inverted-pyramid-style

How to Write Incredible Content With The Inverted Pyramid Style

The inverted pyramid style is a process used in journalism which inverts the logic of the way a story is told. Rather than start from the story details, you start from a hook, which is critical to get the reader interested, thus giving it a quick pay off.

AspectExplanation
DefinitionThe Inverted Pyramid Style is a writing and communication technique commonly used in journalism and other forms of written content. It prioritizes delivering the most essential information at the beginning of the content, followed by details in descending order of importance. This approach aims to capture the reader’s attention quickly and ensure that even if they read only the initial portion, they still grasp the core message. The name “inverted pyramid” reflects the structure, with the broadest part (the most critical information) at the top and narrowing down to less crucial details as the content progresses. This style enhances clarity, facilitates quick comprehension, and is often used in news articles, reports, and online content.
Key ConceptsPrioritization: The Inverted Pyramid Style prioritizes information, placing the most important details first. – Clarity: The approach aims for clarity by ensuring that critical information is immediately accessible. – Engagement: Capturing the reader’s attention at the outset is crucial for engagement. – Efficiency: The style is efficient for readers who may only skim the content. – Hierarchy of Information: Information is structured hierarchically, with the main message at the top and supporting details following in descending order of importance.
CharacteristicsLead with the Most Important: The opening paragraph (the “lead”) contains the essential information, answering the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. – Inverted Triangle: The structure resembles an inverted triangle, with the broad base representing the initial information and the narrowing top containing less crucial details. – Conciseness: The style promotes brevity, ensuring that the main message is concise and to the point. – Easy Skimming: Readers can quickly grasp the key message by scanning the beginning of the content. – Progressive Detail: Supporting information is presented in subsequent paragraphs, providing context and additional details.
ImplicationsEffective Communication: The Inverted Pyramid Style is effective for conveying information quickly and clearly. – News Reporting: It is commonly used in news reporting to deliver critical facts immediately. – Online Content: The style suits online reading habits, where users often skim content. – Attention Capture: Capturing the reader’s attention early is vital in a content-saturated digital world. – Engagement: It encourages readers to engage with the content and read further for more details if interested.
AdvantagesQuick Understanding: Readers quickly understand the main message without having to read the entire content. – Efficient: It is efficient for busy readers who may only have limited time. – Engagement: The approach engages readers from the beginning, increasing the likelihood of them continuing to read. – Clear Communication: Ensures that important information is not buried in the content. – Applicability: Suitable for various content types, including news articles, reports, blog posts, and presentations.
DrawbacksLimited Depth: The Inverted Pyramid Style may not provide in-depth analysis or storytelling. – Monotony: Overusing the style can lead to predictability in content. – Audience: It may not be suitable for all types of content or audiences. – Reduced Suspense: In narrative content, the style may reveal key plot points early, reducing suspense. – Challenging for Creativity: It can be challenging to incorporate creative elements into content structured in this way.
ApplicationsThe Inverted Pyramid Style is commonly used in journalism, news reporting, press releases, and any form of written content where the quick conveyance of essential information is paramount. It is prevalent in online news articles, blog posts, and reports.
Use CasesNews Articles: Journalists use this style to report breaking news, with the most critical information in the lead paragraph. – Press Releases: Press releases employ the Inverted Pyramid Style to ensure that important announcements are immediately clear. – Online Content: Bloggers and content creators often use this style to engage online readers who may skim content. – Reports: In business and academic reports, the executive summary follows this style to provide an overview of the document’s key findings. – Emergency Communication: Emergency alerts and notifications prioritize crucial information for public safety.

 

Where to start with the inverted pyramid?

Has your inspiration abandoned you?

Do you have a writer’s block? We have a solution!

If you are in search of a way how to create compelling content that will help you hit the top ranks in no time,you’re in the right place.

Ready? Let’s do this!

The inverted pyramid method is a well-known method of writing in journalism that was initially developed with one aim – to grab the reader’s attention right from the start.

Being one of the most effective methods of writing, this technique can help you write incredible SEO articles, drive more engagement, boost brand awareness and social shares.

What is the inverted pyramid writing style?

When you are reading a novel, you are always in suspense what will help next and when the plot will begin to unravel.

The writer leads you through every chapter slowly preparing you for the climax.

And, this makes perfect sense when writing a novel.

