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How To Write Effective Articles

By Anthony Harris in Featured

A website is only as good as its content. If people don’t want to read what is on your site, then they will not use your services, either because they don’t trust you or don’t have the patience to sort through the content to find out what your service is. It is important to have well-written, direct articles on your site to keep user interest and generate revenue.

A simple way to get excellent articles is to hire a professional writer to develop them, but that can get expensive, especially if your site is just starting out.

For many people, it is far more economical to write your own articles. But before you tackle this task, make sure that you’re up to it, because the quality of your articles can make or break your website or online business. Here are some tips to get you started.

FORMAT THE ARTICLES FOR THE INTERNET

Online, less is more. When you’re laying articles out on your site, try to put as much negative space in as you can. Break paragraphs up and try to keep it so the user needs to scroll as little as possible to read the entire article.

Also, if you can, include pictures with the articles. The goal is to make your articles appear as short and text-light as possible, so users won’t be intimidated and not bother reading them.

KEEP THE ARTICLES SHORT AND SIMPLE

A way to make the formatting easier is to keep your articles short. Again, the object should be to require as little scrolling as possible. The Internet is called the Information Super-Highway, not the Information Back Road.

People are looking for as much from articles in as small an amount of time as possible, so help them out. Keep your sentences simple and easy to understand, without any unnecessarily long or academic words. Just be careful not to fall into the trap of writing like a child. You have to walk a fine line when writing for the Internet.

BREAK YOUR ARTICLES INTO SECTIONS

Try to organize your articles so that the paragraphs can be broken up very easily into sections under descriptive headings. This will make the reading experience much smoother and faster for the user by allowing them to pick and choose what they want to read, as well as helping them find a specific piece of information when they come back to your inspirational and enlightening articles. Do your best to make these headings catchy and fun, not boring chapter headings. They should draw the readers into the articles, not keep them away in fear of boredom.

USE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION IN YOUR ARTICLES

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a mandatory skill when writing any articles for the Internet. Basically, SEO is using the same keywords over and over again in articles so that they are picked up by search engines, giving your website a higher search engine ranking. Search engines dominate the Internet, and you won’t bring much traffic to your site if you don’t use SEO. There are a number of articles and sites online that can help you write with effective search engine optimization technique. One thing to be careful of is not to use to many keywords in any of your articles. 2.5-4% is usually a good ratio. Any more and the reader will get turned off by the repetition, which defeats the purpose of SEO.

DRAFT, DRAFT, DRAFT YOUR ARTICLES

Never accept a first draft. No matter who you are, it won’t be up to your potential. After you write an article, put it aside for a day and don’t think about it. Then come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. You’d be amazed at what you’ll pick up, both grammatically and content-wise.

Ideally, it won’t be uncommon for you to write three or four different drafts of an article before you find the one that you really like. Never be content with your first attempt.

Anyone can write effective articles for their site without hiring a costly professional writer. All it takes is practice and research. Read everything you can online to see what the writing style is. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so find a writer or group of writers online whose work you admire and copy their basic techniques. Eventually, you’ll find your own rhythm for your articles. Having your voice on your site will add a personalized touch to your site that users will appreciate, because no one knows how to say what you mean better than you. The key is to just keep writing.

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Anthony Harris is an expert online marketer, trainer, and teacher. Head here to http://www.maverickmoneyclub.com to discover how to get up to 19 checks per month, earn upwards of $519.17 per day, make more than a full time income in your online home business in 60 days or less.

A Blog Could Revitalize Your Website

By Ray Carr in Featured

O.K. so you think you have an idea or even a product to sell through your brand new internet business.

Internet marketing is a brilliant business to be in. There are boundless opportunities to run online businesses which can make incredible amounts of money, if you have established that there is a market for your chosen niche or product, and have done the necessary research.

All set, ready to go?

Er, not quite.

You should establish a presence in your market before you unleash your product to the world.

If you are about to start an internet business, then you should be wondering about attracting traffic to your site. There are many advertising options available, but if money is tight, some of these options may not seem practical.

What are the Best Ways to Write Good Copy

By John Beaumont in Featured

Tip one: Reveal any drawbacks to your product.

Let us start with a negative. Eh? A negative?? Sure. If a part of your product/service could be conceived as having a minor flaw then bring this out. Why? No product or service is 100% perfect and by admitting this you will gain credibility and minimize any doubts in your readers mind.

An example might be that whilst your product might make some money by using it the reader is unlikely to make mega bucks from it. This will appeal to someone who just wants to make a little extra cash without building a huge business.

