Title:

Writing Articles For The Web That Get Read Is Easy When You Know This

Word Count:

1015

Summary:

Writing articles for the web is a learned skill. And you can learn it. In fact, you can master it. Once a professional writer in the print publishing world, I had feature articles published by some well-known names (Woman's Day, The Washington Post, Family Circle, Christian Science Monitor and more). Fortunately, as a self-publisher online, I'm able to transfer some of my professional print writing skills to this form of online publishing. I don't struggle with writing articl...

Keywords:

writing articles,write articles,article writing,web content,writing for the web,website traffic

Article Body:

Writing articles for the web is a learned skill. And you can learn it. In fact, you can master it. Once a professional writer in the print publishing world, I had feature articles published by some well-known names (Woman's Day, The Washington Post, Family Circle, Christian Science Monitor and more). Fortunately, as a self-publisher online, I'm able to transfer some of my professional print writing skills to this form of online publishing. I don't struggle with writing articles. And that makes filling my websites with useful, well-written information a lot easier for me. But it's not so for everyone. Some people struggle with article writing. Maybe that's you.

Do you struggle with writing articles for your website readers? Do you want to write articles for other newsletters and websites that get free website traffic for you, or just more traffic to your website? If you struggle with article writing or if people don't read your articles, I may be able to help you. While writing content for the web and writing content for print publications is not exactly the same, there is some overlap. Here are some things I've learned about both content formats that might help you write better articles for both web publishers and for your websites.

Your article should have:

ORIGINAL CONTENT - The one word magazine writers hate to hear their editor say is "fresh". Editors frequently use the word as a reason to reject submissions as in "your tips are just not fresh enough". Editors want originality. Their publishers want originality. Readers want originality. Everyone is in agreement about wanting original article content.

But if something has been said or written about a thousand times before, you CAN still say it again. You just need to have your own original spin and be using your own words (that means no plagiarism too). You need to have your own writing style or personality (which you'll develop with time). My research tells me that originality is what both readers AND search engines want from online content. They want original content. The articles at your website need to be "fresh". The articles you submit to publishers need to be "fresh". With practice and persistence and a little bit of diligence thrown in you CAN write original articles for the web or for your website (to add diversity to all those reprint articles collecting on your site).

CATCHY TITLE - The online experts say you need key words in your online article titles or headlines to catch the attention of the search engines in the right way. That means you need to put the term or phrase you think people are searching for on your subject near the front of your article title (or at least somewhere in it). But you also have to remember that you're still writing for readers. So on top of making your article title work for search engine optimization, it still has to entice viewers to read it.

You don't necessarily need a clever article title, just one that appeals to your target audience and briefly describes the article topic. If I'm looking to lose weight quickly you can be certain "Weight Loss - 3 Easy Steps to Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days at Home" will catch my attention. If I want to know what Britney Spears is doing (and by the way, I don't), a title like "Guess What Britney Spears Did Now" will catch my attention and make me read further. But if I'm trying to learn the difference between a flat panel monitor and a flat screen, I'm perfectly happy reading an article with a boring title such as "Flat Panel Monitors and Flat Screens Defined for the Home User". That title addresses my need at the time for specific information I'm seeking on the web. And it has your key phrase "flat panel monitors" right in front too.

GREAT LEAD - The best title in the world won't keep readers engrossed in your article, if the first paragraph stinks. In the print world, editors happily rewrite their writers' leading paragraphs to make the lead just so. There are MANY ways to write a leading paragraph. Just remember that your goal is to intrigue the reader while giving him a clear indication of what he's about to learn in your article. And the SEO experts say the first sentence, or near the beginning of your first paragraph, is a good place to put that key word or phrase once that you're focusing on for the search engines' sake.

GOOD GRAMMAR AND SPELLING - Sloppy writing affects your credibility and makes you look lazy. And it makes for a bad reader experience. If you want to keep readers coming back to your website for the content (or publishers coming back to article directories to use your content), get a grasp on your spelling and grammar. A dictionary and grammar book by your side while proofreading your article will be helpful.

CONCISE FLOW - In high school, many students fluffed up their articles with extra words when the teacher assigned them the task of writing a certain word count. That trick isn't useful after high school (if you ever considered it useful). Most likely you have plenty to say about your topic if you know it well or if you've researched it well. Tight concise writing is as appreciated in the online world as it is in the print publishing arena. Don't repeat yourself or use excessive words to make a point or statement. That will help keep your copy clean. And know that concise writing doesn't necessarily mean short articles. You don't have to write 300 word articles. You don't have to write 3,000 word articles. Just don't write a 1,200 word article that really can be written in 500 words.

It's these writing techniques that make you a professional writer and not a sloppy amateur whose writing for the web doesn't get read. And it's these techniques that will help you to add better content to your website and get your articles published by other websites and newsletters. And good article writing means more traffic for your website.

