…once we’ve met some initial level of expectation we now have to break it! This is the counter-intuitive bit…we first get on the same page as our readers but then we turn the page, so to speak, by breaking their expectations about what happens next. Perhaps we introduce a new way of looking at things, perhaps we introduce a product or service that helps them solve their difficult problem in a new way. This is where interesting becomes insightful… giving our readers a valuable takeaway they didn’t have before. In practical terms, it is in this stage that people understand that our product/service is more valuable to them than their current way of doing things.

There’s a new kind of clutter littering Web pages. It’s not just the obnoxious ‘Refinance your mortgage’ ads plastered atop and alongside articles. It’s also not just the animated nonsense that floats by as you’re trying to read.

It’s the article itself.