Tip two: The Length of Copy

Surprisingly there is a maxim that long copy sells, short copy doesn’t. However that doesn’t mean that the copy should be too long. Probably between 10 to 20 pages is best. However don’t worry about the length when first writing your draft as this may inhibit your thoughts.

Tip three: Write only short sentences

Try to keep within 15 to 20 words but concentrate on maintaining a friendly and personal style. By all means make each sentence as “punchy” as you can. You are “talking” to a friend don’t forget.

Tip four: Paragraphs should be kept short

As with the sentences you should also try to keep your paragraphs short and to the point. Ideally each paragraph will be only up to six lines. Also ensure that you do NOT use double spacing as this can cause confusions to your reader. This is because the dividing line between each paragraph becomes blurred causing your copy to lose impact.
Not always possible. See below!!

Tip five: Get to the point and use specifics

Keep on track and avoid generalities. If you are promoting a weight loss program then do not say that you lost over 30 lbs. This type of statement is nowhere near as effective as saying that you lost 30.5 lbs. So be specific.

Tip six: Be honest

Under tip five I said that you should be specific and gave the example of losing 30.5 lbs. However do not make this statement if not correct. If you haven’t done something yourself or you can’t prove it then don’t say it!! This is dishonest and unethical and you do not want the bad reputation that goes with it. However if you are sure that someone else has achieved this goal with your product then you can claim that. Please bear in mind that you may be called upon to prove the statement though.

Tip seven: End each page in the middle of a sentence if you can

The reason for this is that it will cause the reader to continue because the brain naturally wants to complete something. I trust that the above tips help you when you start to write copy.

The most important thing to stress is that your copy should be conversational and friendly so don’t worry too much about appearing too formal.

You are in business but you are also their friend.

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Would you like a FREE! “6 Pages To 6 Figures Special Report Reveals EXACTLY How to Build a long lasting and Passive $100,000/yr Online Business. Get it here. Discover the Top secret tactics that the Heavy Hitters are using to make thousands of dollars with little or no effort here.

The Copywriter’s Dilemma: Google or the Public? A SPN Exclusive Article

By Nikki Cripps in Featured

Recently a potential client contacted me to write content for his site for a new product.

The brief was as follows:

“The text is for Google not the public. The language needs to be “normal verbiage” in original copy but does not have to be technical. I want a key word density of 8%.”

At that level of density the keyword would have appeared at least every second line, and this was for a piece of work of 1500 words.

I declined.

I don’t write for Google, I write for humans. Keywords are important – essential – for search engines. But it is people who read the online content, who pick up the phone and who place an order. Who has the patience to read 1500 words with the keyword stuffed in so monotonously that the content becomes unreadable?

But the bigger question is: How did a website owner become so convinced that this was how content must be written? His commitment to the keyword density was unwavering and he even sent me examples of how easy it was to do. It would have been a challenge to make it work but a waste of time for me and the client. I’m not sure if someone out there took up the project – I’ll keep monitoring the site to see if it appears.

Keyword obsession is a dangerous game. The roulette spinner, aka Google, dominates the market for keyword promotion, ably assisted by SEO marketers and companies who have become enslaved to the idea that keywords equal profits and they are the one true path to success. Ten years ago the term “keywords” was not part of everyday lexicon. A search in Google (sigh) returns 301,000,000 results for “keywords.” All of this has undoubtedly contributed to the belief that filling content with keywords so it’s fatter than Santa’s sack is what matters in online content.

While the jury is still out on the appropriate density of keyword frequency (and I’ve seen some SEO companies recommend 10 to 12 percent) a creative approach to including keywords in content can overcome unreadability and obvious stuffing. Well written content, that is engaging, interesting, covers the keywords, answers customers questions, creates trust, and makes the customer want to do business with you is a more successful model than content written with an overblown emphasis on keywords.

As a professional copywriter I ask my clients to send me a list of their top ten keywords, in priority order, along with all the other information necessary to compile the content for their sites. Copy is prepared with the keywords included, but written with the ideal customer in mind. Good copywriters will always have “Think like a customer” as their primary focus. “How will this copy rank in search engines?” should always be second.

Writing for people is far more enjoyable than writing for a search engine, and I’m sure readers respond accordingly. Overuse of keywords alienates readers who feel they are being talked at, rather than communicated with. Why risk your credibility with customers unnecessarily?

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Nikki Cripps is a Sydney based copywriter who writes exclusively for small business websites. She’s been a journalist, public relations consultant and writer for almost 20 years. She is the owner and operator of www.wordsforwebsites.com.

