Writing Articles and Blogs For Your Website
You've finally gotten your new website up and now it's time to add some dynamic content in the form of an article or blog. When done right, a web article can add so much to a website, such as delivering useful information to your users, driving traffic to your website, create returning visitors, and even improve search engine results. In this article we are going to take a look at the elements that are key to a successful web article.
Identify the problem and find the solution
Our first step in writing a web article is to identify the problem and then write the solution. Once the problem is identified and the solution has been found, write an outline focusing on key points to get from the problem to the solution. Now we can take your outline, begin to write a rough draft. Try to stay on point and be concise, always keeping the solution in mind. As a general rule, use a short first paragraph to draw the reader in and then expand on your key points throughout the article. As you write your article, keep your audience in mind. You don't want to lose your reader because they are having trouble understanding the terminology in your article.
Differences between web and print articles
- Use headlines, bold text, and even list on important elements.
- Use captions for images and illustrations.
- Keep body text color black on a light background. Text with color is more difficult to read and text that is lighter than it's background appears smaller to the eye.
As with writing print articles, large bodies of text are uninviting and hard to read. Make sure to break up text into paragraphs and to use things such as pictures, illustrations, list, charts, quotes, and even whitespace to break up text and give the eye a place to rest.
Unlike print articles, text on the web is much more difficult to read. Because of this fact, readers tend to scan text more so than reading through your articles thoroughly. To get the reader's attention, try using sub headlines and bold words on important details.
...text on the web is much more difficult to read. Because of this fact, readers tend to scan text more so than reading...
Final steps
After you have written your rough draft, revise it — trimming out all unnecessary text. Check your final draft for spelling and grammatical errors. This can not be emphasized enough, spelling errors can discredit your entire article and make you look unprofessional. Last, but not least, remember to have fun writing your articles. If you enjoy your topic it will show and your reader will be more likely to enjoy it as well.