Title:

Website Promotion: How Articles Bring Visitors To Your Website

Word Count:

1143

Summary:

You’ve built a website and are very proud to be counted among the ranks. Now you’re expecting people to come for a visit. In fact if this is your first website you’re probably thinking maybe I’ll get a few visitors or maybe a thousand visitors. Would it surprise you if I told you that you are going to get very few visitors?

Remember the movie Field of Dreams, 1989? Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer whose dream is to be a baseball player, something his father wanted for h...

Keywords:

articles, writing articles, website promotion, backlinks, promoting a website

Article Body:

You’ve built a website and are very proud to be counted among the ranks. Now you’re expecting people to come for a visit. In fact if this is your first website you’re probably thinking maybe I’ll get a few visitors or maybe a thousand visitors. Would it surprise you if I told you that you are going to get very few visitors?

Remember the movie Field of Dreams, 1989? Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer whose dream is to be a baseball player, something his father wanted for his own life. In the movie he hears voices from players that have passed on. What he hears becomes an aphorism still used today, if you build it he (they) will come. Meaning if he built the ball field his father, shoeless Joe and other baseball players from Chicago would come and he would get his chance. However this is not the case with building a website. Unfortunately know one knows you’re there and you won’t hear any voices telling where to go from here. Eventually the search engines will pick it up and you will get a few visitors that will trickle in but how to get the thousands to come is the question.

Building is just the beginning. You had your fun and now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. It’s called Website promotion. One of the secrets to tons of traffic to your website is to create one way back links. Writing articles is a way to get these back links. The proof is in the article you are reading right now that it works. Any questions?

Yes it’s time to get out the paper and pen like you did in school. People want information. They want to learn something new. They want to feel they have some inside information that no one else has. This is the information age, are you going to give them what they want?

If you have studied website promotion you probably have heard that content is king and if you haven’t then that’s probably good because it is slowly becoming obscure replaced with unique content is king. There are several things you can do to get started. You can buy private label content, (previously written articles) a big no no in my opinion since it indeed has been used everywhere else. You can purchase article generator software that puts a few filler words into your private label content, thus a new article. However I would not go this route as filler words are not usually unique. Another way would be to write the articles yourself.

What am I going to write you ask. If you sell wedding dresses your readers are going to want to know about weddings, picking out dresses and maybe advice about the important day. If you sell travel packages your audience is going to want to know about the best places to see. If you’re a breeder and someone is looking to buy a puppy, you might want to write an article on how to choose one. If you are a guitar salesman your readers might want to know which one is the best. The world is ready for uniqueness and information so here’s your chance.

How does an article help my site and what does it do? Most sites that accept articles for submission allow you a generous author’s bio at the bottom of your article. This is where you are going to give a brief description of yourself as well as the links of two or three sites you may be promoting. Over time you will create thousands of back links to your site that will send google into a tizzy. Back links is how the google determines what websites are worthy enough to have their robots roam upon. Roaming on your site is what you want.

I can’t write anything you say. I feel empathy for you but do not despair, you can hire a ghostwriter. Give the writer your ideas, pay the fee and let them put the pen to the paper. These days to be politically correct it would be fingers to the keyboard. Unfortunately be careful of who you have write the articles. There are some sneaky people out there that will buy these software generators themselves and try to sell you the same articles that I just told you to stay away from. What is worse is at some point you will run across one that has plagiarized someone else’s work and copied it right from the website next door.

Are the wheels turning yet? Now you ask where do I find these wonderful writers. If you will take the time to type in your google search type in freelance writer or other keywords, you will find plenty of people looking for work. The cost doesn’t have to be real high either.

I know you have one final question and that is where the rubber meets the road. What is the cost? You can hire a ghostwriter for pennies per word or sometimes you can pay per article. Some freelancers charge ten dollars or more per article depending on the experience of the writer.

This wasn’t your last question? Ok I have time for one more. What if I can’t afford to pay for these articles; I have a budget that looks like a shoestring. Well you still can write them yourself. There are plenty of free online courses that will teach you what you need to know.

There is another benefit besides the back links you create by writing articles. Once you get a few hundred articles out there relating to your service or product you become the source of information. You become a recognized expert in your field. Folks begin to see your name in your author’s bio and say hey I’ve heard about this guy before. He must know something. Folks turn to you at the source and expert in your industry. This is the time right now to jump on the article bandwagon.

I read somewhere that only fifty percent of Americans are internet connected. This leaves the field for playing wide open. This statistic does not even include foreign lands. Yes you can even market to them as they read and buy too. So only one decision needs to be made and I ask are you going to hire a ghostwriter or do it yourself? Either way is good if you are careful with the articles you buy and making sure if what you have is unique. Are you going to give your customers what they want? If you don’t someone else will. Potential customers want information and remember if you write it, they will read.

