In Part 1 of this series I talked about why writing articles can drive more traffic to your site. In this part I talk about some of the mechanics of writing those articles.
Here are some general guidelines to follow:
- Each article is a small essay that should stand on its own. You can write a series of articles, but try to write each part as independently as possible.
- Keep the articles short, between 400 and 1000 words is pretty normal. Ideally, the text should fit comfortably on a single web page.
- Provide some real content. Don't fill the text full of links to your own sites or to your affiliate programs. Keep links to a minimum, in fact. You'll get the chance to link to your own site in the biography or resource box at the end of the article.
- Use proper grammar and check your spelling. If you need help, check out sites like Guide to Grammar and Writing.
- Choose a catchy but descriptive title.
You can find additional writing tips in Finding Something to Say, the sample chapter from my book.
You end the article with a biography or resource box, which contains the following information:
- A copyright message.
- The conditions under which the article may be reproduced.
- A short biography.
- How to contact you.
- A link back to your site.
Many people find it easier to write the article with a standard word processor like Microsoft Word, because then you can use built-in features like spellchecking and word counting. But you won't distribute the word processing file as the final form of the article.
In fact, you need to create two versions of the article: one in plain text, one in HTML. Most of the article submission places accept articles in plain text format, so you absolutely need a plain text version, which is basically a version that consists of nothing but alphanumeric characters and punctuation. No HTML tags, no special codes, nothing. You can normally save these quite easily from within a word processor, look for a “text” format and make sure that the file you save ends in a “.txt” extension.
To put links in a text file you have to write out the link explicitly using the “http://” prefix, as in “http://www.EricGiguere.com/”.
Now, some sites do accept HTML, so it's good to have an HTML version of the article available as well. For these, you can create normal links in your text and use additional formatting tags for paragraphs, bold text, and the like.
Now you're ready to start submitting the article to the various article submission sites. First, though, put the article on your own site. If you can, put both the HTML and the plain text versions on your site. You can then have the articles provide links back to the “original” and “alternate” versions on your site. To see what I mean, check out these two articles I've written, which are both available on my site in HTML and plain text versions:
- The AdSense Formula (HTML) and
The AdSense Formula (plain text) - When AdSense Makes No Sense (HTML) and
When AdSense Makes No Sense (plain text)
Look closely at the biography section at the end of the articles. That's the section that's going to drive more traffic to your site. Assuming they like the content you wrote, of course!
In the next part, I'll talk about article submission.
Eric Giguere is the author of Make Easy Money with Google, a real (printed!) introductory AdSense book for non-technical people, available at all fine bookstores. Be sure to download the free sample chapter for more information about the book.