However, when writing a newspaper article or an article for a web, you need to get people’s attention quickly.

  1. You have to have the compelling headline.
  2. You need to make them want to read more.

This is exactly what the inverted Pyramid writing technique lets you do…

In its core, the Inverted Pyramid Style puts the most intriguing and critical piece of the story at the beginning with the aim both to inform and engage the reader.

Big ideas come first, and details follow.

In that way, your readers don’t have to scroll down to get the main point, or even worse, jump from page to page on websites.

By giving them meat and potatoes of the story – the traditional W’s (who, what, where, when, why and how) you get them hooked, and they will instantly want to get deeper into the subject. Journalists devised this technique as a solution to the problem where their readers have a very low “committal rate.”

What’s in it there for your readers?

  • Your readers need less time to get to the point
  • It motivates readers to scroll down for more information and read the entire article
  • It gives value to all readers even those who skim
  • It improves comprehension; the essentials are at the beginning of the first paragraph

What’s in it for you?

  • It gives you a full control of the structure and journey of the reader
  • It allows you to edit articles more efficiently and quickly (as you have control of the structure for your articles) 
  • You need less time to get to the gist (as it becomes a process)

How does it work?

I broke down the process in a few simple phrases:

  • Start with the lead in mind
  • Get into details
  • Tell the background story

Start with the lead in mind

First, think of a headline, an attention-grabbing statement or an anecdote. This is known as a lead. Your lead must answer the following questions:

  • Who
  • What
  • Where
  • When
  • Why
  • How

For instance, if your story starts like this,

“On an early Sunday morning, I walked into a grocery store to buy some oranges, bread, milk and other things I needed to make a cake for my son’s birthday. As I was walking around the shop looking for oranges, I suddenly heard some strange noise. I turned around and saw a few guys in black pointing a gun at a girl at the cash register.”

It sounds a bit boring. However, if you put the breaking news at the beginning like:

“On an early Sunday, two men pointed a gun at a girl at the cash register.”

You will definitely draw in the reader, and what’s more, make him continue reading to find out the background of the story.

In that way, you have answered the six questions:

  • Who: Two men
  • What: pointed a gun at the girl
  • Where: at the cash registry
  • When: on an early Sunday
  • Why: to take the money from the registry
  • How: by using a gun

Get into details

Once you tickled your readers’ curiosity, you are ready to go into details. Your readers would want to know the background of the story: “How did they get into the store?”, “What was the girl’s reaction?”, “Did they take the money?”, “What happened next?”. Give them what they are yearning for. By providing details, you’ll keep their attention and make them want to read the whole article.

To make things even more interesting, keep paragraphs in the same format: put the main points in the initial sentence and then build on that point. This stand-out first sentence is also known as the core sentence. It gives the reader what he or she needs, and he or she can choose whether to read the rest of the article or not. Keep in mind that you should express only one point in each paragraph because it is easier for readers to follow the plot.

Tell the background story

After pointing out the details, you can move to the context. This includes the root of the problem and the reason why robberies happen so often. You can also touch on the statistics related to crime and criminal behavior in the country and, in that way, trigger speculation and even discussion on that particular issue. This adds value both to the entire article and you as the author of the article. On top of that, it raises interests and engages readers potentially in the discussion.

inverted-writing-pyramidWhat makes an inverted pyramid such a powerful technique?

Three main reasons why the inverted pyramid is a powerful technique:

The inverted pyramid style helps create “block-based content”

Does a term “block-based content” ring a bell?
It should because, recently, this movement has been making an impact on search engines. Google uses the whole chunks of texts – paragraphs to answer questions in search results.

By giving the blocks the structured data needed to let search engines know what specific content is in that block, we can increase traffic on our site. Hence, one more reason to write better, compelling and stand-out paragraphs.

The inverted pyramid also adds value in terms of SEO

By structuring your questions and answers by using an inverted Pyramid technique, both your readers and search engines will digest it more easily.

In other words, when someone asks a certain question, go straight to the gist of the question and put it at the beginning of your answer.

Tell your readers what you know, move on to the details and only then get to the context. Finally, include the sub-questions, especially if the initial question is too broad and should be broken into chunks.

This will inevitably trigger the readers’ reaction. Finish the answer with some call to action and, voila, you have written the page which will potentially attract qualified leads and convert.

