Before I tell you how to write an article that breaks the rules, I have to review the rules of good online articles. First, of all, it is generally accepted that you should ideally have three to seven words in the title, not the fourteen that I have in the title above. Now, why did I break that rule? Because it was a way to get attention. Getting attention is good.
Online articles are generally meant to promote a website. This is accomplished by posting them in article directories where they are both read and also taken by others to use on their websites. The ultimate goal is to give them away and in doing so make money. The basic “rules” that have developed are meant to make this more likely.
For example, the keyword or keyword phrases you are targeting usually need to be in the title, the first paragraph, the body of the article and near the end. This is so the search engines can know what it is about and send people to it. For example, when they type in the keywords “write an article” or “how to write an article,” they will hopefully find this one.
When can you break this rule? Not too often, but you can experiment here. “I Was Attacked By A Bear,” may not have good keywords in the title, but it gets attention and hopefully holds it if you have a good story or good information about avoiding bear attacks. Keep in mind though, that an article like this will not get much search engine traffic. They’ll primarily be read by readers browsing the article directories where you’ve submitted it. Break the rule about keywords only when you either can’t find good one or have already targeted the relevant ones with other articles.
When you write for online publication you normally have to keep an article short. Attention spans are shorter, and web masters don’t want a 4,000-word essay slowing down their page-loading time. The “rule” is about 400 to 800 words (about five to ten short paragraphs), and many directories have a 1,500 word limit.
If you really can’t cover the topic in less than 800 words, you may have to break this rule. Better to have a long article than one that confuses people because you tried to explain things in too few words. On the other hand, if it get’s much over 1,200 words, you might find a way to make it into two articles. You might even have the second part on your website and direct readers to it with the link in your author’s resource box.
How To Write An Article That Makes Money
You get nothing from an article if it doesn’t produce more traffic to your website. It is at your website that you have the opportunity to sell something or collect for clicks on advertisements or make commissions from affiliate products. You get the traffic two basic ways. The first is directly from the link in the author’s resource box at the bottom of the article. The second is from search engines that rank your site more highly because of the incoming links created with your article distribution efforts.With that in mind, here are two rules you probably shouldn’t ever break.
1. Submit to good directories.
The more highly ranked the directory, the more valuable the links from it are. Also, if you know that a directory is used heavily by web masters or newsletter publishers seeking content, that’s a good one.
2. Don’t break the chain.
The title has to grab their interest, or get traffic from search engines for good keywords. The description has to entice the reader to read. The first paragraph has to “sell” the reader on continuing. The body of the article has to keep their interest and leave them wanting more. Finally, the resource box has to sell the reader on clicking that link and visiting your website. These are all links in a chain, and keeping them all connected and unbroken is how you write an article that makes money.
