Top 10 Article Writing Tips
A poorly written article can not only be ineffective but also potentially harmful to your business. Follow the checklist below to prevent this:
- Know what you’re writing about
Don’t start writing an article without having a clear title in mind. This will help to keep your article focused and will make it easier to write.
- Plan a framework
Plan the introduction, the various paragraphs in the middle, and the end. Do all the research before starting the writing. Writing the article should be relatively straightforward – simply putting all your research and points together.
- Avoid careless misspellings
You’d check that your website and promotional material doesn’t have spelling errors so do the same for your articles. Misspellings will reflect badly on your business.
- Don’t use complicated jargon
All your readers are not going to be highly educated or have knowledge of the technical terms in your industry. Don’t try to impress them by using complicated technical phrases. It’ll just put people off from reading the article.
- Less words is more
Don’t feel that you article has to be incredibly long and in-depth. Aim for around 500 words although shorter articles can work well.
- Use a clear layout
Avoid huge blocks of text. No one likes to read 10 lines of solid text on the internet so split your article into paragraphs. Alternatively use bullet points, leaving a line break between each one.
- Stick to the title
Remember that people are reading your article because the title enticed them in. If you then branch off to talk about something else readers will lose interest in your article and the people that would have been interested in it will never know because of the off-topic title.
- Never sell
The quickest way to lose credibility is to include links to your website in an article. Leave mentioning your links for the Resource Box.
- Be professional
Making detrimental comments about other people or rival companies is unprofessional and will reflect badly on your company.
- . Be brave
Don’t be afraid to express you opinion, however controversial. Back up your opinion with facts. It’s far better to engage your readers through expressing a controversial opinion than being afraid of disagreeing with anyone and writing a bland article. The old saying that you can’t please everyone is particularly relevant.
The Resource Box
Article directories always have the Resource Box located on the article submission page where you can write a couple of lines about yourself and the website you are affiliated with.
This Resource Box has excellent ‘search engine optimisation value’ if done properly. Use HTML code where possible to link to your site via keywords.
For example, don’t just link to your site by putting http://www.marketingminefield.co.uk in the Resource Box. Instead use keyword links such as UK Marketing Guide. This is done by using the HTML code below:
<a href="http://www.marketingminefield.co.uk">UK Marketing Guide</a>
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