The inverted pyramid enhances awareness and engagement on social media

Attention span is a new currency. We are well aware of the fact that readers’ attention span is shrinking each year making a huge impact on the marketing in general. In terms of social media, we are given a very limited ability to grab the reader’s attention.

What makes people share the content?

Is it happiness, is it a controversy or sad stories?

According to the Jonah Berger, author of the book “Contagious: Why things catch on,” the things that go viral must have an emotional hook. It’s the emotions that will make people want to talk about that particular subject for days or even months.

And, what’s the easiest way to provoke the emotion?

By writing a compelling headline (a lead), good excerpt (details) and thematic and supporting captions (context) – all the essentials of the Inverted Pyramid technique.

Let’s wrap things up

If you’re stuck and you feel you’re experiencing some writer’s blocks, it’s because you lack a writing process. There is one process which is used in journalism called, inverted pyramid style.

What’s interesting about it is that it inverts the logic of the way a story is told. In short, rather than start from the story details, you start from a hook, which is critical to get the reader involved.

This system is quite effective because it aligns both the reader and the search engine crawling the page, thus by making the page also SEO-friendly.

After the hook, you keep going with details and context, which makes the readers wanting more!

So, the next time you start writing a new piece of content, don’t bury you key information somewhere in the middle of the third paragraph.

Put it up front, give your readers what they want, and make them ask for more. It’s a sure way to a great article.

Guest Contribution by Marko Velickovic

Marko Velickovic is a certified and results-oriented SEO specialist with 10 years experience in the SEO domain. He is the founder of Serpline.com and SeoProLab. You can connect with Marko on LinkedIn

Key Highlights

  • Introduction to Inverted Pyramid Style: The inverted pyramid style is a journalistic writing technique that starts with a captivating hook to immediately engage readers, followed by essential information and gradually delves into details.
  • Benefits of Inverted Pyramid Writing: This writing method is highly effective for creating SEO articles, driving engagement, boosting brand awareness, and encouraging social shares.
  • Inverted Pyramid Structure: The style places the most intriguing and critical information at the beginning, answering the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. It ensures readers get the main point upfront without the need to scroll down.
  • Engaging Readers with a Lead: A powerful lead or headline captures the reader’s attention by providing a concise and intriguing summary of the story’s core.
  • Building on Details: After the lead, the article delves into details, keeping paragraphs structured with the core sentence at the beginning. This allows readers to choose whether to read further.
  • Adding Context and Background: Following the details, the article provides context and background information to deepen the reader’s understanding and potentially spark discussion.
  • The Power of Inverted Pyramid Technique: The inverted pyramid style creates block-based content, making it more appealing to search engines like Google. It enhances SEO by providing structured information and increases engagement on social media by triggering emotions.
  • Grabbing Attention and Going Viral: The technique’s ability to provoke emotions through compelling headlines, details, and captions makes content more shareable and memorable.
  • Overcoming Writer’s Block: The inverted pyramid style provides a clear writing process, ensuring the most critical information is presented first and engaging readers from the start.
  • Embracing a Sure Way to Great Articles: By implementing the inverted pyramid style, writers can effectively align both reader interests and search engine optimization, resulting in engaging and SEO-friendly content.

Read Also: Marketing Strategy, Go-To-Market Strategy.

Marketing Glossary

Affiliate Marketing

affiliate-marketing
Affiliate marketing describes the process whereby an affiliate earns a commission for selling the products of another person or company. Here, the affiliate is simply an individual who is motivated to promote a particular product through incentivization. The business whose product is being promoted will gain in terms of sales and marketing from affiliates.

Ambush Marketing

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As the name suggests, ambush marketing raises awareness for brands at events in a covert and unexpected fashion. Ambush marketing takes many forms, one common element, the brand advertising their products or services has not paid for the right to do so. Thus, the business doing the ambushing attempts to capitalize on the efforts made by the business sponsoring the event.

Brand Building

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Brand building is the set of activities that help companies to build an identity that can be recognized by its audience. Thus, it works as a mechanism of identification through core values that signal trust and that help build long-term relationships between the brand and its key stakeholders.

Brand Equity

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The brand equity is the premium that a customer is willing to pay for a product that has all the objective characteristics of existing alternatives, thus, making it different in terms of perception. The premium on seemingly equal products and quality is attributable to its brand equity.

