Article Surfing Archive

That little "about the author" or author's resource box at the bottom of your article, is the most important part. Write a great article, get lots of people to read it, and you still might get nothing out of it. Those readers have to come to your website for the article to be of value to you. That resource box is where the link to your site is, and also where the "sales pitch" is that gets the reader to click on it.

What To Say About The Author

What about what you shouldn't say? The 'about the author' box is not a place to brag about yourself. I once saw a resource box that listed eight different degrees and awards the author had received. I didn't click on the link to his website. All those degrees, awards and personal virtues just weren't good reasons for me to visit his website.

What should you say? Start with your name and something about yourself, to let readers know you're a real human. Keep it to one or two sentences, and try to make what you say "about the author" relevant to the topic of the article. This gives you more credibility.

Now let the readers know why they should visit your website. Getting them to click on that link and come to your website is the real purpose of the author's resource box and of the whole article. Exactly how do you do that? Try the following:

1. Let readers know what they'll find on your website.

2. Give them a reason(s) to visit.

3. Make sure the link works.

The Resource Box Tease

Try to arouse the reader's curiosity. My real estate articles with the best click-through rates are the ones that mention the photo of our $17,500 house. Are you curious about what kind of house we could buy for that? A lot of other readers are too! This is a "tease."

After your name and a sentence or two "about the author," include a tease like the example above. Isn't there something they would like to see on your site? It is even better if the tease directly relates to the topic of the article. For example, if your article was on "Six Ways To Make Money With Your Phone," you might say something like, "For more information, including another four ways to make money with your phone, visit ..."

There are other ways to get the reader to click on that link, and you should experiment. Whatever you try, though, once you have written it, try to objectively look at your about-the-author box and ask yourself, "If I had just read this article and this blurb about the author and his website, would I feel compelled to click on that link and visit the site?"