Webmasters: Attract Leads With Great Content – A SPN Exclusive Article

By Stephen Monday in Featured

There are billions of ads on the Web, all flashing the “read me first,” signal.

How can a writer target the right type of leads to their main Page? The answer should be clear. That is clear and concise writing that leaves no room for doubt about what is being said. This allows the intent of the article to be made crystal clear.

When writers begin to ramble, this is when they lose their audience. If you want to attract a specific type of lead to visit your Homepage (where the visitor benefits, as well as the writer) having great content wins out every time.

Poorly thought out copy, and weak messages, are not what good people want to read. After all, there is so much competition – all vying for hungry eyes, the “circular bin” copy will quickly fall to the wayside.

Is this supposed to be a lesson in writing skills, or an article showing you how to grab high-value leads?

It is the intent of this article to do both. If one cannot generate keen interest in what the general topic of the content is about, people simply will not read further – they will go elsewhere.

That being said, the first rule of order for Webmasters who write should be to rev up reader interest.

Doing some good research, fact checking, and stimulating imaginations through great writing skills is imperative to achieve this goal.

Obviously most everyone can type words onto a page, but who can craft copy that is snapped up with enthusiasm?

The point here is to grab the reader’s interest and hold it all the way to the next conversion point.

This conversion may be as simple as to click another link, enter an email address, tweet the message, or “like,” it to Facebook.

Whatever the case may be, if the reader does not finish the content due to poor writing, the objective of the copy itself has failed to do its job.

All copy intends to do something. The main objective of most copy is simply to be read in its entirety.

When you can ignite the visitor’s passion for a certain, or specific thing, you have met the criteria for having your writing accomplish work.

Most lead generation copy does just that. By creating a keen interest in the general content, your copy is working to move the reader forward.

There are many styles of writing, but when it comes to crafting content which people enjoy reading, creative writing always wins out hands down.

Sure, some people who are reading academic style copy enjoy learning something new. However, even this type of copy can be made much more enjoyable, using creative writing.

It is all within the presentation of the message itself. Have you ever read copy which seemed to cause your eyelids to slam shut in disapproval?

Most of the time, a single paragraph of this type of “error in wording,” will cause attention spans to wane.

When interest is lost, people move on to something else. Think about it for a moment. How many times have you simply quit reading something, because it seemed to begin to ramble, lose focus, or did not make good sense?

That itself is the whole point and case of this article. Good writing keeps the person focused intently. It makes points that make sense, and is crystal clear about what is being said. You can learn how to write copy that does this.

It is a learned skill. Sure, some have a gift or generous aptitude for doing such, but no one is born with the skill to write like famous authors without having practiced honing such natural ability.

Words can do amazing things when used correctly. They can stop arguments, create passion, or even start or stop wars.

They can bring joy, euphoria, contentment, or even cause people to take swift action.

They can sell, buy, turn toward, or away, bring favor or discontent, create happiness or unhappiness.

The word is an all-powerful tool in the hands of the user. If you want to bring leads to your homepage, generate sales, or capture emails, you are going to have to use words very effectively to do so.

Readers do not like to feel as though they have wasted their time. If you want them to eagerly read what you have written, you have to feed them with great content.

Anything short of that is going to fall flat. What do I want you to take away with you from this article?

I want you to understand that good, well-crafted content, will win out, hands-down with readers every time.

It will pay you many dividends, and bring sincere visitors to your Web site again and again.

When you can consistently keep your readers happy with your content, they will come and keep coming back for more.

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Get your free Web Sales Page evaluation from Professional Copywriter, Stephen Monday. Please visit: www.AAAWebcopyservices.com. Go to our “Contact Us,” Page, enter URL of the Sales Page and click submit.

SEO Article Writing: 14 Tips For Writing Properly Optimized Articles

By Steve Shaw in Featured

One of the most common areas of confusion when trying to incorporate keywords into your article marketing campaign is how to correctly do SEO article writing.

Do SEO article writing correctly, and you will make your article more appealing to readers, publishers and search engines.

Do it incorrectly, and the article ceases to make sense and appears to be of much lower quality.

Not sure how to write with keywords effectively?

Here are 14 tips to help you write properly optimized articles:

1 – Long tail keywords (usually non-competitive phrases that are 3-5 words long) should be used as the topic of your article.

2 – Use your main keyword phrases in the HTML resource box. Use the main phrase as the anchor text that forms the link going back to your website.

Your main keywords are competitive 2-3 word phrases. By “competitive”, I mean that there are many people searching for this term associated with the topic of your website, but there are also many websites that are competing to satisfy the demand.

3 – Vary the keywords that you target in your HTML resource box. Create a list of 10 or so main keyword phrases and alternate using them.

