Ten Tips for Effective Internet Article Writing
On the Internet “content is king”, and the real guts of content is the written word. If you are managing a website you need readable text for your onsite articles, for articles in your promotional newsletter or ezine and for promotional articles to be published on other sites or in other ezines. While these writing tasks can be outsourced to professionals, it is also possible for you to do it yourself if you follow a step-by-step process that is outlined in the following ten tips.
1. In the first paragraph clearly state what the article is about. In standard journalism you would tell who, what, why, when and where an event is happening. In web articles you oftentimes state a problem, such as “how to get good written materials for your website”, and then explain how the article is going to solve the problem “by showing a simple step-by-step approach to writing”.
2. Organize your material in a point-wise fashion. Before you begin writing think of the points that your article is going to cover. You may not necessarily show the points, as I am doing in this article (calling them ten tips), however, for your own outline of the article you should know what you are going to say before you begin writing. Write down these points and then make sure you include them as you begin the writing process.
3. Put the reader at ease. You are not writing for a scientific or literary society, but to your peers on the Internet. Write in a simple style and if you introduce new terms, define them for your readers.
4. Explain your points in short paragraphs. Short paragraphs are easier for the reader to follow. No one likes to look at a long block of solid text. Three, four or five sentences are usually enough for one paragraph.
5. Don’t be afraid to spill all the beans! Tell your trade secrets! No, I am not crazy, the more you tell, the more the demand you will create for your goods and services. I once hesitated to write an article on “Tips for Writing Meta Tags” thinking, who will need my search engine optimization services if they read the article? I was wrong, the article was widely published and generated several orders for my services. If you give more information, people will understand that you really are an authority on the subject that you are speaking about.
6. Give concrete examples and personal experiences to back up your points. Tell how you faced a problem and how you solved it. Or give hypothetical examples of the California Widget Company and how its website would, for example need a title tag of “Widgets: electronic widgets from the California Widget Company”
7. Emphasize the benefits of your product or service. When it comes to selling, it is the benefits that sell, rather than the features. Sure, you are selling garden supplies, home décor, clothing, gifts and jewelry on your website. These are features. But the benefits are that people can get these items in one place without shopping around, that they can save time and money, etc.
8. Give resource information to your readers. Give the addresses of websites where your readers can get more information on the subject that you are talking about. These may be your own websites or they can be other resources. In case you are worrying about losing customers, good outgoing links from your website are also helpful to your site’s page ranking and positioning in search engines.
9. Get another opinion on your article. Show it to your friends and colleagues, and don’t worry if they criticize you, it is better that your friends find the mistakes than your clientele. Always remember, a good editor is a writer’s best friend
10. Keep your most important information near the beginning of the article and summarize what you want to say at the end. Editors usually cut things near the end, so keep your most important points and ideas in the beginning of the article. At the very end of the article you can summarize what you set out to accomplish in your opening paragraph.
Top tips for writing feature articles
A feature story differs from a straight news story in one respect – its intent. A news story provides information about an event, idea or situation. The feature does a bit more – it may also interpret news, add depth and colour to a story, instruct or entertain.
Structure:
Ø The introduction is the most important part - entice your reader, hook them in. Use drama, emotion, quotations, questions, descriptions
Ø The body of the article needs to keep any promises or answe r any questions raised in the introduction - try and maintain an "atmosphere" throughout the writing
Ø While the introduction draws the reader in, the conclusion should be written to help the reader remember the story - use a strong punchline
Some points to keep in mind:
Ø Focus on human interest - the feel and emotion you put into the article are critical. Don't think about writing a "science" story - think about writing a "human interest" story.
Ø Be clear about why you are writing the article. Is it to inform, persuade, observe, evaluate, or evoke emotion?
Ø Write in the active voice. In active writing, people do things. Passive sentences often have the person doing the action at the end of the sentence or things being done “by” someone.
Ø Accuracy is important - you can interpret and embroider but not fudge.
Ø Keep your audience clearly in mind - what are their desires, what really matters to them?
Ø Avoid clichés (cutting edge, world beating, revolutionary ) and sentimental statements - especially at the end of your article.
Ø Interviews for features usually need to be in-depth and in person rather than over the phone - this enables you to add in colour and detail.
Ø Use anecdotes and direct quotes to tell the story - try not to use too many of your own words.
Ø Talk to more than one person to provide a more complete picture – but don’t just add in sources to show how much work you’ve done. Be ruthless about who you put in and who you leave out!
Ø Don't rely on the computer spell-checker - especially those with a U.S. dictionary.
