Start with the specific thing the reader came for, not with context they already have. The first sentence should be one they could not have written themselves before arriving.

Two separate jobs

The headline persuades somebody to arrive. That is where most attention goes, and it is only half of the transaction.

The first sentence has a different job: convincing somebody who has already arrived that the page will be worth the next two minutes.

They are making that decision quickly, with a back button available, and against a background of having been disappointed by pages before.

A first sentence that could have been written by anybody, about anything, tells them this is one of those pages.

What most openings do instead

They establish that the subject exists and matters.

In today's competitive market, businesses are increasingly recognising the importance of a strong online presence.

Every word of that is true and none of it is information. The reader knew it before they clicked, which is why they clicked.

This kind of opening is not a failure of skill. It is the natural first thing to write, because it is how you warm up. The mistake is leaving it in the finished piece.

The test

One question: could the reader have written this sentence themselves before arriving.

If yes, delete it and ask the same question of the next sentence.

Keep going until you reach one they could not have written, and start there.

In practice this usually means the finished piece begins somewhere in what was the third paragraph, which is a consistent enough pattern to be treated as a rule.

What earns the second line

All five work because they contain information. None of them is a hook in the sense of withholding, and the last is the most underused.

Starting with the answer

The most reliable opening for anything answering a question, and the one people resist most.

The resistance is understandable: giving the answer immediately feels like removing the reason to keep reading.

In practice it does the opposite. A reader who gets what they came for in the first line concludes the page is honest and reads on for the detail, because now they trust that the detail will also be real.

A reader made to hunt for the answer through four paragraphs of preamble frequently leaves before finding it, and the ones who find it remember the hunt.

A worked example

A surveyor's page about damp began: damp is a common problem in older properties, and understanding its causes is essential for any homeowner.

Nobody reading a page about damp needs to be told damp is common.

The rewrite began: most damp diagnosed as rising damp is not rising damp, and the treatment usually sold for it is the wrong treatment.

That sentence is specific, contains a claim, and is mildly against interest, since the firm could have sold the treatment.

Time on the page roughly doubled, and enquiries arriving through it changed character: people referenced the opening claim and asked about their own situation rather than asking for a price.

The remainder of the page was substantially the same text.

The one-sentence paragraph

A formatting point that changes how an opening reads.

A first paragraph of six lines is a wall, and a reader scanning decides against it before reading a word.

A first paragraph of one sentence is read almost involuntarily, because it costs nothing to start.

Having read it, the reader is in the piece, and the second paragraph can be longer.

This is not a trick so much as an acknowledgement that people scan before they commit, and the shape of the page is doing work before any of the words are.

Openings that work against interest

Worth treating separately, because they are the most effective and the most avoided.

Naming the limitation of what you sell, the situation where somebody should not hire you, or the industry practice you think is wrong.

These are credible precisely because they cost you something, and a reader who has waded through supplier pages recognises the difference immediately.

The constraint is that it has to be true. A manufactured admission, chosen because it sounds honest while conceding nothing, reads as a technique, and readers detect it faster than writers expect.

What to do with the deleted opening

Frequently nothing, and that is fine.

Occasionally the context genuinely is needed, in which case it belongs lower down, after the reader has been given a reason to care about it.

The order matters more than the content. Specific claim, then the background that supports it, reads as an argument. Background, then specific claim, reads as a preamble.

Same material, same length, and a substantially different piece.

The opening they see before they arrive

There is a second place your first sentence appears, and it is the one most writers forget.

Search results show a short preview underneath the title, and where a page has no description set, that preview is frequently pulled from the opening text.

So a page beginning with in today's competitive market shows that phrase to everybody deciding whether to click, sitting directly beneath a headline you worked on.

The same applies when somebody shares the link in a message or on social media, where a preview card is generated the same way.

Two consequences. Fixing the opening improves the click-through as well as the page, which is the same edit paying twice. And where a page needs a preamble for good reason, writing a deliberate page description prevents that preamble from becoming the advertisement for it.

The counter-case

Not every page should open with a claim.

Where a reader genuinely lacks the context to understand the answer, opening with the answer produces a sentence they cannot use, and a short orientation first is correct rather than lazy.

The distinction is whether the opening tells them something. Two lines establishing an unfamiliar term is orientation. Two paragraphs establishing that the subject is important is throat-clearing.

The test still applies, though: even orientation should contain something the reader could not have written, otherwise it is preamble wearing a justification.

Fixing an opening

  1. Read the first sentence and ask if they could have written it.
  2. Delete it if so, and repeat down the page.
  3. Start where the specific content starts.
  4. Make the first paragraph one sentence.
  5. Consider leading with the answer.
  6. Move any genuinely needed context below it.
  7. Check it is still true after the compression.

Five minutes per page, applied to everything you have already published as well as everything new.

Writing for the page somebody actually arrived on is covered in writing the page somebody landed on.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first sentence supposed to do?

Convince somebody who has already arrived that the page is worth the next two minutes. The headline earns the click; the opening earns everything after it.

How do I test an opening?

Ask whether the reader could have written that sentence themselves before arriving. If they could, delete it and test the next one.

Where should a piece actually start?

Usually somewhere in what was the third paragraph. The first two are typically the writer warming up, which is normal to write and wrong to keep.

Should I give the answer in the first line?

Usually yes. A reader who gets what they came for immediately concludes the page is honest and reads on for the detail rather than leaving.

Why start with a one-sentence paragraph?

Because a six-line opening block is a wall that readers decide against before reading. One sentence costs nothing to start, and then they are in the piece.

Is context ever the right opening?

Where the reader genuinely lacks it, yes. But orientation should still tell them something. Establishing that a subject is important is throat-clearing, not context.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

First line saying the subject matters?

Delete it. Start where the specific content starts, and make that first paragraph one sentence long.

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