If you’ve ever read a blog post or article that was full of fluff, you know how frustrating it is.
The writer has clearly taken up valuable space with unnecessary words, phrases, and sentences that don’t add any real value to the piece.
Fluff has the potential to hurt reader engagement. It can make your writing less credible and less interesting.
But it can also be used strategically to improve reader engagement.
What is fluff?
Fluff is filler material used in writing to make it appear longer or more interesting than it actually is. It can also be used to fill in gaps in the narrative or to transition between topics.
Fluff generally adds nothing to the content and can often be removed without impacting the overall message of the piece.
Fluff can come in many forms, such as:
• Unnecessary adjectives and adverbs
• Long-winded descriptions
• Unnecessary explanations
• Overly-complicated language
• Repetition of ideas
• Unrelated anecdotes
• Excessive quotations
Importance of reader engagement in writing
Every article you write or blog post you publish has a purpose. You want to inform, educate, or entertain your audience.
When it comes to writing a blog post, reader engagement is a key factor for success. Reader engagement refers to how readers interact with your content, whether it’s through comments, shares, or likes.
But what happens when your readers don’t engage with your content? That’s when you need to step up your reader engagement game.
Reader engagement is the key to improving metrics like time on page and bounce rate. It also helps you build relationships with your readers and make them loyal followers of your blog.
It’s important to get reader engagement because it indicates that readers are enjoying your content and are engaged in the topic. This is especially important for businesses because it helps them understand what content is most popular with their target audience.
How does fluff affect reader engagement?
Fluff can have a negative impact on reader engagement for several reasons:
• Fluff makes your content difficult to read. Readers are often turned off by long-winded sentences and overly-complicated language. They want something simple, straightforward, and easy to parse. Fluffy words and sentences get in the way of that goal.
• Fluff makes your content boring. Adjectives and adverbs can add flavor to your writing but they can also make it boring if overused or if they are unnecessary descriptors that do not contribute anything useful to the piece.
• Fluff makes your content seem less credible. If readers feel like you’re just trying to fill up space with meaningless words, they won’t take your writing seriously or trust what you have written. This will lead them to lose interest quickly and look elsewhere for more reliable information sources.
• Fluff makes it difficult for readers to find the key points of your piece quickly and easily. If readers have trouble finding what they are looking for amid all the fluff, they will likely give up before they even get a chance to appreciate your writing’s true purpose and value.
How can fluff be used strategically?
While too much fluff can hurt reader engagement, some fluff can actually help improve reader engagement and make a piece of writing more enjoyable:
• Your introduction should include some fluff – but only enough to introduce yourself and capture your readers’ attention before getting down into business with the rest of your post or article.
Use humor, anecdotes, quotations – whatever appeals most to your particular audience – but don’t forget why you’re writing in the first place – which is most likely not just for fun alone!
• You can use fluff strategically in short posts or articles by adding an extra sentence here or there throughout the post that might not add much value but helps move along the story from one point to another without making it seem too abrupt.
• When transitioning from one topic/point/idea/etc., use some fluff instead of jumping abruptly from one topic/point/idea/etc., directly into another one without any sort of pause between them (unless this suits your purpose).
This helps keep readers engaged even when discussing different topics altogether because there is no sudden change in flow from one point straight into another without any sort of warning/transition period/etc..
• You might also consider using some “padding” around key points within a post or article so that readers have an easier time seeing their importance (especially if they are scanning rather than reading every word).
As with everything else though – don’t overdo it! Too much padding will hurt engagement just as much as too little padding!
How to avoid using too much fluff
You may think that more content equals more value, but this isn’t the case. Quality over quantity is the key here; readers aren’t fooled by fluff, and they all can tell when they are being sold something they don’t need.
How do you avoid using fluff in your blog posts? Here are a few tips:
- Get rid of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs – these are often used as fluff in articles.
- Use only one keyword – focus on one keyword or phrase for each post so you don’t end up repeating yourself and padding out your article.
- Break up long sentences – long sentences are harder to read and contain lots of unnecessary details that could be cut down.
- Be concise – don’t be afraid to cut out anything that doesn’t add value or help explain a concept better – less is more!
- Write with clarity – write in simple language and try to avoid complicated words and phrases whenever possible; explain concepts in easy-to-understand terms so readers can get a good grasp of the topic without any confusion
In the world of blogging, “fluff” is the content that doesn’t offer much to the reader.
It usually doesn’t add much value, but it can make your blog post look longer than it is.
Fluff can also be used to expand on topics that you don’t feel like researching in-depth. It’s often used as a filler and it can make your blog post seem unfocused and disjointed.
When readers come across fluff, they might feel like they’re wasting time, so you should avoid using it as much as possible.
Try to focus on giving clear and concise answers to questions that you think your readers might have about the topic at hand. This will help you create content that is both useful and interesting.
If you find yourself struggling with content ideas, try looking at what other bloggers are writing about. You can find inspiration in their words and use them to create something new and unique for your audience.