I have been writing articles for several years now, and during that time I have come up with some article writing tips that help me produce a good quality article every time. I’d like to share them with you.
1. Unless you are writing for a technical website, use a conversational tone and avoid jargon. Most people enjoy reading articles written in a relaxed style, and using words that are familiar to them.
2. Your article should be laid out in a logical, easy to follow format. Start with an introduction, and then discuss each sub-topic in its own paragraph. Finish your article with a conclusion that sums up what you’ve written.
Paragraphs shouldn’t be too long, because a large solid block of text is hard on the eyes. A good size for a paragraph is between 2 and 5 sentences.
3. Consider how you are going to present your article to your client. I find that it’s best if you write your article in a font that’s easy to read, like Arial or Times New Roman. Also, save your article as a txt file, so your client can just copy and paste into their website.
4. This in my opinion is the most important of my article writing tips. Be accurate. If you are stating a fact in your article, you must make sure it is 100% correct. You don’t know who will read your article. I once asked someone to write an article for me for one of my own sites on cat health. This writer included a comment that was blatantly wrong, and as a vet, I recognised that straight away. That was not good for their reputation. If you’re not sure if something is true, play it safe and leave it out.
5. Stick to the required word count. Your client isn’t going to be happy if you short change them. While they are unlikely to object to a few extra words, don’t go overboard. They may have a space set aside on their website for your article, and if it is too long it won’t fit. Not only that, if you are being paid by the article, writing a lot of extra words will result in a lower rate of pay for you.
6. While it’s handy to use the spellchecker and grammar checker that is built into your word processor, it’s important that your articles are also thoroughly proof read. Here is another of my favourite article writing tips. When you have finished your article, put it aside for a day before you read it. You are much more likely to notice mistakes after a break from writing.
As you become more proficient at writing, you may discover some handy article writing tips of your own. If you do, I’d love to hear them.