Ø Decide on the ‘tense' of your story at the start and stick to it. Present tense usually works best.
Ø Avoid lengthy, complex paragraphs. Your article will appear in columns, so one or two sentences quals a paragraph.
Ø Ideas come from everywhere - watch, read, listen, keep up to date, take notes. Talk to people outside the field of science to find out what interests and concerns them.
Getting your feature articles published
Ø READ the publication you want to write for (a surprising number of writers don’t and it shows)
Ø Give a proposal rather than full article
Ø Include good examples of your previously published work
Ø Write what the editor wants to publish, not what you want to write. How do you find out?
Ø Study the editorial and staff writers' pieces - they are aimed precisely at the publication's target audience
Ø Select your market - list six magazines that could buy your article and study them. The articles, advertising and letters to the editor will give vital clues to the interests and demographics of the audience
Ø A picture sells the story - offer good quality images as prints, transparencies or digital files. Check with the editor for the preferred option
Ø Obtain a style sheet for the publication
Ø Submit your story typed and double-spaced.
Ø Let the relevant person (editor/deputy editor) in the print media outlet know you are sending them an article. Follow this up with a phone call a week or so later
Ø Send your article to only one print media outlet initially. If they don't want to use it within a set time period, send it elsewhere.
Article Writing: How to Sound Like the Expert You Are
You, too, can become a recognized expert in your specialized field. How? By writing articles that get published on the internet! Millions of people are gobbling up internet articles right now. I'm one of them.
Other people's articles interest me for two major reasons. 1. I'm a copywriter, so I use them as an information resource to write my own articles. 2. I market my writing services on the internet, so I'm always seeking out exciting new business relationships. Articles speak volumes about an author's intelligence and integrity. If I like what you write, I may do business with you as well as pass your good name along to others who can use what you offer.
Some articles meet my criteria for being "expert-level," and others don't. Trust me, I'm not the only one out there who's judging. Position your articles at the top of your category and increase your credibility a thousandfold! Read on for some helpful article-writing tips.
1. Use the active voice. Move your audience to action with action words. This means eliminating forms of the verb "to be" in all their wishy-washiness. Is, am, are, was, were: these sad excuses for verbs will weaken your message and put your audience right to sleep. Replace them wherever possible with action verbs, and make your message pop!
2. Direct the reader. Lately I've come across articles where the author tells the reader what they 'could' do. What a lame way to offer advice! Which of these sentences motivates you: "You could start your own affiliate program" or "Start your own affiliate program"? People want to be told what to do; not what they can, could, should or might do. Take a firm stand, and give your reader a direction to go in!
3. Be specific. Want to know the quickest way to lose your reader? Give them a broad topic and then don't follow it with any details. I speak on behalf of all the information-seekers when I say this: if you have valuable insights to share, then please take care to explain them fully. You don't have to go on for paragraphs. Just a few gems of wisdom are greatly appreciated, and will establish you as someone who really knows his stuff. If you're hazy on how to do this, always ask yourself the who, what, when, where, how and why of the topic at hand.
4. Check your facts. If your article shows promise, someone may very well come along and want to use it in their own marketing presentation. You may be quoted, and your name passed on as an expert in your field. If you intend to be an expert, then take care to back your arguments with solid evidence. There's nothing worse than seeing your article plastered all over the internet only to learn later that it contained the wrong information.
5. Include examples. Here's an example of how to include an example. Let's say you're writing about a weight-loss program. You've already told your reader that countless people have benefited tremendously while on the program. Now create a powerful image of the program with three short success stories from real people with real-live testimonials. Examples drive the point home and build your reputation as an expert!
6. Don't be a rambler. We talked about authors who don't provide enough detail within their articles. An opposite but equally novice offense is to include too much detail! Don't be tempted to go off on tangents that don't relate to the main idea. When developing your paragraphs and points of interest, follow the Goldilocks rule: not too long, not too short, but just right. If you feel like taking a portion of your article and going on for pages about it, great! Just be sure to do it in a different article.
7. Proofread. An expert article author always submits flawless work. Always, always, always proofread your writing before you hit Submit. All of the major word processing programs offer spellcheck, so there's no excuse not to use it. Also keep in mind that spellcheck won't always catch the error. For example, if you type 'thing' instead of 'think,' your computer will accept 'thing' as a valid word and your mistake will go undetected. So proofread thoroughly with your own two eyes, and be sure that your article is 100% error-free.
Follow these helpful guidelines, and master the art of perfect article-writing! Submit your articles on the web, and get free exposure for your website while establishing yourself as an expert in your field.