Online readers love free information. They scour the internet daily looking for specific information to solve their problems, help them be successful, live longer or get healthy. You could 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 7
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 the article title sizzle. Dull titles will not capture your reader’s
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 collar. 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 emotion 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.
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