Want to write an article that attracts and engages your focus audience? Are you stuck on writing long-form in-depth research articles?
Well-written articles help you to connect with your audience and provide significant benefits. In this noisier world grabbing and maintaining attention is not an easy task for a writer. But don’t worry; we’re here to help. We break this into nice and easy-to-follow steps.
Before diving into the writing world if you want to know “What is content writing and how to get earn with it?” click on it otherwise read on.
What is an Article?
An article is a written piece of information used to engage, attract, and influence an audience on a specific topic. We often have different types of articles in newspapers, magazines, and websites.
The well-written article includes facts, personal insights, and expert opinion in a logical flow. Articles allow writers to share their knowledge and insights on various platforms and establish thought leadership.
Example:
Let’s say are a finance master and want to teach people from your experience. But how can you do that? You can teach those who are near to you. But you want to extend your knowledge to everyone regardless of location. The solution is “article writing”.
By writing finance articles you can share your knowledge and expertise across the globe. Without any boundaries.
Why are you Stuck on Writing an Article?
The question that comes to every single writer and sucks them. Why am I stuck? Is I a good writer? Sometimes you write a whole blog or article within an hour and still feel motivated. On the other hand, sometimes you sit in front of your screen and hours pass but you can’t write a single paragraph. This is terrible, right?
I completely understand this. Even when I started writing my first blog I was also stuck and my brain was just dead. Take a look at my first blog.
But over time I start brainstorming my mind and applying different techniques to write better. This is the worst night for every writer to just sit and stare at the screen with just a moving cursor and a blank mind.
But not more there are many techniques that you can use and get out of this worst nightmare.
- Most new writers have an inferiority complex. But wait that is not only with new writers but also some experts have this feeling. While writing you don’t have to compare yourself with others. As Anne Lamott says: “Almost all good writing begins with a terrible first effort.” If you wasting your time on just this shit you cannot be a good writer. You have to start from somewhere to lead this chain.
- Blank Page Syndrome: Nora Robert says “You can’t edit a blank page.” If you just sit and think about how to write a perfect article? what to write? If you just procrastinate and fear putting your words on paper you cannot write. To overcome this you have to start writing what you think. You can edit and polish it but only if you have something on work.
- Planning and Prewriting: One of the biggest reasons for failure is people don’t plan what they are going to write. Preplanning is the backbone of writing. When you create your first draft of writing it becomes easy to put words and make a perfect copy.
As the famous quote says “Every battle is won before it’s ever fought”. When you already do the research, brainstorm ideas, identify your audience, and set clear goals it becomes less daunting for you to write. Planning gives you clear direction.
Foundation of an Effective Article Writing:
The foundation of article writing is essential for creating engaging and impactful content. Understanding these will enhance your writing, regardless of topic or audience.
1. Know your Audience:
Have you ever wondered how HubSpot, Neil Patel, and many other writing companies get so much traffic? The secret is they figure out their targeted audience and their interest. Understanding your audience is important for effective content marketing. If your content doesn’t go to the right audience it will waste your time and money.
For example, let’s say you are selling quality razors. Your primary target audience might be Men. Right? That is the key first determining who your audience is. It increases your engagement rate and chances of sale.
It also helps you to identify what your tone, readability, and content will be. Analyze the behavior of your audience and review demographics to help you in this process. You can also use Google Analytics, social media platform analytics, SEMrush, and Ahrefs to find your target audience.
2. Clear Purpose:
A clear purpose is a roadmap for you, it helps you to understand what information, and key points to include, and how to structure it. It makes you stick around your topic and avoid adding irrelevant information.
It helps you to provide present facts, data, and information in a clear and concise manner in your article. Keep it clear and speak directly to your readers.
3. Choose Captivating Title:
Once you know your audience and choose a topic write a captivating title for it. Your title is the first and sometimes the only chance to grab the attention of the reader. Hook your reader from the first line of the article.
Your title gives the idea to your readers about what they are going to read about and entices them to read more. Use power words and numbers instead of writing “Tips for writing” write “10 Unbeatable Tips for writing”.
4. Conduct Thorough Research:
Research is the most essential and critical part of writing. Everybody needs information. We find 10000 or more results on every single topic. But what made your article different so people will read it from your site? It’s up-to-date and accurate information.
For example, if I want to read about the latest statistics of Blog marketing but your article gives outdated data. I won’t read it because that is not what I am searching for.
Research shows that outdated data affects the overall performance of your website. It decreases the bounce rate and diminishes credibility and trust. Check stats, read the top 10 articles, and find gaps, see how you can add more value and information.
5. SEO Optimization:
Now it is time for magic. You spend hours on writing but the point is how it will reach your targeted audience. This is where SEO comes in. SEO boosts the visibility of your content in search engines by hitting targeted audiences effectively.
