You get only 2 seconds to convince your visitors about your relevance. If you fail, the visitor clicks the back button and leave your site for good. Here’s how you can stop it.
Article Writing is an integral part of Search Engine Optimization. However, if you’re a newbie, you might find writing articles a monumental task.
Writing quality content is a complicated process as it requires in-depth research, high quality content curation, conceptualization, writing content and finally proofreading the content– not necessarily in that order.
Attempting to write every new article is a challenge in itself, no matter how experienced you are. To get myself off to a good start and finish articles within a given time frame (without losing the focus or quality), I usually follow the rules given below.
Write the Sub-headings First
Each and every article I write has to have a purpose – a problem to solve, a query to address or a myth to bust. Unless you have a purpose, writing can seem pointless and the lack of drive will easily reflect in your style. Nobody wants to spend their time reading an article that doesn’t motivate them to do something worthwhile.
However, to be able to write an article quickly – and with a purpose – you need to break it down and come up with the sub-headings first to you can get a feeling of what you’re going to say.
It also helps you build a natural transition between different paragraphs. When you’re able to establish that natural transition, it flows like poetry and your content holds the interest of your readers.
Write at Least One Sentence per Sub-heading
Once you’re done writing the sub-headings, it’s time to write at least one sentence per sub-heading. While you’re at it, remember the rule of Twitter – 140 characters. If you were to explain it succinctly without taking anything away, how would you do it?
Try to come up with your best sentence that justifies the sub-heading and opens the paragraph with a bang. You can come back to the paragraph and finish the rest later.
Write the Opening Paragraph in the End
Well begun is half done – so goes the popular saying. But most of the writers I have worked with face the very same challenge that I do – writing a great opening paragraph up front and making it compelling enough for the prospects to read further.
This is exactly why I always leave the opening paragraph for the final phase of writing process. When you write the opening paragraph towards the end of the article, you are in a better position to articulate your thoughts to you readers.
Write Two Titles for Your Article
Let me put it clearly – the first title is for the entire article that is visible on the landing page. The second title is for the SERPs. Since it will be visible to many potential audience, and compelling for them to click and come to your landing page.
Google’s revamped and constantly evolving SERP design offers limited real estate and you need to be very creative to make the most of the limited space. Therefore, you need to write a Meta Title for SERP that stand out and sound compelling to your readers.
Write Two Descriptions for Your Article
Just like two Titles, you also need to write two descriptions for your articles – one for the Category Archive and the other for Meta Description. The Meta Description should be shorter than the description for Category Archive. However, in both cases, be as honest, creative and succinct as possible.
Visualize the SERPs while Writing Titles & Descriptions
Although the Meta Title and Description have no real SERP value from Google’s perspective, they are still very critical to conversion optimization. Therefore, they should be built carefully in a way that carry the essence of your article in a compelling way.
Use an Imperative Tone for Your Sub-headings
If you’re write articles to educate, inform and enlighten your audience, the sub-heading should carry an imperative tone. It helps establish your authority and tells your audience exactly what to expect from the subsequent paragraphs. In short, the sub-headings should be self-explanatory.
Write Short Paragraphs
Writing shorter paragraphs help your audience grasp your content better. Short paragraphs consisting of short sentences with more clarity work better for all kind of of audiences. They also decrease chances of making grammar errors. So it’s a win-win.
Use Internal Linking Technique
Using internal linking is an SEO technique that always works. But more than the SEO benefits, it helps improve the utility of your content. Use a link to a relevant post instead of writing a long paragraph about something. Use internal linking technique to elaborate your point.
Build Your Anchor Text Beforehand
While internal linking is a great strategy, deciding the anchor text and the links can give you a hard time. To make it easy, make a list of the relevant posts you already have within your blog. You can do this by simply searching for a couple of key phrases (not keywords) in the search box of your blog. Then choose the posts that seem more relevant to your ongoing post.
If you have already built the sub-headings (as explained earlier), you can easily figure out where the anchor texts and the links should go.
These tips have helped me get going even when I don’t driven enough to build content.
Do you following any strategy to write articles quickly? Please, share your thoughts in the comment box below.