Great online articles now!

Introduction

Online articles are a great way to increase exposure of your product, service, or more importantly your organization. Once you’ve understood your visitors through intense market research; you begin to understand what kind of industry related information they would be seeking. The articles do not have to promote to your product or service but may subtly serve as promoters of your company in general because:

• The articles tell your online visitor that you are the expert and resource for industry information.
• You will become a reference to many users.
• The articles will be targeted with keywords that many potential customers may search. These terms will be indexed which will drive more traffic to your site for the terms you indicate.

Solve a problem

Readers love the idea of reading an article that solves a problem. For example, writing an article that outlines a list of sales tips is great, but writing an article that outlines common sales blunders and tips on how to fix those blunders, and you’ve got a sale! Always remember, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your online visitor. What would they look for, need, and want to understand from a site or company like yours?

Write catchy headlines and titles

A catchy headline or title hooks the reader into exploring your article in greater depth. If the title holds no appeal, people will move on and click on something new. "How to sell your service by writing articles" is better than "How to write an article."

Additionally, not all of your articles need to be posted on your site. If you would like to create more link-backs and drive more traffic, you need to consider submitting your articles to authentic online magazines and article submission sites. Be smart about your titles in order to ensure that your articles will be picked up; an article is the first thing they will see.

Length

Don’t prolong your article paragraphs too much; because although you are offering an article, it is still online. An online reader is very different from someone that is picks a book or brochure. Try to include bullet points especially at the beginning in order to give your readers a sense of what you will be discussing. The length of the entire article can range anywhere from 700 words – whatever you desire. If you do extend the article to a 25 page document; you maybe offering more than a mere article but a whitepaper which are extremely popular and desired in the business world.

A note on style

The style and tone you take rely heavily upon the topic at hand and of course the audience that will receive them. If are hoping to target executives you will use a more professional and technical tone and style throughout the article. You also probably want to end up writing a whitepaper of 25 pages in order to satisfy them. If you are a technology based B2C company and wish to inform your clients about specific technology software etc, you may want to tone down the technical lingo. Otherwise you will be losing your targeted audience fairly quickly.

Know your target audience

Like I’ve reiterated before, the focus of your article should appeal to your target audience. Not everyone is interested in your message, so include your audience in the title or introduction. When you focus your information, you write more compelling, focused content that your readers identify with. For example: "10 tips for writing web content that works." The title clearly lets you know whether you want to read on or not. And do not post and create articles blindly! Make sure that the articles you create WILL appeal to your target audience through means of surveying them, getting an in-depth analysis of them, and receiving feedback from customers.

Stay on topic

Great articles contain relevant information. If you find yourself drifting off topic, keep the information on the back burner and use it to start a different article later. If the topics are related, you can link one article to the other and give your reader the opportunity to further explore the additional information later. Nothing is worse than starting a topic and ending up talking about something completely different.

Be Neutral

Let your facts speak for you. If your article is worth reading, the facts will become evident in the body of the text. Avoid words or phrases that try to showboat the article without giving any valid information. For example:

"One of the greatest…"
"One of the best…"
"One of the most influential…"
"A significant…"

Also, avoid words and phrases that offer opinions without any significant back up. For example:

"It is widely considered…"
"Some people say..."
"Critics say that…"
"Some people believe…"

Avoid making blanket statements.

Verify your facts before you write them into your articles. For example, "Users read from computer screens 25% slower than paper." This is a blanket statement. It may be true, but is it reliable? You need to do research to verify your statements, otherwise avoid making them. Provide your references at the bottom of your articles to increase their authenticity.

Make informed opinions

If you’re going to give an opinion, make sure you have the authority to do so or get an opinion by someone who has authority on the subject. Remember, you wouldn’t sling around medical advice if you’re not a doctor, and the same goes for your online article.

Always include the source

In order to add credibility to the article, include a source.. It’s also a good idea because it will link your article to your website if the reader wants additional information. This can help you expand your network. Online authors love to be mentioned and may provide you with a link-back when you site their article or blog.