Article Surfing Archive

If you're moving from print to Web writing, you'll find that there are sharp differences in styles. Since article writing for the Web is highly lucrative, it's worth learning how to do it well. These five secrets will ensure your success.

Firstly, let's talk about WHY article writing is so lucrative online. Understanding the needs of your customers is vital, and those needs involve the search engines. The people buying your articles use them to get traffic to their sites, and ultimately to make sales.

Unlike print articles, articles for the Web are written both for people, and for search engines, so keywords are vital.

So let's look at your five secrets for success.

1. Keyword-rich titles are essential

Clever article titles using plays on words like puns are disastrous online, so while you can be clever and creative in writing titles for your articles, ensure that the words you use are those words (keywords) by which your articles will be found on the search engines.

Although you don't need to be an expert in search engine optimization (SEO) to write articles for the Web, your article buyers will appreciate your care in writing keyword-rich titles.

You'll often be provided with keywords to use in your articles by buyers. If you aren't given the keywords, do a little keyword research yourself.

2. Keep sentences and paragraphs short

In print, your sentences and paragraphs can run on for many lines. However, on the Web readers don't read: they scan. So write short sentences, and keep paragraphs short too. Use more sub-headings and bullet points than you would for a print article.

When editing others' writing, I can always tell whether an article writer has written for the Web before. Dense, long paragraphs just aren't appropriate on the Web.

2. Provide useful information

There's a wide range in quality of Web articles. Some articles barely deserve the name. They can be summed up in a sentence (the title) and are 400 0r 500 words of waffle with keywords inserted like raisins in a pudding.

Article writing is becoming much more competitive. As more and more Web sites struggle to get traffic, the quality of articles becomes vitally important.

When you write quality articles, you'll sell more of them, and you'll be able to charge more, so aim for quality - provide useful information and your career will thrive.

4. Have you answered your promise to the reader?

Web articles always make a promise to the reader; either explicit, or implied. Read your articles carefully to ensure that you've kept that promise.

5. Target your articles - who's your audience?

Before you start writing an article, think about the reader. Who is he or she? Why is she reading your article?

For example, let's say you're writing an article about dog training. This is a wide topic, and has many potential audiences. Your audiences may include: new puppy owners, owners of older dogs with behavioral problems, professional dog trainers, or vets.

You'll write a completely different article for each audience.

Therefore, if you're not sure who the target audience will be, ask the person who's buying your articles. If you try to target several audiences in one article, you'll confuse everyone.

So there you have my five top secrets to article writing success. Take them to heart, and you'll soon be a pro.