6 Strategies for Writing Great Articles

**Joe V**

A successful article is one that grabs the reader's attention and promotes reading. To do this, you must first write an article that is easy to read.

How To Grab The Reader's Attention?

Use the Inverted Pyramid Structure
Use Headings
Use Short Paragraphs
Format Text When Appropriate
Use an appropriate text link with anchor text (vs. plain link)
Link to internal pages (ie. your past articles)

Use the Inverted Pyramid Structure

We were always taught to begin an article with an introduction. However, when using the inverted pyramid structure, you start with its most newsworthy info first. A summary is always helpful in this case.

Inverted Pyramid Writing Style

Do you remember the last time you read an article from start to finish? Do you remember why?

Typically, a reader scans a page - looking for something to grab their attention. If nothing grabs them, they will lose interest and exit. This is why it's essential to have the conclusions or key points first. In other words, provide the reason for creating the article first then provide its context/benefits.

Use Headings

Headings are an important tool for organizing content.

Use Headings to break up large blocks of text into smaller manageable sections. It can help make content more visually appealing and enjoyable to read. They allow readers to quickly scan and get an overview of an article.

Use Short Paragraphs

Long paragraphs are difficult to scan. Readers exit the moment they see a large blob of text. Use short and familiar words - no jargon.

Format Text When Appropriate

Do:

Use Headings (H1-H4), Bold, and Italic.
Divide content in short paragraphs
Use a bulleted list when possible.
Break up paragraphs with corresponding images, videos, or other media types.

Do NOT:

Change font-size - stick with the default text size
Use excessive BOLD
Use excessive emoticons. Emoticons are fun, but when used too much it takes away from the message.

Use Appropriate Text Links

When adding links to your article use descriptive text for links.

Which do you think is better?

https://allnurses.com/active-learning-strategy-concept-mapping-t274918/ (Bad)
Active Learning Strategy: Concept Mapping (Excellent)

http://usatoday.com/ is OK.
http://medscape.com is OK.

Don't forget to link to authority sites.

Link to Internal Pages (ie. your articles)

A great way to promote your articles is to link to each other. So when you are writing an article - think about your previous articles. If you believe any would help support your current article than mention it. Use appropriate anchor text vs. just a link.

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Other ideas:

Promote your Profile on facebook, Twitter, personal website, etc
Clear your Profile > Signature and use this space to promote your articles.
Introduce yourself in your Profile > About section

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Stay Active

The first year is critical. It's good to stay active to help increase exposure to your articles. Why?

You have no FOLLOWERS.
Readers don't know YOU.
TRUST is earned not created.