Designing for compelling and shareable content
People share content that makes them feel something. Most websites make them feel nothing.
Every business wants people to share their content. Blog posts on LinkedIn, articles in WhatsApp groups, pages that get picked up in newsletters. The brands that do this well grow faster and spend less on ads. The ones that do not have to keep paying for clicks that stop as soon as the budget runs out.
Content that gets shared does not happen by chance. It comes from the small choices you make across the whole page, from top to bottom. This article shows what makes people share something, with examples you can use on your own site.
Start with the headline
The headline is the first thing people see. Many people decide to share or ignore your content based on that alone. If the headline is weak, the rest will not matter. Good headlines usually do one clear thing. They offer something useful, like How to cut your website load time in half. They make people curious, like The real reason your blog posts do not rank. Or they question a common idea, like Why responsive design is not enough anymore.
Weak headlines try to sound clever. Strong headlines are clear. Compare:
- The journey towards digital excellence (weak)
- How we doubled our traffic in 90 days (strong)
The second one is clearer because it tells people what they will learn. The first one is confusing because it tries to sound polished but does not say anything specific.
A simple design tip: your headline should be the biggest text on the page and easy to read straight away. Thin fonts can look nice, but they are harder to read when people scroll fast. A bold font is usually clearer and gets more attention.
Lead with a hook, not a warm-up
Most articles waste the first three paragraphs. They explain background, thank the reader for visiting, or set up context nobody asked for. By the time the actual point arrives, half the readers are gone.
Open with something specific. A number, a question, a blunt statement. Look at how most of our blog posts open. The sentence under the headline, in larger font, is meant to make you want to keep reading. It gives people a quick idea of what the page is about and helps them decide if they want to keep reading. If it is not clear, people just scroll past and do not read any further.
Design for scanning, not reading
Here is a simple truth. Most people do not read articles. They scan them. They look at the headline, subheadings, images and bold text, and decide in a few seconds if it is worth their time.
Design your content for that eight-second test.
- Use subheadings every 200 to 300 words. Each one should make sense on its own. Someone skimming should still understand the main idea just by reading the subheadings.
- Keep paragraphs short. Three or four lines at most. Big blocks of text feel heavy and people skip them.
- Use bold for the important sentences, not random words. Highlight full ideas that matter.
- Leave space on the page. Empty space makes content easier to read and less tiring to look at.
If a page looks easy to read, people will read it. If it looks like a wall of text, most people will leave, even if the writing is good.
Visuals are not decoration
Most websites treat images like decoration. A stock photo of people shaking hands here, a random city shot there. These images do not really say anything. They also make the page feel the same as every other site.
Good visuals should do something, not just fill space. A chart explains numbers faster than text. A screenshot shows exactly what you mean. A before and after image can explain something in seconds that would take a long paragraph.
On pages people share, images are part of the message. They help make the point clearer, not just make the page look better.
Skip the generic stock photos
If your blog post about branding has a photo of someone smiling at a laptop, you have missed the chance to add something useful. Use a diagram, a real photo of your work, or a custom graphic instead.
Design one image specifically for social sharing
This is the image that appears when someone shares your page on LinkedIn, Facebook or X. Make it bold, readable at thumbnail size and include the headline as text over the image.
Keep file sizes down
Smaller images load faster. Fast pages get shared more than slow ones.
Write the way people talk
Most business writing feels like no real person wrote it. It uses passive sentences, long words where simple ones would work, and jargon instead of plain English. It just sounds unnatural and makes them less likely to keep reading.
Compare these two sentences:
- Our comprehensive approach facilitates the optimisation of your digital presence. (corporate mush)
- We make your website easier to find and better to use. (human)
The second one sounds like a person. It is also easier to understand, easier to quote and far more likely to be shared. Say what you mean in the simplest way you can.
Also since AI is everywhere, a lot of content now sounds the same. The same phrases, the same structure, the same tone. People notice it quickly and often stop reading because it feels boring or repetitive. The fix is simple. Write like you talk. Use shorter sentences. Avoid overused phrases. And if something sounds generic, change it until it sounds like a real person said it.
Make your content easy to share
This sounds obvious, but most sites get it wrong. If someone wants to share your article, can they do it in one click?
Add share buttons
Put them at the top and bottom of each article. LinkedIn, X, WhatsApp, and email are enough. Do not add loads of options. Three is plenty.
Add a click to tweet quote
Pick one strong sentence from the article and turn it into a ready made tweet people can share in one click. They do not need to think or write anything, so it is much easier for them to share it.
Check how your page looks when shared
Paste the link into LinkedIn or X and see what shows up. If the image is wrong or the headline is cut off, fix the Open Graph tags. Most CMS tools (like WordPress or Webflow) let you set this in a few clicks.
You can write a great article, but if sharing it takes too many steps, most people will not do it.
Real examples of content that works
Enough theory. Here are a few things that get shared more often.
The unexpected answer
Take something people think they know and flip it. Why you should stop redesigning your homepage gets more attention than How to redesign your homepage because it surprises people.
The specific story
Real numbers beat general advice. How we grew a Shopify store from £2,000 to £40,000 a month is more likely to be shared than How to grow your Shopify store because it feels real and proven.
The short opinion
Not everything needs to be long. A short piece with one clear point can get shared more than a long balanced one. People share things they strongly agree with or strongly disagree with.
The useful list
Simple lists work because they are easy to scan and save. 12 free tools every small business should use still gets shared because it is quick to understand and useful.
We write the headline three times before choosing one
Don’t overthink the first ones. Just get a few down, then pick the one that feels the clearest and easiest to read.
Test your page before you share it
Test how your page looks when shared before you publish it. Send the link to yourself on WhatsApp or LinkedIn and see what shows up. If the image or headline looks wrong, fix it. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Final thoughts on designing content that gets shared
Shareable content is as much a design problem as a writing problem. The words matter, but so does everything else on the page: headline size, top image, paragraph length, share buttons and speed. It also helps when the content feels specific. Generic posts don’t go far, but something that speaks to a real problem, trend or idea is much more likely to be shared.
