Seven winning article writing tips

Provide useful information

Be sure to solve problems related to your target reader’s interest, not your own. For example, I wouldn’t write an article for Flying Solo titled Why it’s okay to eat chocolate daily even though it would bring me great pleasure to do so.

Save the advertising for the author resource box

If you blatantly advertise yourself in the body of the article, then your article immediately loses credibility. Most editors will reject articles that sound like press releases. The purpose of your article, first and foremost, is to provide useful information.

Use correct spelling

I’ve covered the importance of good writing skills in prior articles. In a nutshell, if your article contains errors it can damage your credibility.

Be aware of word count

For online articles a good word count is between 300 to 500 words. There are exceptions to this rule, but many readers are ‘scanners’, so if the amount of text is overwhelming then your article may not be read. This leads to my next point…

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Break up big blocks of text

Break up big blocks of text with either subheadings or bullet points so that the most important information is easily absorbed, even if it’s being scanned.

Use an effective framework

There are dozens of ways to write an article but here is a basic, effective article writing framework; it’s the framework I’ve used to write this article, so if you get stuck just re-read this article.

1. Heading: write an attention grabbing line that tells the reader what your article is about. For example, Seven winning article writing tips.
2. Teaser paragraph: write a short, enticing summary of the article to encourage the reader to… well, read on.
3. Body: expand on each point using subheadings or bullet points.
4. Conclusion: write a quick summary or a basic wrap-up sentence.
5. Author Resource Box: write down who you are, what you do and who you do it for. If space permits, you can usually add your contact details and website address. In the example of Flying Solo, the author resource box links to a more extensive contributor profile.

Follow the contributor guidelines

Your article has a much higher chance of being accepted if you read and adhere to the contributor guidelines. Sam Leader from Flying Solo says, “The ‘spray and pray’ approach will not work on our website, or any other quality sites for that matter”.

Now that you are armed with some winning article writing tips, go forth and boost your profile by writing articles. Remember, the only cost is your time but the results can be priceless.

Do you have any other article writing tips? Or can you nominate a Flying Solo article that has changed the way you do business or live your life?

You can read my previous article on getting free publicity through article marketing here.