How To Get Attention, or: ‘As You Read This, You Feel an Irresistible Urge to Go On Reading!’

We all want attention. As children we crave the attention of our parents. Later in life, we want to be seen and noticed by friends and lovers. And when running most any type of business, we must attract the attention https://www.michaeljemery.com/
https://cahalenandeli.com/

of our potential customers.

But how do you get somebody’s undivided attention? When you were an infant, you got attention by screaming and crying. Then your parents knew you needed your diapers changed. As an adult, you can try using the same method to get noticed. Sure, you will get noticed – but in a negative way!

On the Internet, every website that is selling something has the need to be attention-grabbing; to make the visitors read about their offer rather than just clicking away. Some are then tempted to use the infant method of getting attention: screaming and yelling. Popup-windows that pop up in your face and obscure the page text you’re just trying to read, is one example. Flash-generated intro’s that stop you in your tracks and say “Heeey, wait – before you read about our products I’ve got this f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c visual effect to show you…!” is another example of attention-grabbing contraptions that actually defeat their own purpose. They yell and scream at you, and draw your attention to the fact that you’d better spend your precious time somewhere else.

One of my websites is called “The Hosting Finder”. It provides some reviews of carefully selected web hosting companies; the site also offers articles and RSS-feeds on web development and related topics. In other words, I am not selling anything on this website, and so I do not feel it would be appropriate to use a hard-selling jargon in my introductory headline. Right now, it reads:

“Finding a Web Hosting Provider That Will Take Good Care of Your Precious Web
Pages … Can Be Confusing”