4 – If you are doing local business article marketing, use the HTML resource box for the keyword phrases that specify your location. Don’t worry so much about trying to incorporate your location into your title and article, but rather write the article on your general niche and put your location specific phrase in your HTML resource box.

5 – Create a spreadsheet or just use a pencil and pad of paper to list your long tail keyword terms. Next to each term, brainstorm article ideas and possible titles that use the term in a natural sounding way. One productive brainstorming session can give you enough keyword-rich article ideas for months.

6 - The term that you are targeting should fit naturally into the context of your article–don’t force it! Always be sure that the key phrase makes sense within the context of your article and is grammatically correct in the sentence.

7 - What if one of your keyword terms contains a spelling or grammar error? Don’t use it. Grammar and spelling errors in your article hurt the quality and make your article less appealing to publishers and readers.

8 – Incorporate your key phrase in the title, of course in a natural sounding way. If possible, try to use the phrase as close to the beginning of the title as you can. If you can get your targeted term within the first 3 words of your title, all the better!

9 – Make certain that your title makes sense and is free of spelling and grammar issues too. Remember, the title is meant to draw readers to your article, so you really want to create a title that is memorable, in addition to having your special phrase in there. You will not always be able to fit your keyword phrase in the first 3 words. If you can’t, then just create a title that is appealing and makes sense and has the phrase in there somewhere.

10 – Your resource box should contain complete sentences, rather than just a hyperlinked key term.

11 – Also, try to work your special term into the first paragraph of your article.

12 – Target just one phrase per article and one phrase per resource box. Resist the urge to pepper your article with the term that you are targeting. That tactic is not necessary, and you end up compromising your article’s quality.

13 – If you put the keyword phrase in the title, then the article must be about what the title indicates. The title must specifically relate to the article.

14 – Always remember that your primary audience is human readers–your article needs to provide valuable information that a person in your target market would find helpful.

First and foremost, write for the real people who will be reading your articles, rather than for search engines.

As you are doing SEO article writing, focus on creating high quality articles that are interesting and helpful, and then you can target a particular keyword phrase in a subtle and natural sounding way using the 14 tips in this article.

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For more info on how you can use article marketing to reach thousands of potential prospects for your website, go now to www.submityourarticle.com/report. Steve Shaw is an article marketing expert and founder of the popular article directory at SubmitYOURArticle.com/articles visited by thousands daily.

Avoiding the Trap of Crap Content

By Enzo F. Cesario in Featured

People are a notoriously self-interested lot. They avoid activities that don’t benefit them, skip events that bore them, and reject content that doesn’t interest them in some way. They aren’t going to go out of their way to read up on an article simply because it has all the information the author thinks is vital and important if they personally feel that article is a waste of their time. Indeed, nothing is a surer waste of someone’s time than a crappy, poorly assembled article. A piece of copy could have the very recipe for successful nuclear fusion buried on page 14, but if it bored readers away on page 9, no one will ever dig deep enough to find it and society will continue to churn out dirty coal and uranium waste.

This raises the natural question: What exactly is “crappy” content? The short and almost tautological answer is “content that people don’t like,” but simply saying that doesn’t get a writer anywhere. There are many kinds of crappy content, each with its own unique reasons for being a dull and uninteresting lump rather than a well-polished gem of online commentary.

Type 1 – SEO Smash

First, let it be said that there are few techniques as important to online brand marketing at this time as Search Engine Optimization. Google rightly can claim to rule the web by means of its indexing power. A recent merger between Microsoft’s software and the Yahoo! search engine was described in terms of its ability to challenge the reigning king, Google, not on its own merits. So, the ability to get content noticed by search engines through the use of keywords, meta tags, and proper formatting is all a vital portion of the content process.

Online Marketing Consultants Say Content is Key

By Paul Marshall in Featured

Websites with more content rank better with the search engines. Any online marketing consultant will emphasize, however, that “more” isn’t enough. For successful SEO, your site needs a steady stream of fresh, relevant content.

Above all, know your audience. Understand what your readers want and give it to them. More content:

1. Feeds the search engines.
2. Encourages return readers.
3. Serves as a keyword platform.
4. Helps distribute PageRank (through relevant internal linking.)

Online marketing consulting emphasizes the need to build site authority. Information rich, relevant text is the most affordable SEO tool at your disposal to achieve that goal.

People Read Differently Online

Monitor resolution, color quality, available light, and the fixed distance and angle of the screen all cause eye fatigue. More importantly, links encourage distraction. Readers routinely jump ship in the middle of the paragraph with no guarantee they’ll ever come back.

