How to Write Articles to ENGAGE Readers and DRIVE Traffic

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Whenever you write an article and post it to your blog or to an ezine site, you want people to come and read it, right? Of course you do. Why else would you write it?

21_59_21---The-road-ahead_webDo you wonder if there’s some secret formula to crafting an article that will draw the readers in and keep them coming back? While there’s no one magic bullet, I do have some tips to help you write an article that will engage your readers and drive traffic to your site:

First things first: What will you write about? Start by focusing on either your area of expertise or interest. Say for example you love dogs, crochet, drag racing or stained glass window making. Once you have the broad topic chosen it’s time to narrow in on a particular topic under that umbrella.

  • Write what you know, research what you don’t: After you’ve chosen your topic, the research starts. Is there a hot topic of discussion taking place within or around the topic you’ve chosen? Is there some late breaking news? Has a new trend opened? Do a keyword search to see what people are looking for and what comes up on the first pages of your search. If for example you’re going to write an article on frugal living or the top dog breeds in the country, Google them and see what comes up. Use some of those words in your piece to make it easier for your article to be found.
  • Choose your title: Choosing a title for your article will help you a) focus the piece and b) help your article be more easily searchable. Great titling ideas include: Top 10s, How-To, Myths About, Things You Never Knew About, How To Get The Best…
  • Putting fingers to keyboard: You’ve chosen your topic and picked a title (at least the idea for one) and now’s the time to begin writing the piece. Even if you go with a list-type article you will still need to craft an introductory and a closing paragraph.
  • Hook ‘em in the intro: Sometimes it’s not easy to craft the introductory paragraph. You may find you’ll need to write the whole piece before a great intro hook comes to you. There are times in the article writing process where you’ll find you wrote your introductory paragraph three or four paragraphs into the piece. Take that paragraph, move it to the front of the piece and rework it from there.
  • Wrap it up: As with crafting an introductory paragraph you will also have to come to a conclusion in your article. Whether it’s a call to action, a question to leave your reader wanting more, or offering a, “now it’s your turn” call to action.
  • Now that you’ve written the piece, print it out and proofread it. You’ll find that it’s easier to catch mistakes if you’re looking at your work on a different medium than the one upon which you wrote it. Following the proofreading, step away from the article for a day or two, go back and look at it with fresh eyes and make any changes you need necessary.

    When you’ve finished the writing process and are ready to find a site on which to post it, make certain you craft your bio and a resource box to let people know how to contact you. After the article’s gone live, promote it through your social media sites – Twitter, Facebook, etc. Ask fellow blog friends to mention your post and link back to you – make certain you return the favor.

    Guest Post by Robbi Hess

     

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