7 Tips to Write Successful Web Articles!
Online readers love free information. They scour the internet
daily looking for specific information to solve their problems,
help them be successful, live longer or get healthy. You should
join the information revolution too! Publish your free helpful
solution-oriented articles to the web. But wait! There are a few
things to keep in mind when writing for the web. Long paragraphs
are usually acceptable for print media; they are not for the
web. If you want to write articles that web users will love to
read and put to use follow these 7simple tips:
1. Make your article scan ready. A study by Jakob Nielson
publicized as guru of web page usability by the New York Times
published that only 16 per cent of his test users actually read
the copy they found online; 79 per cent of them simply scanned
it. Your impatient web readers will want important information
to jump out at them.
Some practical ways to make your text scannable are: headings,
sub-headings, bulleted list, numbered lists, easy steps and/or
typeface variation. For example, compelling headlines are
considered an art. Are you drawn to the author's article as "How
to Write Web Articles" or "5 Tips to Write Winning Web Articles?"
2. Keep it short. Get and keep the attention of web
readers by delivering short messages. You put effort into
gaining your web reader's attention; now make their click
worthwhile with brief compelling copy in bite sizes.
Start with the conclusion. Your readers may not make it to the
end of your piece to get it. Web readers don't want to get
bogged down in long blocks of text. So get to the point early
and use the rest of your article to support that main point.
3. Make Your Title Sizzle. Dull titles will not capture
your readers interest. It will make your article fade into the
sea of other boring articles listed in article banks these days.
You have to create a title that will reach out and grab your
reader by the collar.
To get your article read, start with a sizzling title. Make it
short. Create interest. Include the main benefit or solution in
your title.
4. Talk to Your Targeted Audience. Your information is
not for everyone. Avoid generalities. Choose a friend or family
member that's interested in your topic. Write your article to
them. Writing to a friend will make your copy personable and
friendly.
You won't come across as a fussy hen, do this, do this, don't do
that. You will connect with your readers as a friend giving
advice. Your article will do a better job of building
creditability for you. Creditability inspires trust and readers
only trust their friends.
5. Add substance. Resist fluffing your articles. Include
practical valuable information in your copy. Everyone loses when
you don't take the time to impart substance. It increases the
reputation of the web being an unreliable source of knowledge.
Additionally, lack of substance will block your road to
profitable referrals.
Do the research and/or draw from your knowledge and experience
to illustrate. Your stories and real life examples will meet
your reader's need for practical information and connect with
their emotion. It's a known fact emotions will move people to
action. Whether you desire them to act by signing up or making a
purchase, add substance and improve your reader responses.
6. Make it web professional. Create a more web
professional look by using short sentences then format your page
to approximately 65 characters per line. Long stringed sentences
that stream from side to side of the web page look visually
unprofessional. Select a layout for your article from several
short article formats that include the how-to, tips list,
question-answer, problem-solutions and interview.
Make your introduction and summary short but do add one. Your
web readers don't want just a list of boring facts and
information. They want to connect with you by reading your
personable introduction and practical tips with a definite
ending or summary. Remember excited readers become enthusiastic
buyers and enthusiastic buyers will refer your product or
service to all their friends.
7. Use your keywords. Thread your keywords throughout
your short article as naturally as possible. Otherwise your copy
will sound stiff and dull. To gain visibility on the search
engines, your site must be "indexed" by their robotic software.
In its most basic form, they must be able to compare the code,
keywords and other Meta tags with the actual content of the
site. From this they reach a conclusion regarding the context of
the site. This and other factors will affect how well your copy
or website places in the search engines.
You may use these guidelines for all kinds of web copy. The same
elements of using keywords, making your article professional,
adding substance, keeping it short and making your copy
scannable will improve the quality of your articles.
Practice the above simple principles and write winning articles
to distribute on the web everywhere.