If you’ve taken a traditional writing class, you were taught to begin your paragraphs with an interesting hook, and then follow it with several sentences that build to the ending sentence, which would be your thesis. The thesis sentence is the only important sentence in the paragraph because it states what the paragraph is about.
For Web writing, the best practice is to use a paragraph structure called the inverted pyramid.
Begin with a Strong Lead
The inverted pyramid turns the traditional paragraph upside down and begins with the topic sentence, which states what the paragraph is about. For years, journalists have been using the inverted pyramid for newspaper reporting.
A big benefit of leading your paragraph with the most important information is that that is what appears before a Read More link. If you start your paragraph with generalizations, the reader will see only fluff and will most likely not click Read More.
But wouldn’t it be nice if you could click Read Less?