Choose your topic.
First, you need a topic. The topic needs to relate to your business, but should not aim to sell your wares. A good article for the web offers general information about the topic to keep people informed. If folks like what you have to say, they'll pick up the phone and call you. The key is to find a topic that other people haven't already covered.
Determine your audience.
Before you start writing, you must decide who you're writing to. What are they thinking? What concerns them? What are they worried about? What is they're mindset? Do they need to be educated? Make your words line up to who you are writing to. If it's everyday people, use a conversational tone. If you're writing an intellectual treatise, better to use a more formal writing style. Writing to the rich? Use words that convey luxury. Writing to the working moms? Use words that relate to children and life balance. Whatever you do, write to the individual reader, not to a group.
Select the purpose of the article.
Your web article should have a purpose. Is it to be persuasive? Educational? Informative? Editorial? You need to have a reason for writing your article and keep the purpose on the forefront as you write. No one wants to read an article that meanders to no where or is wishy washy.
Research your topic.
Your topic should be well-researched and thorouugh, leaving no stone unturned on your topic. It should also provide references of sources used in it's compilation. During the research stage of article writing, I gather facts as though I'm writing a research paper. I then put the link where I found the information beside the facts for showing on the article. This helps give credit where due.
Write your article.
When writing your article, keep your topic, purpose and audience in mind. Use short-choppy sentences to get your point across directly. Remember, people scan the web--they don't read it, so make sure you use plenty of eye-catching titles, bullets and bolded words to guide the eye along. Try not to use big words, but keep it simple for easy scanning.
Cite sources of data.
A good article should contain information from a variety of sources. Reference the source to the information you garner by providing a link to the web site where you obtained the data. Make sure to only include reputible sites in the citation of your article. Citing your sources will help you gain credibility.
Edit your article.
As the saying goes in the writing field, "Edit to the bone." Get rid of all uneccessary words and sentences. Don't fall so in love with what you write that you're afraid to remove it from the page if it doesn't fit with the flow of the article. Read the article aloud to pick up on inconsistencies you wouldn't catch otherwise and make sure to spell check.
Write your byline for the article.
Your byline is a brief description of who you are, what you do and where you can be found. The byline is where you gain credibility with the reader, so make sure to build yourself up here by showing your expertise and credentials. This is the prime place for a keyword-rich, anchor text link back to your blog or Web site.
Distribute your article.
Once your article is complete, it is ready for distribution. You want to get the article out on Web sites so people can read what you have to say. I am developing a list of Free Press Release for sending my own articles. Feel free to use the list and submit your articles to those same sites. When submitting, keep in mind that each article service has its own Writer's Guidelines that you must follow. It can be a slightly tedious process to submit articles because of the differing requirements of the submission sites, but the value such content brings back to your site in traffic is worth it.
Conclusion
Writing articles for the web gets easier as you go. The key is taking time to write well. There are plenty of sloppy articles on the web because it's so easy to publish what you write on your blog or Web site, but yours need not be bad. Take the time to develop your topic, purpose and to consider your audience first. Then research your subject thoroughly, sort references of where you gathered your data and edit your work. Once you're done, submit your article to Article Submission sites for distribution throughout the web. If your content is good enough, it will eventually be seen by anyone looking for info on your topic.
I'm here for you!!!
If you have questions about writing articles for the web, feel free to join my Facebook Network and post a question on my wall. I would love to help you!
~ Jenna Ryan