Use Inverted Pyramid Structure

To compensate, put the most important information in the first paragraph. Journalists have been doing it for years, well aware that almost no one will read their entire story. Arrange the rest of the material in descending order of importance.

Write To Your Links

If you include a link in a paragraph, continue to control the narrative at the link’s destination. Regardless of where a reader goes in your site, make sure you are presenting a coherent message.

Repeat Without Copying

Don’t be afraid to repeat information, but don’t just copy the same chunk of text. Rewrite repetitive material to vary your keyword phrasing and anchor text. Every page on the site should appear fresh and dynamic.

Forget The Five-Sentence Paragraph

Online readers need more white space to make skimming the text easier. Forget the five-sentence paragraph structure you learned in English class. Keep online paragraphs to three sentences or less whenever possible.

When possible, use a mix of bold, italics and underlining to make skimming easier for the reader.

Keep An Active, Direct Voice

Action verbs create strong web copy. Don’t write that you “have been taught.” Tell the reader what you “learned.” Speak authoritatively, not passively.

Keep Your Text Concise

Work for a length of 500 to 1000 words per page. When an article runs long, pay special attention to paragraph length. Use subtitles to highlight main ideas and to create more white space.

Consider that the average reader reads at about 200 words per minute. Keeping them on a page for more than 5 minutes (1000 words) often isn’t possible.

Choose Common Vocabulary

Write your text on a 9th to 12th grade reading level. There are numerous tools online to measure the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of your text. Most require nothing more complicated than copying and pasting the material to be measured.

Proofread Your Copy

Misspelled words and poor grammar scream “amateur.” Ask someone you trust to proofread your copy. Writers get too close to their words and easily miss mistakes.

Avoid Common Grammatical Errors

Don’t be guilty of the most common grammatical mistakes. Making glaring errors will harm the reputation of your site and tell readers you don’t know what you’re doing. In particular avoid:

• Loose for lose. You lose your car keys. Your Hawaiian shirt has a loose fit.
• Lay for lie. When you have a headache you lie down. You lay your papers on the desk.
• You’re for your. “You’re in for trouble if you don’t mind your grammar.”
• Of for have. “I would have set you straight about this error if I could have.”
• They’re for their. “They’re suffering from the consequences of their bad manners.”
• Effect for affect. “A computer problem affects your ability to work. The effects of the situation may delay the project.”

Know When To Break The Rules

There are always situations that require that the rules be broken. This relates directly to the need to know your audience. Some topics call for a more in-depth treatment and more complex language.

Introduce deeper, more complicated material with a brief synopsis. Make it clear that following the link will take the reader to an extended treatment of the topic.

Formatting is even more important for in-depth material. Try to treat one idea per page with a clear indication of how many pages will follow. This lets readers find logical stopping points and encourages them to bookmark their place and return to finish reading later.

Always Remember The Basics

In composing text for your site, never forget the different mechanics of reading online. Focus on the wants and needs of your audience. Believe the online marketing consultant wisdom that content is king.

Keep the most important information in the first paragraph. Use sub-headings to improve visual scanning. Choose active verbs and clearly understood words.

Control the narrative throughout your site. Repeat without copying. Proofread and correct your work and update frequently to feed the search engines and encourage repeat visits from your readers.

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Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market on a realistic budget. He’s an Online Marketing Consultant offering professional marketing services (and d-i-y Coaching). He also offers Paul Marshall

How To Search Engine Optimize (SEO) an AJAX or Web 2.0 Site

By Daryl Quenet in Featured

One of the three major pillars of Search Engine Optimization is a website’s content, and onsite content optimization. All of the major search engine ranking algorithms have components that relate to the content that is contained on the website. Typically these components relate to Keyword Densities, number of words, content location, and sometimes age of content. In regards to the code that the content is contained in that falls under the topic of structure and not content, and will not be discussed in this article.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) is an advanced web development method which can be used to create more responsive and interactive dynamic websites. AJAX accomplishes this by making object request calls back to the web server without having to refresh your browser, these object calls are then processed and are typically used to update the content of the page on your website that is currently being viewed. For the sake of this Article I’m going to ignore the XML component of AJAX as the search engines never view any of the XML data. Websites that use Javascript to manipulate content without using AJAX will also suffer from the issues described.

11 Things Every Successful Website Need

By Merle in Featured

So you’ve put together a spectacular website, and you’re ready to go live on the Internet for the whole world to see. Not so fast there Bucky. In case you didn’t know, there are a few essential requirements that every site needs to include in order to be successful.

Let’s review, shall we:

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