How To Write Effective Articles

A website is only as good as its content. If people
don’t want to read what is on your site, then they
will not use your services, either because they don’t
trust you or don’t have the patience to sort through
the content to find out what your service is. It is
important to have well-written, direct articles on
your site to keep user interest and generate revenue.

A simple way to get excellent articles is to hire a
professional writer to develop them, but that can get
expensive, especially if your site is just starting
out. For many people, it is far more economical to
write your own articles. But before you tackle this
task, make sure that you’re up to it, because the
quality of your articles can make or break your
website or online business. Here are some tips to get
you started.

FORMAT THE ARTICLES FOR THE INTERNET

Online, less is more. When you’re laying articles out
on your site, try to put as much negative space in as
you can. Break paragraphs up and try to keep it so the
user needs to scroll as little as possible to read the
entire article. Also, if you can, include pictures
with the articles. The goal is to make your articles
appear as short and text-light as possible, so users
won’t be intimidated and not bother reading them.

KEEP THE ARTICLES SHORT AND SIMPLE

A way to make the formatting easier is to keep your
articles short. Again, the object should be to require
as little scrolling as possible. The Internet is
called the Information Super-Highway, not the
Information Back Road. People are looking for as much
from articles in as small an amount of time as
possible, so help them out. Keep your sentences simple
and easy to understand, without any unnecessarily long
or academic words. Just be careful not to fall into
the trap of writing like a child. You have to walk a
fine line when writing for the Internet.

BREAK YOUR ARTICLES INTO SECTIONS

Try to organize your articles so that the paragraphs
can be broken up very easily into sections under
descriptive headings. This will make the reading
experience much smoother and faster for the user by
allowing them to pick and choose what they want to
read, as well as helping them find a specific piece of
information when they come back to your inspirational
and enlightening articles. Do your best to make these
headings catchy and fun, not boring chapter headings.
They should draw the readers into the articles, not
keep them away in fear of boredom.

USE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION IN
YOUR ARTICLES

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a mandatory skill
when writing any articles for the Internet. Basically,
SEO is using the same keywords over and over again in
articles so that they are picked up by search engines,
giving your website a higher search engine ranking.
Search engines dominate the Internet, and you won’t
bring much traffic to your site if you don’t use SEO.
There are a number of articles and sites online that
can help you write with effective search engine
optimization technique. One thing to be careful of is
not to use to many keywords in any of your articles.
2.5-4% is usually a good ratio. Any more and the
reader will get turned off by the repetition, which
defeats the purpose of SEO.

DRAFT, DRAFT, DRAFT YOUR ARTICLES

Never accept a first draft. No matter who you are, it
won’t be up to your potential. After you write an
article, put it aside for a day and don’t think about
it. Then come back to it with a fresh set of eyes.
You’d be amazed at what you’ll pick up, both
grammatically and content-wise. Ideally, it won’t be
uncommon for you to write three or four different
drafts of an article before you find the one that you
really like. Never be content with your first attempt.

Anyone can write effective articles for their site
without hiring a costly professional writer. All it
takes is practice and research. Read everything you
can online to see what the writing style is. Imitation
is the highest form of flattery, so find a writer or
group of writers online whose work you admire and copy
their basic techniques. Eventually, you’ll find your
own rhythm for your articles. Having your voice on
your site will add a personalized touch to your site
that users will appreciate, because no one knows how
to say what you mean better than you. The key is to
just keep writing.

David Hudson, webmaster of webcashlink,
business articles author, and a successful affiliate,
can help you with your online business.
Visit: Webcashlink

Article Marketing to Boost Site Traffic

You've been writing great articles for your website or
blog, keyword rich, insightful pieces that should be
studied in marketing classes. You've probably seen an
increase in site traffic since you started writing
using SEO. But there's another way to use the articles
that you're already writing to boost traffic even
more.

Publish Them On Other Sites

It's simple math. Your site receives 200 hits a day.
Site B receives 500. If you get an article published
on Site B, your site and marketing links are exposed
to 700 people.

