Blog Intro Prompt

Most readers are gone in the first few seconds. Nielsen Norman Group's research on page engagement found the odds of someone abandoning a page are highest right at the start and only flatten once something holds them (how long users stay on web pages). Your intro is the bet you place in that window. Win it and they read on; lose it and the other 1,500 words never get read.

So the job of an intro prompt isn't "write an opening." It's "write an opening that earns the next paragraph." This one does that by refusing to hand you a single safe version — it gives you four different hooks for the same post, so you can pick the one that actually fits.

The prompt

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, fill in the five brackets, and you'll get four intros built on four different angles.

Write 4 different introductions for the blog post described below. Each should be 2-4 sentences and hook the reader immediately.

Use a different angle for each:
1. A specific question the reader is already asking.
2. A surprising fact, stat, or counterintuitive claim.
3. A relatable scenario or "you" moment that mirrors their situation.
4. A bold, contrarian, or myth-busting opener.

Rules:
- No generic openers ("In today's fast-paced world," "We've all been there," "Have you ever wondered").
- Start at the interesting part — no warm-up.
- Set up the value: hint at what the reader will get without summarizing the whole post.
- Match the tone to the topic (don't make a serious topic flippant or vice versa).
- Work in the main keyword naturally if it fits.

Post details:
- Topic / working title: [the post]
- Who it's for: [audience]
- Main keyword (optional): [keyword]
- The core promise (what the reader will gain): [payoff]
- Tone: [helpful / authoritative / casual / witty]

A real run, start to finish

Here's the prompt with one post filled in, so you can see what it returns rather than guess. The input: topic "how to set your freelance rates," audience "new freelancers," keyword "freelance pricing," payoff "a simple way to price work without guessing," tone "helpful."

What it gave back:

• Question — "What should you charge? It's the first real question of freelancing, and most people answer it by guessing, then spend two years quietly resenting their own rates."
• Surprising claim — "Your freelance pricing problem isn't your skill. It's that you name a number before you've worked out what the project actually costs you to deliver."
• Relatable — "You named a price. The client said yes before you'd finished the sentence. And your stomach dropped, because you knew — too low, again."
• Contrarian — "Stop pricing by the hour. Charging for time rewards you for being slow and punishes you for getting faster, which is exactly backwards for anyone trying to grow."

Four usable openers for one post, each pulling a different reader. The freelancer who's anxious responds to the relatable one; the analytical reader leans into the contrarian take.

Which hook should you reach for?

Whichever you pick, one rule does more work than the rest: start at the interesting part. Read your own draft intro and you'll usually find the real opening line a sentence or two down, with filler stacked in front of it.

Why the constraints matter more than the wording

The prompt works because of what it forbids, not what it asks. Vague instructions ("write an intro") get vague, clichéd output — the model reaches for the safest phrasing it knows. Hand it a role, a banned-phrase list, and a payoff to set up, and it gets specific. That's the through-line in the prompting guidance both OpenAI and Anthropic publish: specificity in, specificity out. The "no generic openers" line is the part most people leave out, and it's the part that does the heavy lifting.

A note on keywords. The main keyword should land naturally in the first 100 words for SEO, but never at the cost of the hook. A keyword-stuffed opener that nobody reads ranks for nothing.

Quick ways to bend it

• Writing a list post? Add: "This is a list post ('7 ways to…'). Promise the payoff of the list without giving the items away."
• Want a story-led open? Add: "Open with a short personal anecdote that leads naturally into the topic."
• Already have a draft intro? Add: "Here's my current intro: [paste]. Keep what works, cut the warm-up, sharpen the hook."
• Writing for a specific outlet? Add: "I'm writing for [publication]. Match the intro style they tend to use."

Mistakes that kill an intro

The throat-clearing opener is the most common one — "In this article, we'll explore…" and "In today's world…" are read-it-before signals, and readers act on them instantly. Cut straight to the hook. The second trap is summarizing the whole post up front, which removes the reason to keep reading; tease the value, don't deliver all of it. The third is letting the keyword win over the hook. Lead with the line that pulls the reader; work the keyword in once they're already moving.

Blog intro questions people actually ask

How long should a blog introduction be?

Two to four sentences for most posts, or roughly 40–80 words. Long enough to land a hook and hint at the payoff, short enough that the reader hits your first real point fast. Longer intros bury the lede.

Should the main keyword go in the first sentence?

It should appear in the first 100 words, but not at the cost of a strong opener. Search engines reward natural placement, and a clunky keyword-first sentence costs you the reader before the keyword can do any good. Hook first, keyword close behind.

Can ChatGPT write a blog intro that doesn't sound generic?

Yes, but only if you constrain it. Left to a vague request, models default to clichéd openers. Ban the stock phrases, give it a specific reader and payoff, and ask for several angles — that's exactly what the prompt above does.

What makes a good opening line?

It says something specific that the reader doesn't already know or hasn't framed that way. A sharp question, a number that breaks an assumption, or a moment they recognize all work. Anything that could open any post on the topic isn't a hook.

Before you touch anything else in your next draft, run the first paragraph through the "start at the interesting part" rule. Nine times out of ten your real opening line is sitting in sentence two, and you've been burying it under a warm-up nobody needed.