This is 7th post of a series of posts on article writing.I will advice you to read earlier articles of How to write an Article series first.Earlier articles of this series are-
How to write an Article Part-1 , Part-2 , Part-3 , Part-4 , Part-5 and Part-6
In this post I will tell you about last step of "Article pathway" ,i.e., Proof Reading.
Proof reading is one of the most easiest step in article pathway and also the most overlooked step,particularly by the newbie bloggers.This last step has got particular importance and you should pay a particular attention to this step.
Why one should proof read their work? Every one makes mistake.Even most successful bloggers make mistake.But the reason why their mistake is not visible to the readers is that they proof read their content.
Before publishing your content you must check for spelling and grammar mistakes because too many spelling and grammatical mistake can hurt your reputation as a blogger and also mask your information even if it is valuable one.
Suppose you have a great content or tips for your reader but you have committed too many mistakes.So, what happens due to those mistakes you lose credibility and mistakes mask your content even when it is great.
How one should proof read their content? The method of proof reading is quite simple.Just read your content time and again.You will get many mistakes in the way , just correct those mistakes.Many bloggers use spelling checker software for this.
Should one rely on spell checker software? Many bloggers rely on spell checking software to proof read their content.My advice on this issue is just use spell checcking software as complementary tool not as an alternative.Any of software available can't replace human brains.
One good method is to first use a spell checking software and then proof read yourself.
How many times one should proof read? Well, this depends on the person who has written the content.One good method is to proof read until you are not getting any mistakes.For some folks it is 2-3 times.For me it is 5-6 times as I am from non-english speaking country and ,so, I commit many mistakes.
This ends my post as well as entire "How to write an article" series. To sum up things I said in this post-
Proof read your post until you are not getting any mistakes.Use spell checkers first and then read the content yourself.
This is 6th post of a series of post.I will suggest you to read previous 5 posts of this series before heading to this one. Previous posts in this series are-
Article pathway (Part-1) , selection of topic (Part-2) , Researching (Part-3) and Keyword research for your articles (Part-4) and,How to write Title of Your Article?
.Read these posts if you have not read it yet.
In this post I will tell you some really good tricks to write better content for your blog/journal.
I classify my article into three parts-
- First paragraph
- General Body
- Last Paragraph
First Paragraph of Article :
First paragraph of an article is of particular importance, because it is the curiosity generating paragraph.If I refer title tag as advertising banner then first paragraph is the text written on that banner.There are two ways to generate curiosity from first paragraph-
- Write what you are going to tell in the article.I have seen most of the successful bloggers using this technique.Most of the successful bloggers will tell you what they are going to write in the article in their first paragraph.
- Create questions and answer them in the paragraph that follows.This is even better way of writing first paragraph.Just ask some commonly asked question on the topic in your first paragraph and promise to answer them in following paragraphs.If people visiting your site are hunting for the answer of those questions then they might read all of your content.
General body of Article :
This part is meant to put all your information for readers.There are certain tips to write this part of your article which I would like to share with you.
- Use
tags, bolds , italics and different font colours to emphasize your point.This helps readers by easily getting your important points even if they don't read your entire post. - Write short paragraphs of 3-4 sentences.
- If you have promised to answer some questions you have asked in first paragraph then answer those questions in most possible lucid way.
- Use each of your selected keywords about 4-6 times.This is particularly important for search engine optimization.
- Use bullets and ordered lists.
- Write in simple way to make your point easily understandable to anyone.
- Prove your point by citations, quotes from other websites.Give examples to make your point understandable.
- Write to the point, don't drift away from one topic to another.
- Use images.Images draw the attention of your readers and also help them to understand the point in discussion.It has been observed that articles having images get more hits than other articles not having images.
The last paragraph of Article :
Last paragraph has got multiple usage and is no less important than other paragraphs.You can use your last paragraph for following-
- Summing up- Most of the bloggers use there last paragraph for summing up what they have said in the article.
- Information about next post- Last paragraph can be used to tell your readers what topic you will cover in your next post.