Brand Positioning

brand-positioning
Brand positioning is about creating a mental real estate in the mind of the target market. If successful, brand positioning allows a business to gain a competitive advantage. And it also works as a switching cost in favor of the brand. Consumers recognizing a brand might be less prone to switch to another brand.

Business Storytelling

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Business storytelling is a critical part of developing a business model. Indeed, the way you frame the story of your organization will influence its brand in the long-term. That’s because your brand story is tied to your brand identity, and it enables people to identify with a company.

Content Marketing

content-marketing
Content marketing is one of the most powerful commercial activities which focuses on leveraging content production (text, audio, video, or other formats) to attract a targeted audience. Content marketing focuses on building a strong brand, but also to convert part of that targeted audience into potential customers.

Digital Marketing

digital-marketing-channels
A digital channel is a marketing channel, part of a distribution strategy, helping an organization to reach its potential customers via electronic means. There are several digital marketing channels, usually divided into organic and paid channels. Some organic channels are SEO, SMO, email marketing. And some paid channels comprise SEM, SMM, and display advertising.

Growth Marketing

growth-marketing
Growth marketing is a process of rapid experimentation, which in a way has to be “scientific” by keeping in mind that it is used by startups to grow, quickly. Thus, the “scientific” here is not meant in the academic sense. Growth marketing is expected to unlock growth, quickly and with an often limited budget.

Guerrilla Marketing

guerrilla-marketing
Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that seeks to utilize low-cost and sometimes unconventional tactics that are high impact. First coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book of the same title, guerrilla marketing works best on existing customers who are familiar with a brand or product and its particular characteristics.

Inbound Marketing

inbound-marketing
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy designed to attract customers to a brand with content and experiences that they derive value from. Inbound marketing utilizes blogs, events, SEO, and social media to create brand awareness and attract targeted consumers. By attracting or “drawing in” a targeted audience, inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing which actively pushes a brand onto consumers who may have no interest in what is being offered.

Integrated Marketing

integrated-marketing
Integrated marketing describes the process of delivering consistent and relevant content to a target audience across all marketing channels. It is a cohesive, unified, and immersive marketing strategy that is cost-effective and relies on brand identity and storytelling to amplify the brand to a wider and wider audience.

Marketing Mix

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The marketing mix is a term to describe the multi-faceted approach to a complete and effective marketing plan. Traditionally, this plan included the four Ps of marketing: price, product, promotion, and place. But the exact makeup of a marketing mix has undergone various changes in response to new technologies and ways of thinking. Additions to the four Ps include physical evidence, people, process, and even politics.

Marketing Personas

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Marketing personas give businesses a general overview of key segments of their target audience and how these segments interact with their brand. Marketing personas are based on the data of an ideal, fictional customer whose characteristics, needs, and motivations are representative of a broader market segment.

Multi-Channel Marketing

multichannel-marketing
Multichannel marketing executes a marketing strategy across multiple platforms to reach as many consumers as possible. Here, a platform may refer to product packaging, word-of-mouth advertising, mobile apps, email, websites, or promotional events, and all the other channels that can help amplify the brand to reach as many consumers as possible.

Multi-Level Marketing

multilevel-marketing
Multi-level marketing (MLM), otherwise known as network or referral marketing, is a strategy in which businesses sell their products through person-to-person sales. When consumers join MLM programs, they act as distributors. Distributors make money by selling the product directly to other consumers. They earn a small percentage of sales from those that they recruit to do the same – often referred to as their “downline”.

Niche Marketing

microniche
A microniche is a subset of potential customers within a niche. In the era of dominating digital super-platforms, identifying a microniche can kick off the strategy of digital businesses to prevent competition against large platforms. As the microniche becomes a niche, then a market, scale becomes an option.

Relationship Marketing

relationship-marketing
Relationship marketing involves businesses and their brands forming long-term relationships with customers. The focus of relationship marketing is to increase customer loyalty and engagement through high-quality products and services. It differs from short-term processes focused solely on customer acquisition and individual sales.

Sustainable Marketing

sustainable-marketing-green-marketing
Sustainable marketing describes how a business will invest in social and environmental initiatives as part of its marketing strategy. Also known as green marketing, it is often used to counteract public criticism around wastage, misleading advertising, and poor quality or unsafe products.

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