Article writing comes to a speed bump when the beginner has to decide what to write. Remember, ideas can’t be copyrighted. You can’t copy exact words or presentation of an idea. Really, if you think about it, there is very little that is new that you can write about. It is all a matter of putting it in your words – giving it your “flavor”.

One of the things that marketers do to help in their process of article writing is to keep a “swipe” file. They copy and paste phrases, sentences and paragraphs to build their idea files. They never use them exactly but they help to “get the juices flowing” when they sit down to write.

These are some different approaches you might try when you are writing your article.

Sub-headings Point out different aspects of the topic.

Bullet points or Lists Use about 30 words each on about 6 or 7 points.

Question and Answer Begin the paragraph with a question and then provide the answer.

Review Pick a product that relates your own experience and review the product by telling your story.

Take the Other Side Find an article on your topic that includes several points with which you find fault. Write the article from the other side of the topic.

Search Your Topic On GoogleTake notes on all of the results – well, maybe not more than the first couple or three pages. The headlines should give you some ideas that you can use to write articles on your own.

Look Up Your Topic On Amazon Look for reviews or editor’s comments. Use these as a source for quotes and for ideas. Just summarize the review in your own words.

Pro and Con Introduce an argument in first paragraph. Provide 3 or 4 pro’s and 3 or 4 con’s in a bullet list. End with a paragraph that describes your position and why. Acknowledging the counter-argument can actually improve your credibility.

Provide checklists Look for items of importance for a particular problem. Introduce the article with one or two paragraphs explaining what the checklist is and why it exists. Give the actual checklist. It should be fast and easy to read.

In your title you make a promise that you must be sure to deliver in your article. Fine tune your article writing skills to kick start your traffic generation. But remember, quality content is the most important factor.

]]> http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/article-writing-what-am-i-going-to-write/feed/ 1 http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/writing-articles-the-3-parts-of-the-article/ http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/article-writing/writing-articles-the-3-parts-of-the-article/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:02:54 +0000 Carol Smith http://websitewealthwizards.com/blog/?p=71

Structure of the Article

The article should contain

• introduction – you tell them what you are going to tell them

• body – you tell them

• conclusion – you tell them what you told them.

Introduction

The introduction should be about 100 words divided into about 3 sentences.

Sentence 1 you should tell what you are going to talkabout. This is a good place for a definition of something.

Sentence 2 should state what the problem is that you
are going to solve.

Sentence 3 is left to tell them that you are going to
teach them how to solve the problem.

Article Body

There are several ways to approach the writing of the body of the piece. In general you are striving to write approximately 200 words here.

Break your words into paragraphs of 5 to 6 lines at the most. Never use a big block of text. It looks boring and intimidating. Break it up with use of different formatting such as: underline, bold, double dash, etc. Mixing it up throughout the content will give the paragraph(s) depth.

If an article looks hard to read, it will not be read. If it is not read, the reader will never get to your resource box and you have just wasted your time.

In writing the body of the article, the active voice should be used. It is a less complex sentence and therefore easier for the reader to understand. Although the use of active is best, passive is acceptable if it improves the chance to front-load important keywords.

Examples:

Active Joe wrote the book. Passive The book was written by Joe.

Active Who or what did the action to what or whom

Passive Whom or what received the action from who or what.

Use positive rather than negative tone. “Cover the computer.” instead of “Don’t forget to cover the computer.” I say that and then I am going to break the rule right here. Never use double negatives (Avoid not doing ….

Use numerals instead of words when referring to specifics.

Conclusion

This final paragraph wraps up the article. It summarizes the most important aspects and leaves them wanting to know more about the subject. This in turn points them to the Resource Box where you make your offer.

Since article writing is done in order to boost traffic to your website, it only makes sense that you should write articles relevant to the website you are trying to promote. How can it do that? The article that you post on a free content site is there because you want the reader to click on the link at the bottom of the article and pay a visit to your site.

These articles are also available to other webmasters who may wish to publish them on their site. This provides a different opportunity for readers to click and visit. The total number of links to your site increases as the list of your published articles grows and more and more websites publish them.

The more incoming links that your site accumulates, the higher your placement in the search engine results. More and more significance is being placed on incoming links by the search engines – another good reason to write articles with quality content.

As your number of published articles increases, so will your potential customers. Visitors may only browse – some will come back later for something they saw while browsing. Still others will arrive with specific things they need on their mind. They have many choices online. If your article interests them, they are more likely to visit your site and buy your products.

Getting your site known is easier with articles and the resulting links. You can write articles with a not-so-obvious sales pitch that will ultimately draw in the customers.

Spend some time writing articles. Concentrate on content of value and watch your traffic, link popularity and customer interest grow. Before you know it, you will be counting your earnings.

Interested in refining your article writing skills and learning other marketing techniques? Visit Website Wealth Wizards, a free forum with friendly, helpful people willing to share their knowledge in all internet marketing skills. Sign up in the box at the top of the right column.