If first paragraph is the advertisement of the same article then last paragraph can be used to advertise your any other related post or your upcoming post.The idea is if visitors liked your article they might be willing to read some more posts from you and they will find an immediate link to one of your related posts in that paragraph.
This ends my post on content writing.Once you have completed your content writing , you must proof read your article for any spelling and grammar mistakes.This will be the theme of my next post.
Next and last post in this series is How to proof read your article
Read more.....
In this post I will tell you about next step of "Article Pathway" ,i.e., How to write a 'killing' title for your posts/articles.
The title part of your article is very much important as it is title part of your article that people see first and once your title makes them curious or attracts them they go on to read your content.
Also, search engines are title lovers ,so, cleverly chosen title can bring a boost to your search engine optimization campaign.
Title also plays some role in bringing in some traffic for you,as title parts are almost always shown on the snippet of the search results page.The more beautifully you have wrote your title the more chances are there that people will visit your site from search results page.
You can't write a good title if you don't know what a good title is?If I have to define a good title then I would define it as-
A good title is one which-
- Is appealing to the visitors.
- Contains your primary keywords.
- Is neither too long nor too short.
- Is written in simple way without use of jargons.
Now I would discuss each point listed above in a bit detail.
Let me take the first point- By saying a title should be appealing to the visitors I mean to say- title should attract visitors, should make them curious.
For example,Titles with terms "How to", "Tips and Tricks", "Secrets" and " Tutorial" are most famous ones because they make enough curiosity in visitors mind.
A title should be able to draw attention of your readers and funnel them to rest of your articles.
"Good titles set your posts apart from the clutter around them and then draw readers into your post. Grabbing attention might happen using tactics of ’shock’, ‘big claims’, ‘controversy’ or even ‘confusion’."
These are the words of Darren of problogger and I must say I firmly agree with him.
I would now quickly come to the next point- A title should contain 1 keyword,which is your primary keyword. In my post on keyword research I told you about keyword research process and method to select 5 appropriate keywords for your articles.Choose one keyword (the least competitive one) from those 5 and use it in your title.Most people are of opinion that only one keyword should be used in the title part.I must say I agree with them.
Using more than one keywords may cause dilution of your effectiveness of title.
A good Title should neither be too short nor too long.Now the question is, what should be regarded as too short and what should be regarded as too long?The views of different people are different.Some say a title should be around 40 characters long while some are of view that it should be 70-90 characters long.
Before putting my view on this, I would like to ask a question.Why length of title is so important?
A title should be the mirror of your article and should clearly depict what you are going to write in your article.Secondly,it should fit in the snippet of the search results pages.So, a title should be long enough to describe the theme of your article and short enough to fit in the snippet on search results pages.
Look at the snippet shown above.The first line (in blue) is the title field and it is 63 characters long before those dots appear.This shows a snippet can contain at most 63 characters for title.Thus, it is clear that your title should be at most around 60 characters long to fit in a search page's snippet.In my view you should write a title which is 40-65 characters long.
I will now jump to the last point- A title should be written in simple way without use of jargons.The idea is that simple titles are readily understandable.How can you expect a visitor to read your article when he doesn't understand your title at first place? So, keep it simple and avoid using jargons and technical terms unless it is extremely needed.
I would advice you to take some time to write your title and never forget to include your primary keyword in it.
This ends my post on titles.My next post in this series will be about writing content of your article.Have you ever thought why some people are able to write good content and majority others are not?Read my next post on 'how to write content part of your article' to get the answers.
In the next post of this series I have discussed about how to write good content in your article.Check out this article.
Other post in this series is-How to write an article part-7.
Before I tell you about keyword research and selection I would like to tell you about importance of keywords and what comprises good keyword.
- Frequently used by people to make searches in search engines.
- Is less competitive ,i.e.,relatively lesser number of websites are targeting that keyword.
- Can be used time and again in the article/posts.
For finding such keyword you have to go through a series of steps which is called as keyword research.
Keyword Research
Keyword research process involves a series of three steps which when followed in proper way can help you choose your best keyword/keywords.The three steps are-- Keyword discovery
- Keyword analysis
- Keyword selection
Keyword discovery-
Keyword discovery involves identification of as many keywords relevant to theme of your article as you can.In my post How to write Articles??-Part 3 (research) ,I have said you should make a list of 20 keywords that other websites /blogs are using while you are researching for your content.
