When you are crafting text, it’s important to keep a few things in mind throughout the process.

Visuals are essential. The lead/featured image is of equal importance to the headline. This is where a majority of your audience will decide whether or not to read your story, so packaging the headline with a compelling image is vitally important.

Length of paragraphs is very important, especially for the mobile and social experience. Long paragraphs read much longer on a mobile phone. Ideally, each paragraph shouldn’t run more than 4-5 sentences.

Blending text with images never run longer than four paragraphs without media (photo, video, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram embeds). Visuals serve as a connecting element to text as audiences scroll through the story on their phones. Putting connecting images into the story is a visual cue to the reader to pause. Without them, the audience scrolls to the end of the story and frequently departs without scrolling back up.