Do you want to be able to write really good articles that will be read? Here are 15 top tips for you. I’ll show you step by step how to write a really perfect blog article.
Writing really good articles – the instructions
15 simple steps make the difference between a good article and a mediocre article. Follow these 15 simple steps and your blog will get more readers.
Because with a little practice you can write really good articles.
Point 1 – Write a compelling headline
Your headline needs to be of use to your potential visitors. It also has to convey what the article is about and of course: it has to arouse curiosity and encourage people to click.
Therefore, always write your headline first and also try several variants, from which you can then choose the most successful one. Extremely successful websites such as Upworthy have the editors write 25 different headings for each post .
Only one of them manages to get published. The best of the 25. To find your best headline, you can go through the following categories:
- The direct headline: Write perfect blog articles
- The indirect headline: The only blog you can flip through
- The news headline: My new e-book
- “How you …” Headline: How to write a great article
- The question heading: Which skills are you still missing?
- The Command Headline: Get My New Free E-Book
- The “Reason Why” headline: 7 reasons I don’t like your blog
- The testimonial headline: Why I Read This Blog Every Week
Point 2 – research in detail and very precisely
Research is very important, your articles should be of very high quality if you want to get a lot of traffic in the foreseeable future. To do this, feed Google various search terms or short sentences.
At the end of every search result page you can find the so-called »longtail keywords«. These are search terms made up of several words and entered by the searching user in order to find a solution to their problem.
And that’s exactly what you should offer them. Proceed like this:
- Look at the first fifty search results.
- Open the appropriate pages
- Scan these pages for suitable content
- Filter out the trash
- Read yourself into your topic and develop specialist knowledge for your article
With a high quality, long and well-researched article you will always differentiate yourself from the other bloggers and rank better in the search results.
Really good articles are always well researched and unfortunately also time-consuming.
Point 3 – don’t forget to research your keywords
Google provides you with two good tools for this. On the one hand the Google search, as already mentioned, on the other hand the Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool, which is really excellent.
Both approaches together form the foundation for an article that is well optimized for the search engine. Watch out for little competition and sufficient search queries for the desired keywords.
Really good articles are always search engine optimized.
Writing really good articles: SEO optimization
- