Article writing and making sure you have properly structured your content isn’t difficult if you know the correct formula to follow.
Here is an easy to follow five part formula for successful article writing:
1. Title: You have about five seconds to grab your reader’s attention and compel them to read your article. Your title must pertain to the content of your article. Simply put, what your title tells the reader what your article is about. Your title must pertain to the content of your article, and communicate that to your reader in 10 words or less.
3 Success tips for writing your title:
• Write your article first and then write your title.
• Be sure to include a keyword in your title.
• Write 4-5 different titles and even get an opinion before deciding on which one to use.
2. Introduction: Your introductory paragraph must be short, usually 2-4 sentences long. Optimize your introduction with keywords. A good rule of thumb is to add your keywords 2-3 times in your introduction. Introduce your readers to what your article is about.
Don’t make your introduction too long; you risk losing your reader if you don’t give the information they are looking after the first paragraph.
3. Article Body: This is the meat of your article. Where you give your readers the value content, the answers, the information that your readers are looking for. Give your readers practical information that they can use and you will have a higher likelihood of increasing your conversion rate. Again, be certain that your content relates to both your title and introduction. Not doing this is a turn off for your readers!
4 Success Tips for writing your article body:
• Sprinkle your keywords throughout the body of your article.
• Make your article easy by using lists, either bullet points or numbered lists work well. Long paragraphs make it harder to read.
• Include a photograph when posting on your blog to make it visually appealing
• Use bolding to draw your reader’s eye to important points. Remember many readers quickly scan articles to see if there is content that they find interesting. Make it easy for them to see that your article has the information they are looking for and they will read your entire article.
4. Concluding Paragraph: Like your introduction this paragraph is short, about 3-2 sentences where you quickly summarize your article and include a call to action.
If you are feeling strapped for time here’s 5 tips to help you make the most of your article writing.
4 Success tips for writing your concluding paragraph:
• Keep it short!
• Optimize with keywords, add them into the paragraph 2-3 times.
• Reinforce the main idea/key points of your article
• Include a call to action. Tell your readers exactly what you want them to do with the information you have given them.
5. Resource Box: This is your call to action. The whole point of article writing is to deliver high quality value content that will get your readers wanting more from you. The job of your resource box is to provide your readers with a way to additional content from you.
Use the resource box to provide a link where you share more free content that compliments your article writing. What you don’t want to do is use your resource box to sell a product or your services.
And don’t forget! Always, always proof read and edit your article. You want to put your best foot forward.
Here is a checklist you can to use for article writing:
1. Use spell check.
2. Read through your article thoroughly and remove any unnecessary words.
3. Be sure to have a word count between 350-600 words.
4. Make sure your pronouns and tense are consistent throughout your article.
Aim to create at least one piece of content a week, keep it high quality and focus on topics that your target audience is interested in.
Here’s 7 tips that will help you be a productive writer. My favorites from this article is the tools section where I share what tools I use to create my content and the batching process. If you do anything to help speed up your content creation process those will help you!
