Imagine standing in a crowd and then hearing someone call out your name. You’d immediately stop talking or doing whatever you’re doing and look in the direction of the caller, right? That is exactly what a scroll stopper should do for your content. It should stop a person from scrolling through search results or a social media feed and make them focus fully on what you are saying.
In almost every line of business, there will always be someone offering the same service as you. Similarly online, there will be other companies publishing information around what you may be basing your content on.
The trick is to make sure that in a sea of content or services similar to yours, your brand will stand out from the crowd in a unique and powerful manner.
Exercise 1: Consider the content you have published for your website. What piece of information do you think would instantly capture your audience’s attention?
When creating a scroll stopper, make sure that you make use of content that really resonates with your readers and inspires them to want to know more.
How can you ensure your content is scroll-stopping?
To make your content eye-catching and curiosity inspiring, here are a few tips that will definitely help you along:
- The key areas you can capitalize on to create scroll stoppers are your headlines, subtitles, headers, and footers.
- Strategically placed and well-thought-out images or intriguing videos within the text will also do well as scroll stoppers.
- Use enhanced wording and craft your message well to get people to stop scrolling and want to know more about your brand or company.
- Make use of bold graphics and eye-catching visual effects and animations, both at the beginning of your content and spread out across the page.
- Focus on the benefit, the “WHY” of your product or service, at least within the first two lines, to capture your readers’ attention early. (Remember, they care about what’s in it for them, not just what your service does.)
Remember that a scroll stopper is only effective when it’s created with a purpose. Make sure it aligns well with your brand or the message that you intend to put out, to avoid creating confusion. If there is a disconnect between what your scroll stopper is saying and your overall messaging, all you’ll do is create confusion.
Quick tip:
How about applying SEO for your scroll stoppers too and kill two birds with one stone? Whether you are using headlines, subtitles, images, videos, etc. optimizing them for the web will definitely improve your chances of reaching a wider audience.
Our tip The Basics Of How Search Engines Work will shed light on how search engines work and help you understand why SEO is important for your content.
Exercise 2:
- Write a list of areas you would like to use scroll stoppers on your website along with a list of possible scroll stoppers that you will make use of.
- Update your content to include scroll stoppers and monitor its performance after.
Your Online Partner… for Success
Would you like to have someone with experience help you to review the results of your two exercises? Reach out – and schedule a free 30-minute session with Christy.