How to Write a Good Article for the Web

April 30th, 2007 | Blogroll, blogs, selected posts-

1. Articles should be informative.

Offering a review of a film / book / product is a good idea. Articles that explain how to do something are also valued. If you give meditation classes, why not write about different types of meditation exercises. If you organise races you could write an article on “Things to remember for organising a running race.”

2. Have Reasonable Expectations:

Don’t feel you have to attain perfection in your writing. If you have the idea the article must be perfect, it becomes difficult to write and it will take longer than it should. In some respects, quantity has its own perfection. I have found that as you write more, writing becomes more fluent. See your first 10 articles as “warm up” articles. When you get into the rhythm of writing you will find that you can write 500 words in 20-30 minute.

3. Short Attention Span of Readers

Always bear in mind people’s attention span is often short. Therefore it is important to:

a) Write with clarity and simplicity
b) Breaking up an article into different sections is helpful
c) I often like to write an article by numbers. Top 7 tips for.. are always popular.

4. Write on What you Know.

Concentrate on writing articles on subjects where you have some specialized knowledge. A reader can tell whether you are re-hashing ideas from others, or whether you have something new to offer.

5. Choosing a title is important.

It is better to have longer titles which explain the contents of the article. It is also better to choose articles, which are specific to a certain niche. An article on “Lord of the Rings” will have too much competition on the Internet. However if you are real Tolkien enthusiast. Why not try an article like “Celtic influences on the writings of Tolkien”.

6. Get Right Tone

Personal experiences, for example, what you felt like at breakfast are not that interesting, - Unless you are either a highly gifted writer or, you eat most extraordinary things for breakfast. Interesting article here at List Apart: How to Write a better Blog

7. Writing is similar to Speaking

Writing shouldn’t be seen as an onerous task. If you get stuck writing, a useful exercise is to imagine you are speaking to a group of people explaining something.

8. Start Anywhere

If the first paragraph seems difficult, start in the middle and go back to the start later.

9. Good grammar and spelling are important.

It is important to maintain a certain standard of English. Otherwise it creates (subconsciously) a bad impression on the reader. If you learn the basics of grammar, you will enjoy writing more.

10. Humour is good.

If you can find a way to add humour, it will be appreciated. Obviously, not all subjects are as suitable for comedy. And humour is optional it doesn’t mean you have to put a bad joke in just for the sake of it. But it is good if you don’t take yourself too seriously.
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