Writing Great Articles? I'm No Expert, But.....
Just like most of you reading this article, I'm far from calling
myself an expert author. However, I have been out here a while,
submitted quite a few articles, and have definitely learned a
few hard lessons about getting my articles noticed.
First, I'll address the issue of just writing to write. You know
what I'm talking about. You've seen them and maybe you've
written a few yourself. Articles that are empty, pointless, and
only created to get a link back to the authors site. I'll have
to admit that I created a few of these myself when I first
started out. But we don't want to talk about those.
While one of the main points of article writing is to get links
back to your site, we need to keep in mind that getting our
articles noticed, read, and reprinted on as many sites as
possible, requires good, meaningful, informative content. Yes,
it actually requires us to be authors or authorities on our
chosen subject. Most people can pick up on the fact that you
don't know what you're talking about... if you don't know what
you're talking about.
Supply an answer to a problem or issue? Oh ya. This is
especially important if you want to be popular with readers and
publishers and not just the article directories. That's what
people are looking for when they come online. Answers to
problems, issues, and solid information. Give it to them and
you'll get published and republished.
Keep it short and simple. While most readers are o.k. with
reading a lengthy article, publishers tend to prefer shorter
articles between 400 and 750 words. And yes, we do want to be
popular with publishers. Exceptions to this would be if you're
submitting stories to sites that accept stories. Both of my
sites do accept short stories.
Put yourself into it. If you want to set yourself apart from
other authors and writers, give folks your personality and not
just a cookie cutter overused format. Talk in plain language.
Tell something about yourself. Point out your own mistakes,
lessons, and experiences. And make sure... make sure you
research your topic and know what you're talking about.
I hope this helps.