Seven Tips to Successfully Write Web Articles:
Online readers love free information. They scour the
internet daily looking for the 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
seven simple 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 ---- urgm…collar is what I was
about to say.
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.