Next get other 30 keywords from overture,wordtracker and Adwords keyword tool.So,now you have a comprehensive list of 50 keywords.This completes the first step ,i.e. ,Keyword Discovey.Now lets jump to the second step-Keyword analysis.
Keyword Analysis- Keyword analysis is the most important step in keyword research process and should be done with utmost attention.In keyword analysis you analyze what keywords are most used by people to make searches in search engines and how many websites are using those keywords.
This is important as you have to choose a keyword which frequently used to make searches and relatively lesser no. of websites are targeting those keywords.
Thus,Keyword analysis involves analyzing two things-
- Analysis of Search volume
- Analysis of Competition
When you open the overture keyword tool site and make a search for a particular keyword then overture produces a list of suggested keywords and to the left of each keyword there is count column which shows how many times that keyword has been used in the past month. More is the count better is the keyword.Make a list of keywords that have high counts.
When you open the adwords keyword tool, you will see a page like this-
You should particularly focus on average search volume out of the three columns I have encircled.The bar in that column shows the amount of search volume.More filled is bar more search volume that particular keyword has got.This gives a basic idea of what keywords are being used by the people.
Now the question is,which tool should be used, overture or Adwords?The answer is both.This is becuse by using both tools you have avery refined results on keyword analysis.
Based on search volume stats gathered through overture and adwords keyword tool make a list of 15 keywords which generate more search volume out of 50 you have discovered in previous step.Once you have selected your 15 keywords you would now analyze thes 15 keywords for competition.
Analysis of Competition-There is a very good method for analysis of competition.This makes use of google search.Whenever you make a search in google then the results page looks like this-
Look at the top right side of results page (which I have encircled).The number shown (in this case is 887000) is very much important.This no. shows how many websites are using the keyword that has been used to make the search.Lower is the no. lower is the competition.Now make a search for each of your 15 keywords which you have selected after 'analysis for search volume' step.Let us suppose you get the no.s n1,n2,n3........n15 for your 15 keywords after making search in google.
Now you are done.Choose the keywords whose values are minimum.Choose 10 keywords whose values are minimum as compared to others.These keywords are the best keywords for your article or blog as they have least competition.
What next??You don't have to use all 10 keywwords in your article.You have to select 5 out of 10.This comprises the next step, the keyword selection.
Keyword Selection-
This step is probably easiest step in keyword research.Out of 10 keywords you have selected choose five keywords which you think you can use time and again in your article.And keyword selection is done.
This ends my topic on keyword research.In the next post of this series I have discussed the next step of "Article Pathway" ,
In next post of this series I have written about, How to write the title of article?Check out this article which answers many of the questions related to titles.
Other posts in this series are- How to write an article Part-6 , Part-7.
My goal in this post is to offer you realistic training and tips to help you research in right direction with right researching methods.Most people think researching is necessary only because you have to get some useful and informative content for your article. Researching method-For proper researching you have to follow certain steps (in sequential manner). Now you might be wondering why I have told you to make a list of 20 keywords.I have answered this query in my next post.So,don't miss that post and get answer in Part-4 of this series. Other post in this series-How to write an article- Part-5 , Part 6 , Part 7.
But utility of researching is not only limited to collecting contents but researching can also be used for some other purposes which I will discuss in paragraphs that follows.
Before I proceed I would suggest you to read my earlier posts-How to Write Articles??-Part1 and Part2 if you have not read it yet.
There is a purpose behind everything you do and researching is no exception.First of all I would like to tell you the purpose of researching.The purpose of researching are-
In previous post I have discussed the "Article Pathway".If you dont know what article pathway is just read my article-How to Write articles??-Part-1.In this post I will tell you in detail about Step-1 of article pathway, i.e,How to select topic for your articles?
Writing articles start with the selection of topic.Most of the blogs/websites will tell you two methods of selecting a topic.These are-
- Select a topic in which you are interested. or,
- Select a topic in which people are interested.