Unfortunately, this can be easier said than done. You
have to convince the editor or webmaster of Site B
that your article is more worthy of publication than
Joe Schmoe's about the same subject. If you think you
can, then you are all set to start your very own
article marketing campaign and boost traffic to your
site. Here're some hints to sell articles for your
article marketing campaign.

ARTICLE MARKETING STARTS WITH THE
E-MAIL TO A PUBLISHER SITE

E-mail has become one of those quick forms of
communication. We type them out real quick, using the
first words and phrases that come to mind, and then
send them off without a second thought, like leaving a
voicemail. But in the case of article marketing (and
everything else you use e-mail for), the e-mail is the
first writing sample a buyer will read. If your e-mail
is not professional and well written, there is no
reason for a buyer to move onto the actual article.
You will have failed the ever important first
impression.

This is a failure that can be avoided by taking the
time to edit the e-mail. Make sure that there are no
grammatical mistakes, that your sentences make sense,
and that you don't have more words necessary. Other
things like making sure the subject line is eye
catching or addressing the e-mail to a specific person
instead of a company or a "To Whom It May Concern" can
make your article stand out in the crowd.

MARKET ARTICLES TO THE APPROPRIATE
SITES

This one sounds like a no brainer, but at least now
you can't say nobody told you. Make sure that you send
your articles to places that will actually publish
them. This obviously applies to content (don't send an
article about high New York Society to a Mountain
Climber's website), but this also applies to style and
voice and things like that. If you're an edgy,
sarcastic writer, you probably don't want to be
submitting to a serious, boring site. They simply
won't publish your article, and your article marketing
campaign will be a waste.

Also, don't just write an article and then try to get
it published. This method might produce some results,
but they will be few and far between and will require
a lot of time and selling. Instead, write your
articles with a specific site in mind. Go and read
other articles on the site. Know the voice and
structure of the already published articles. Review
the submissions guidelines. Be familiar with policies.
In the e-mail, include reasons that your article is a
perfect match for their site. An article written with
purpose for a specific site or group of sites will be
more successful than one written without a destination
in mind.

GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR

The whole point of article marketing is to convince
people to click on the link to your site that you've
included in your byline. You will lose a lot of
credibility if your article is full of grammatical
mistakes and poorly thought out sentences. Write
several drafts of your articles. Make sure you're
saying what you mean. Once your article is perfect,
have someone else read it to make sure you're not
blind. You'd be amazed what you miss in your own
writing, even if you're a professional editor. Doing
this will A. Make editors more likely to accept your
work and B. Give the reader the impression that you
are professional, which will in turn make them try to
find out what else you have to say.

REFER BACK TO YOUR OTHER ARTICLE
WITH LINKS

If you can, include links in the body of your e-mail
that will lead back to your site. After all, that is
the entire point of article marketing. A good way to
do this is to refer to an article that you've written
in the past that is 'coincidentally' posted only on
your website. People like more information, and if you
tell them there is more on another site, chances are
that they'll go there, and you just got another hit.

Be careful not to overuse this technique. Too many
links will make them commonplace and readers won't
notice them. Including one or two makes them special
and probably worthwhile. Also, don't link to
irrelevant articles. Readers will just get annoyed and
not browse around your site. The object of article
marketing is to get people exploring your site. If
they wind up at a random article, they'll just close
the window and go back to what they were reading,
instead of stumbling across your affiliate marketing
links.

SIGN YOUR WORK

Don't ever forget about the signature or byline at the
end of your article. This should include your name, of
course, but also a link directly to your site's
homepage. You might also consider linking to a few
related articles that are posted on your site. Anyone
who enjoyed the article will take the time to see who
wrote it and what their background or own personal
ventures are, and chances are, they'll click on the
link to read more by you. The signature section is the
climax of your article marketing campaign. It is where
you are trying to guide readers with your article so
they will see your links and visit your site and make
you money. It's that simple.

David Hudson, webmaster of webcashlink,
business articles author, and a successful affiliate,
can help you with your online business.
Visit: Webcashlink