to elongate your writing by cramming sentence after sentence into one paragraph. Online writing benefits from clearly separated thoughts and statements, which is why I recommend using variations of the 1/3/1 and 1/5/1 structure if you need the extra space. Remember: you want to optimize for speed and Rate of Revelation. Anything that isn’t absolutely necessary, delete it. Here’s how it works: This first sentence is your opener. This second sentence clarifies your opener. This third sentence reinforces the point you’re making with some sort of credibility or amplified description. And this fourth sentence rounds out your argument, guiding the reader toward your conclusion. This fifth sentence is your strong conclusion. And this sixth sentence is expanding on why you’re making such a strong conclusion. This seventh sentence is what you’re going to talk about next.

When people read online, they don’t actually “read.” What they do is skim. Browse. Scroll. They let their eyes gloss over the words, and if something compelling catches their eye in the first two, five, maybe ten seconds (a word, a subhead, a phrase), then they’ll stop skimming and start reading. But you better believe as soon as momentum in the writing starts to slow, they’re gone. They’ll swipe back to their social media feed and be neck deep in Memeville in a millisecond.

As you continue to refine which specific category you’re writing in (and this is an ongoing process), you then have the opportunity to bring that same specificity into the writing itself. “Marketing is a great way to build exposure,” is a broad statement. “Content marketing is a great way to build exposure for your business” is more specific. “Content marketing is a great way to build exposure for your business,” is still a broad statement. “Content marketing is a great way to introduce new customers to your business and move them to the top of your sales funnel” is more specific. “Content marketing is a great way to introduce new customers to your business and move them to the top of your sales funnel,” is still a broad statement. “Content marketing, when published by your executive team opposed to your company’s blog, is a highly effective way to build organic exposure and trust with your target customers, moving them through your sales funnel without them feeling ‘sold to,’” is more specific.