How to Write a Great Online Article

It’s no secret these days that when it comes to SEO, content is king. That is to say that the quality of the content on your website is key to its success in the search engine rankings. Google especially now favours sites that have high quality, regularly updated, relevant content.

But content isn’t just required for the search engines. Great content should grab the attention of your customers and potential customers, engage them and keep their interest. More importantly now than ever, web users are looking for content that they learn something from. Internet users are constantly seeking the answers to questions and what better way to market yourself/your business than providing those answers.

One of the most effective ways of doing this is through articles or blog posts. So many companies these days have a dedicated ‘blog’ section on their website. A good blog should not only provide answers to relevant questions, it will also gain the trust of its readers and ultimately build a following.

If you are thinking of creating a blog for your business’ website, check out these tips for writing a great article:

• Grab attention – someone will only continue to read your article if the title and opening line or two gets their attention. Write a concise title for each article that grabs attention and accurately summarises the topic of the article. Make sure the opening lines are interesting, to the point and entice the reader to read on and find out more.
• Select the appropriate tone – think about who your target audience is, what identity your business and brand has and use a tone that is relevant and appropriate. Make sure your tone is consistent across your articles and posts.
• Think about structure – it is proven that big blocks of text put people off reading. Splitting an article into smaller paragraphs (i.e. 2-3 sentences per paragraph) will make it more appealing to read. Lists and bullet points are also great if appropriate for the particular article you are writing.
• Make it personal – communicate directly with your reader by using the word “you”. It’s also beneficial to use “I” and “we” where appropriate as it adds a more human element to your writing.
• Learn from traditional journalism – remember that just because you are writing an article that is to be published online rather than in a newspaper, it doesn’t mean your writing should follow a different structure entirely. Yes, writing for online usually means you can be far more informal than writing for a newspaper but there are some great lessons you can take. Mickie Kennedy outlines “5 Things Bloggers Can Learn From Journalists“:

1. Get your facts straight
2.  Trust has to be earned
3. Give credit to your sources
4. The inverted pyramid works
5. Editing and proofreading are essential

Remember, the better quality your article and the relevance to your customer and potential customer, the more engaged they will be and the more they will interact with your post through a comment, ‘share’, ‘like’, ‘retweet’ or more! Thus not only will Google be rating your content for its quality but also for the web of links to it across the net.

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