How To Write a Perfect Article

I asked six leading bloggers for their top tips for writing articles for the Internet. These are their top 10 tips . . . plus four more of my own:

1. Know your audience
2. Follow the 80:20 rule; 80% Preparation: 20% Writing
3. Remember the 4 W’s and an H (Who, What, Why, When, How)
4. Great start, great finish . . . close together
5. Be ruthless with your editing
6. Create gripping headings
7. Use sub-headings, short sentences, short paragraphs
8. Use bullet points
9. Inject opinion and personality
10. Remember that quality is critical

And four points to keep in mind:

11. Keywords are Important
12. Link, link, link
13. Point to related articles
14. A picture is worth a thousand words

Let's look at these in a little more detail . . .
 

1. Know your audience

If you don’t know your audience, you will never be able to engage with them in a meaningful way. 
 

2. Follow the 80:20 rule; 80% Preparation: 20% Writing

You should set how much time you are going to spend on each of your articles. 80% of the allocated time should be spent on planning, research and structure. The remaining 20% should be spent writing. Inexperienced writers do it the other way round.
 

3. Remember the 4 W’s and an H

When planning the content of an article you should always ask yourself:

• Who?
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• How?

And I usually add:

• So what?

 
4. Great start, great finish . . . close together

A really good article will tell people what they are about to find out and finish with telling them what they have learned. The middle bit should explain the facts. The start and finish should be as close together as possible.

 
5. Be ruthless with your editing

Finishing the first version of an article is just the end of the beginning. Then the work starts to make it a really good article.  Be ruthless with your editing. Cut any words that are not essential. You must give as much useful information with as few words as possible.

 
6. Create gripping headings

The heading is the most important five to ten words you will write for each article. If the headline doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, they will never get as far as the first line.

 
7. Use sub-headings, short sentences, short paragraphs

People scan read articles when they are using a monitor. Sub-headings, short sentences and short paragraphs will get more of your article read.

 
8. Use bullet points

People tend to read bullet points because they can be scanned, they stand out within an article and usually convey a lot of information in a precise way.

 
9. Inject opinion and personality

Develop a writing style and voice, which makes your articles stand out from the crowd. Use humor, personal experiences and quotes to engage with your audience.  Express your opinion, even if you know some of your readers will disagree with you.

 
10. Quality is critical

Above all else you must write articles that follow the HEART rule if you want to build a following:

• Honest
• Exclusive
• Accurate
• Relevant
• Timely

And four final points to bear in mind . . .

 
11. Keywords are important

Always write articles for your readers, not for the search engines.

BUT as you are planning an article always think about the most important keywords. These are the words that your target audience will type into Google to find an article like the one you are writing.  Make sure you include these keywords.

 
12. Link, Link, Link

An article increases in value if it links to supporting articles, websites and information. The same applies if other websites link back to your article (which they will if it's valuable). Think links.

 
13. Point to related articles

Once you get someone onto your website, you want them to stay and look around. Engagement, leads to a relationship, and a relationship leads to loyalty. At the end of every article link to related content on your site.

 
14. A picture is worth a thousand words 

Add an image if it complements and improves the article. Don’t add an image if it is just eye-candy.
 

Summary

Writing for the web is different to writing for print. Most readers scan a screen, jumping from the title to the first line and then move their eyes down the middle of the article. Short paragraphs, spacing and sub-headers make this style of reading easy.

Put yourself in the shoes of your readers...but make sure you give them back.