Effective SEO article writing goes beyond merely inserting keywords. Now the algorithm changes sure keywords are important but stuffing keywords leads to poor visibility. Choose keywords that align with what your readers search online. It drives more traffic by enhancing user experience and website credibility.
6. Visual Elements:
“A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words” ever heard that old saying? Well, it’s true. According to Jeff Bullas, an article with visuals gets 94% more traffic than without. Visuals can be of many types images, videos, and infographics.
They not only look pretty but also break complex information into universally understandable ways. It’s a great way to engage with a broader audience.
7. Strong Conclusion:
A conclusion summarizes what your article was about. A lot of people when land on the article or blog post they quickly scroll down to the bottom and check out the conclusion. And then they go back and read the rest if they find it relevant.
Try to end your conclusion with a question, so people are more likely to leave comments and and love to answer them. It increases your engagement rate and ultimately generates more sales.
8. Edit and Proofread:
Edit and proofreading help you to improve the flow of your article by identifying and correcting grammatical and syntax errors. It enables you to review your article and ensures that the message resonates with readers, and is of high quality.
The Structure Format of a Well-Written Article:
Well-structured content that follows logical flow comprehends your message and argument in a better way. Also, the search index finds it easier to crawl and index structured content and get features in rich snippets.
Headlines/Title:
The headlines hook the reader to the rest of the article. It gives a preview to the reader of what they expect to read. Most of the time people just skip and jump to another article if they find the title boring.
Your title must be catchy, clear concise, and easy to understand. Add positive words, numbers, or questions to make it engaging.
Byline/ Author name:
The line just below that title is the byline where you write the name of the author. Adding an author’s name helps you build credibility and a personal connection between the author and the reader. It adds value to your article and is also a great way to engage with the audience. When people know who the author is they are likely to comment and start the conversation with them.
Introduction:
Your introduction sets the stage and tells people what your article is all about. As I said people like articles that are easy to skim they don’t usually read word by word. So make your introduction easy to understand and add the key elements in it. Hook your reader from the start. Add a fact, bold statement, or question that makes your reader think “Tell me more”. Keep it short and concise.
Body:
The body of the article is where you write detailed information about your topic. It includes paragraphs, each focusing on a specific point and argument related to your topic. Points to keep in mind while writing the whole body.
- Use Sub-heading
- Be clear and concise
- Engage the readers
- Maintain consistency
Conclusion:
We already talk about this point earlier in the foundations of article writing. I am adding this point again because it’s the most important and engaging part of content. Without the perfect and engaging conclusion, you are unable to connect with your audience.
Remember readers are already with you. You just have to push them a little in a quite intriguing way.
Advance SEO Tips and Techniques to get your article rank:
1. Optimize for featured snippet:
To optimize your article for a featured snippet try to directly answer the relevant question related to your niche. Try to add this at the beginning in 50-60 words in a clear and concise way. It is called “position zero” which highlights your feature snipped at the top of Google organic search. Research reveals that articles that optimize their feature snippet get 8.6% more clicks.
2. Power of Internal Linking:
It is a process of linking one page to another within one website. Internal linking boosts SEO, increases page views, and reduces the bouncing rate.
3. Mobile Optimization:
Statista reported that websites get 54.8% of traffic from mobile devices. This means now the trend is changing so the algorithm is. On mobile, less is more. Try to break your paragraph into short and concise ways that are easy to consume.
Sure images enhance your article but the low quality and slow loading can frustrate readers and drive them away.
4. Voice Search Optimization:
Voice search optimization is the process of optimizing your content for voice searches. It’s a huge opportunity for you to reach potential customers who use virtual assistance like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. A report by Statista shows that the number of people using voice assistants is increasing.
5. Unique Voice and View Points:
Information is everywhere. Every day countless articles are published on every single topic but what made you stand out in this noisier world? “Unique voice and viewpoint”. Being unique not only differentiates you but also creates your personal brand and ensures long-term relevance.
6. Precision and Authenticity:
Precision and authenticity bring credibility and trust, fostering a strong relationship with the audience. When you write data that is accurate it results in losing trust and affects the overall performance of the website.
Google also verifies and ranks content that is authentic and precise.
7. Stay up-to-date with Latest Trends:
Writing is an art and it always requires creativity and the latest information. No matter how good you are at writing staying up-to-date with the latest information to rank well is the key element.
Update your old articles and blog also otherwise it will get lost in the crowd. Do you need results? then keep an eye on analytics and stay curious and open-minded.
Conclusion:
Ready to write an effective article?
Hopefully, these tips for writing a well-written article have helped. I try to add all the key points and tips that you need to know before writing an article.
Do you have any tips and tricks that I didn’t mention in this article? Mention in the comments I would love to see the magical tips that help you.