Produce High Quality Articles and Make Them Easy to Read

This is the second part in my series: Top 5 Ways to Get Your Articles Found and Read Online.

To get maximum readership, it's important to provide high quality information or entertainment and to make your articles visually appealing. When writing articles and blog posts, first write a strong headline and lead paragraph that conveys the purpose of the article and draws readers in.

Long, dense blocks of copy are hard to read, especially online. When people glance at the article, you want it to look inviting and easy to read.

Tips for Making Your Articles More Appealing

• Don't get too long-winded. If a blog post is more than 500 words, consider breaking it apart into a series. For other online articles, 600 to 800 words is a good range.

• Use short paragraphs and insert subheads to organize the information and make it easy to scan.

• Bullet points and numbered lists create both visual appeal and interest from readers.

• Use examples and stories to illustrate your points, when possible.

• Add photos or images to draw attention to your articles. You can find free photos and illustrations online or purchase images for about a dollar at sites such as iStockphoto. The illustration in this article came from Wordle.

Finally, be sure to spell check and proofread your article. I do that first in Word, then proofread the draft of the article online before I click the Post button. It's amazing how many times I find another error on my second review.

Read the entire series here:

Part 1: Top 5 Ways to Get Your Articles Found and Read Online

Part 2: Produce High Quality Articles and Make Them Easy to Read

Part 3: How to Find Keywords for Book Promotion Articles

Part 4: The Secret to Using Keywords Effectively in Articles and Headlines

Part 5: 5 Easy Ways Promote Your Articles and Blog Posts Through Social Media

Comments

[The-time-capsule]

This is good information. I think short posts that are to the point are key. Internet readers want something quick so they can go to the next topic that interests them.

[Tony Eldridge]

Thanks for the advice, Dana. I have been focusing on my blog titles more, and then on the 1st few lines of my posts. Now that I have changes templates and my home page displays snippets of the post, I know the first few sentences have to be stronger than ever to get people to click on it.

I also now put images on every post, which is something new for me. And whenever possible, I break the post down with bullets. I probably need to consider shortening my posts as well.

Great tips! Thanks for sharing.

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Tony. Your new blog format is looking really great :)

[Aleksandar]

Very interesting post. It gives new ideas! Did you know that you can turn your articles into video with only few clicks? Here is how http://bit.ly/glrZu4 !