Posts tagged: articles

Easy, Breezy Tips For Better Articles

I’ve written thousands of articles down through the years, probably averaging more than 2,000 of them annually. That number includes my magazine articles and other published works averaging 750 to 1,200 words, but the vast majority of my “reads” are in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 words and are published online.

Yes, I make my living through full-time writing. The pay varies as do the projects, but I’ve managed to come up with a good balance of customers, people I can count on to pay me on time. Okay, except for the one soon-to-be former client who still owes me money, but is in the process of making amends in the face of escalating payment requests from me. Ahem!

That’s another story.

What I want to share with you today is a formula for good writing that works well for me. I use it consistently on websites I own or manage and provide a similar style for my clients.

Brief, Catchy Headlines – The character limit for headlines is 80, with the optimal being 60. I prefer to write them in 40 characters or less. This headline is 36 characters and gets straight to the point. My keywords here are “better articles” which I stuck in at the end. In this article’s case I’m not concerned about  optimization (SEO), but generally that is a top concern when I am writing.

Photos, Please – I cannot remember the last time I wrote an article for online consumption that did not include a photograph. Pictures serve as eye candy and I like to include one with each article. More, if the article is about a special product such as a new car. Some photos get captions, other do not such as the one I’m using with this article.

One, Three/Four, One — Every article I write includes an introduction, three to four main paragraphs or more and a concluding paragraph. I’ve seen many people post article without a conclusion, but I’m old school — I like to wrap things up nicely.

Resources and References – Even if I’m not writing for an academic or news source, I will include one or more resources and will always reference whomever I cite. That’s just good practice and is appreciated by my readers who trust me to be thorough and offer attribution. On this site I don’t do that as much because I’m conveying personal (expert) opinion.

There are variations in my personal rules with my styles adjusted to suit the customer or align with my mood. In any case, writing is rarely a struggle for me as long as I’m interested in the subject matter and desiring to convey my thoughts for all the world to see.

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categories SEO, Writing | , 11 Dec 10 | comments Comments (7)

Sins of Omission: Leaving Facts Out, Please

I absolutely love to write and cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I’ve crossed paths with many people who feel the same way — “words” are the foundation of our profession and, similar to a sculptor working with a block of clay, words can be made into something beautiful!

Sometimes we can be too thorough in our writing. No, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be detailed when offering specific guidance as when sharing “how to” instructions. With this type of writing you must walk someone through each step so that they can grasp how to complete a particular task. Omit just one point and you’ll leave the reader frustrated, their task left undone.

Let me give you example of when it is a perfectly fine time to leave out some information: when you blog. Yes, your own site — the place where you dispense important information, depart knowledge or otherwise seem to know what you’re talking about.

By leaving out some information, you invite people to do what you want them to do: leave a comment or engage in an ongoing discussion.

For example, let’s say your topic is “collecting money from past due customers.” In your article you can offer ways to get money including writing a letter or making a phone call, but you can leave out the obvious: suggesting that past due accounts be referred to a collection agency.

You “knew” that the collection agency suggestion was an option, but you wanted someone else to mention it. Furthermore, you want your readers to share their experiences and what steps they took to get their money.

Yes, you performed a “sin of omission” by purposely leaving out at least one important fact. Sounds simple, right? It is.

And it should be something you do from time to time as a way of eliciting comments to build up a discussion. Don’t do it all of the time either because if you profess expertise in a certain area, you’ll come across as someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about or appear incompetent as you leave out an obvious step.

I know that these types of articles “work” from personal experience because when you leave something out, you’ll get several comments from readers. You can then engage your readers by adding in your comments, perhaps building a discussion far longer than the actual article itself. My blog statistics reflect that the articles with the most comments are those which have the most traffic. And traffic is the lifeblood of all things Internet.

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categories General | , 12 Nov 10 | comments Comments (1)