Title:

Article Submission Software is an Indispensable Tool

Word Count:

593

Summary:

To be a successful Ezine article writer, one must submit 2 - 3 articles per week to as many article sites as possible. Doing this by hand is simply not possible. An article submitter program saves an incredible amount of time.

Keywords:

article submit, article writing, ezine, internet marketing, publish articles, submit articles,

Article Body:

Ezine article writing is a proven method of generating traffic to your site. No hype here, it works, and it works well. After reading your interesting article, the reader clicks on your link in the last paragraph to learn more. Every article I have read about Ezine article writing has been quite honest in stating that Ezine is a proven traffic generator, but that it requires work. That is does. If you are a newbie, this article has information that will get you off to the right start. If you are an experienced article writer, let us review the steps to see why the process requires so much work, and what we can do to lessen the time required.

The first step is to write an interesting article on a particular subject. The article should be over 500 words, as that is a requirement of most submittal sites. Be sure to read the Submittal Guidelines of each site before submitting your article.

Next comes the preparation of a list of sites to submit your article. The person who said "easier said than done" must have been an Ezine article writer! The accepted guideline is to submit your article to at least 100 sites, but the more the better. Using Internet sources I made a list of 100 sites, but as I checked them out the list was suddenly reduced to 25. Some sites were no longer in operation, some were simply not article submit sites, others were subject specific, not applicable to my subject, and other problems. Eventually, from a list of around 300, I finally compiled my initial list of 100 sites to submit my article. This was a time consuming task.

Next comes the submitting of your article to various article sites. This is pretty straightforward. Visiting a site for the first time will require becoming a member. This involves filling out a short information form, perhaps submitting a photo, and then activating your account from the authorization sent to your listed e-mail address. Subsequent logins to the site are much faster as one can go directly to Member Sign In and then to Submit Articles. Now it is time to submit your article. Select a Category, then cut and paste each element of your article from your word processor to the data input form on the site. Cut and paste the Title, Summary, Body, Resource Box, Bio info, and Keywords into the form on the site. Sounds easy, it is easy, but again a tedious time consuming process.

Recognizing this as a very real problem, a number of innovative companies have come up with tools to lessen the time required to submit an article. No, I am not talking about Robot systems that are frowned upon. In fact, even if such systems were allowed would you really want the article that you worked so hard on, submitted without seeing that it was done properly?

This is where the article submitter program comes into play. These programs allow you to submit your articles to hundreds of article directories and can save you an incredible amount of time in doing so. You simply enter your article details into the software once, and then select the directory you would like to submit to. The software will then, automatically fill in all of the submission criteria for each directory and allow you to quickly submit your articles.

Try one of these programs, and take advantage of one of the easiest ways to submit articles and generate traffic to your website. Stop wasting time on list building and cutting and pasting.

Title:

Choosing a Topic For Your Article

Word Count:

465

Summary:

There are many things to consider when writing an article. One of the main ones is the choice of topic. Choosing a topic you are passionate about is important for several reasons.

Keywords:

articles, writing an article, topic

Article Body:

There are many things to consider when writing an article. One of the main ones is the choice of topic. Choosing a topic you are passionate about is important for several reasons.

· Your writing will not only flow more easily, but your enthusiasm will show through and affect the reader in a positive way.

· Editors like enthusiasm in writing.

· You will know much about your topic, thus saving a lot of time in research.

· Your writing task will be a joy to do.

You might feel that writing in the area of your interest is too limiting, but it is possible to branch out into areas that are similar. For instance, if your area of expertise is in chemistry, then writing about health should not be too much of a learning curve. It will also give you a wider scope for selling your articles. Many magazines have a health section. Health topics can be widened to include such topics as sporting injuries and how to treat them, or nutrition. Nutrition can focus on various age groups. See how the ripples widen? In no time you’ll be able to submit articles to many different magazines or websites and you’ll still be writing with passion and enthusiasm.

Choosing your own topic is easier if you decide to write freelance. You can submit to magazines specializing in that topic, but what happens if you are asked to write about a topic you hate, or know little about? If you are a skilled researcher and writer you will bring all your skills to bear on doing the job correctly. Otherwise, consider refusing. If, for example, you are asked to write about finance and investments and you are not even familiar with the terms used, then unless you are a quick learner and love research, your reputation might suffer.

Publishing articles on the Internet is even riskier to your reputation, since there is not always an editor to scrutinize the details and say yea or nay. You must not only get your facts right, but offer good solid meat in your article. An article that includes the basic information that everyone but the man from Mars knows, will make you a laughing stock in the article world.

For example, everyone knows that Fido needs to be fed, watered and exercised properly to be a happy doggie. But does everyone know that his drooping ears need to be inspected carefully for ticks or disease? Do they know the symptoms of a certain disease that particular breed is prone to and what to do about it? Have they heard about that old remedy that will save them a bomb at the vet? If you can provide information such as this in your article, you will soon have a happy readership.