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Content Writing |
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Writing for websites -- content, as it is called -- is an important task for webmasters. Your site must be current, relevant, and interesting in order to attract and retain visitor.
- Write with PASSION
- Write with CLARITY and BREVITY
- Write with PURPOSE
- Write with STYLE
Some of the GOLDEN RULES for WEB CONTENT WRITING
- TRY TO BE CONCISE
- CONVERSE WITH YOUR READER
- WRITE IN A LINEAR FASHION
- USE LESSER LINKS
- HIGHLIGHT MAIN POINTS IN THE BEGINNING
- MAKE COMPLETE PAGES
- IMPORTANT THINGS FIRST
- MAKE PRINTABLE PAGES
Writing Articles for Promotion
Millions of web pages are lying unvisited just because proper effort is not put into promoting them. To be frank, getting a web site developed is no big deal because your main job starts once you have a web site. People are not going to swarm in just because you have uploaded your cool looking pages. There are millions of pages on the Net, and they all vie to attain top positions on the search engines.
Before we go further, please keep in mind this article is not about increasing your online business; it's about increasing traffic to your site. How your site performs once a visitor is there depends on how the site has been made and what you are actually trying to promote.
Major search engines, including Google, give significant importance to the sort of content you have on your web site. So every web-savvy webmaster looks for good content to publish - content that's keywords-rich and relevant to your site.
Besides creating a content-rich site, most serious webmasters publish newsletters to get repeat visitors. If you have been on the Net for more than a few months, then you must know what a newsletter is. To regularly publish these newsletters, they regularly need good content to publish and they are always looking for it.
So how does one get such content without having to write everything? There are two ways of getting quality content for a web site that aspires to get good, relevant hits: buying content and then publishing it, or, publishing free content by putting the author's link where the content has been published, giving the author full credit. Publishing free content, if chosen carefully can be profitable in both ways. The publisher gets good content, and the author gets a link back to her site with her tag line. This way, ranking is improved for both the author and the publisher.
This is exactly where you can cash in. If you can write regular articles, and write good articles for that matter, there are hundreds of online publishers eagerly waiting to publish them in exchange of putting your links on their sites.
But you have to remember that merely writing an article doesn't send visitors scurrying to your site. Many factors play their part: how well the article has been written, what sorts of web sites and newsletters have published it, how catchy is your tag line or resource box.
But how do you go about it? After all, unless you are a disciplined writer, how can you write good articles regularly? Don't worry. Most of the articles are written for the purpose of giving instructions (well, if you intend to write a book review, you gotta know a bit of writing). To get a feel of what sort of articles you can write, go to Google and search for "articles on xyz" where xyz is the field of your interest. Every field has various topics.
People also write articles in step-form. In this form you straightaway start writing instructions like
- Point one.
- Point two.
- Point three.
- So on and so on
The title of the page should be able to indicate what these points mean. I personally don't prefer such style but it's good for readers who are looking for the exact info with no extra words. It depends on how you want to write, and how well you write. If you're not much of a writer, or you don't have enough time, then it's better to write in points.
Having to write regular articles does become a drag after some time; especially when you're running out of ideas, but consider it as a part of your promotion effort which you need to put in, in order to improve your site quality as well as your ranking. Once you get into the flow, article-writing actually begins to come to you naturally.
Guidelines - Website Content Creator
A website content creator has to prepare an article based on the keywords that have been supplied.
The objective is to create an article that does justice to the supplied keywords in an interesting and informative manner.
Use language skillfully so as to provide content but not forgetting the keywords that have to be used. Eliminate unecessary verbiage. Web readers tend to be impatient and it is necessary to convey your information by placing emphasis on the key content. Use of active voice is more powerful and engaging. Short crisp sentences make for easier reading on the Internet.
The main keyword can be used extensively and variations of it can appear in lesser density. Usage of the peripheral keywords also ensures occurrence of the main keyword. Stop words can be used between keywords whenever required. An attention grabbing headline or introduction can do half your job for you.
Using subheadings or paragraph headings to weave a logical flow from one idea to another. This makes it easier for a reader to explore the site. Use of paragraphs aids the reader as it gives a summary of what is to come. Each paragraph must be a coherent unit that focuses on a core area. Subheadings are essential since not all viewers read word for word. The subheadings help the readers find what they are looking for.
Content in the article should make for easy reading. Bulleted lists also go a long way in grabbing reader attention. A list of 3 - 5 items breaks the monotony of a long paragraph and helps in emphasizing key points.
Before embarking on the article, decide on the depth of information to be provided. If you are writing about breast cancer symptoms, you should be clear about the target audience that you are addressing. You are not writing for the medical fraternity but at the same time you are addressing educated women and men who are discerning and seeking reliable information that throws light on the issue.
Planning the layout of the content on the web page is also critical in garnering reader interest. Limit scrolling by efficient use of jump links. This makes navigation easier for the reader.
Never ignore the fine details - Eliminate typographical, grammatical and spelling errors. The entire article should be original and not plagiarized from a web site.
Collecting Content for articles
Use your favorite search engine like Google or Yahoo to collect information. Use keywords effectively to search for relevant information. The Google directory sourced from DMOZ is another valuable storehouse of information.
Webstes like Targetwoman and about.com provide articles on a wide range of issues and can also be used as a launching pad to begin your research.
For some topics, it is essential to keep track of up-to-date information. Learn to pick out the recent writings from the last modified date of the file. Usually sites displaying contents on technology and medicine tend to show the last modified date in the page.
Collate the contents before you start the actual writing. It helps to accumulate researched material before you undertake the task of writing. Remember not to copy and paste the collated material into your articles. It is a serious copy right violation and your editor is not going to be happy with your work in future.
Aim for logical flow of thought. One idea must follow another in a logical order. Novices often make this mistake - the paragraphs are disjointed thoughts and have no logical thread to link them together. Look at the article as a complete edifice comprising of individual paragraphs as elements held together by some element of logic.
Develop your unique Style : All master writers show unmistakable stamp of class. It is hard to define the essence of class. You can sense that when you read that. It is not just the choice of words or the language in which the writing is coached. Style permeates beyond all that. It is the personality of the writer, his/her experience, the consummate skill and mastery over the language and a host of other subtle components are weaved in to their writing. Trust me, people can find out who the author is by just reading a single sentence.
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