But both these methods have some disadvantages.The first method has a disadvantage that people might not be interested in a subject/topic in which you are interested.Thus, you might not get the traffic you have desired.
The second method will take away the charm of writing as you may not be interested in a topic in which people are interested.
Furthermore,writing without charm will also hamper your skills of writing as your disgust will be mirrored in your article.
What I am going to tell you is a middleway between both these methods.Read on the next few paragraphs as I will disclose the right way of selecting a topic.
Prior to selecting a topic make sure that whatever topic you are selecting is related to the theme of your blog or website.After that proceed in following manner-
- Select a topic in which you are interested and not in which people are interested.This is because selecting a topic of your interest doesn't kills the charm of writing and also helps because you have basic ideas about that topic of interest.
- Once you have selected a topic of your choice just go in some forums and look what questions people are asking about that particular topic.
Let me take an example.Suppose you are interested in Tourist Places in India and decide to write about some tourist spots in India.So,go into travel forums and look whether people are interested in historical places or hill-stations or sea beaches.If you are able to pin point what people are looking for in that particular topic of your then half your work is done.Just answer the questions people are asking in your article.
This way you are able to select a topic of your choice and also make sure you are giving answers to questions people were looking for on the topic you have selected.This ends my post on selection of topic.
In the next post I have told you about right approach to research (Step-2 of article pathway and part 3 of this Series).You might have read how important it is to research for writing articles.
But nobody tells a good method of researching.I will tell you the complete methodology of researching so that you are able to write good articles with plenty of informative content.
I have always been a supporter of using archives on the inner pages to make my SEO campaigns more effective.You can get an account of benefits of using arcives in inner pages in my post Organic Search engine optimization (SEO) part-3.
And now i have decided to use archives on this page (the page you are at the moment).I will tell you the trick of using archives on inner pages in blogger hosted blogs later in one of my posts.
Writing on a print media and on a blog/site is entirely different thing.While writing in a print media you don't have to bother about keywords and search engine optimization.But while writing on a blog you have to take care of these points failing which you may not be noticed on the net and in blogosphere.
This makes blog writing a bit more difficult than writing anywhere else.In this series of post I would tell you about the art of writing a blog.
You can't be a master of something if you don't know the definition of that 'something'.So, I will start with definition of "article".I will define article or blogpost as-
"A written piece of information which is primarily written for human beings and is also search engine friendly."
Now extract three phrases from this definition-
1)"Piece of information"-
This means your article should contain some useful information.A visitor comes to your blog or any other blog in search of information ,so, you must have some useful information in your article.
2)"Primarily written for human beings"-
This phrase is most important.You should be writing articles to help your readers.The article should be in simple language to make it understandable for anyone.I come across some blogs which are primarily optimized for search engines to get high rankings.While high search engine rankings can bring you some beefit but in the long run it will not be beneficial for your blog.Write for humans first and then consider robots.
3)"search engine friendly"-
The article should contain useful keywords to get traffic from search engines.Remember use keywords cleverly in such a way that it doesn't defeats the purpose of making the article for human beings first.While writing online you have to consider search engines and optimimization because if you entirely omit search engine optimization then you remain unnoticed and there is no point writing or saying something when nobody is listening to you.
Now I am coming to point on how to write articles for your blogs/websites?
I follow some steps for writing articles.I call these collection of steps as "Article Pathway". (self coined term)These Steps are-
Step-1 Selection Topic
Step-2 Research
Step-3 Keyword Research
Step-4 Writing a 'Killing' Title(Becuse the first thing your readers will notice is your Title)
Step-5 Writing first paragraph to generate curiosity(So that readers read your entire article)
Step-6 Writing general body of Article
Step-7 Last Paragraph of Article (Use this paragraph to generate curiosity for your next post or just sum up what you have said in your article)
Step-8 Proof Reading
Each and every step has its own importance.So,you should pay attention to every step in order to write good article.I would advice you to proceed in sequential manner ,i.e.,follow step 1 followed by 2 and so on.
I will write about each and every step in quite detail in separate posts.
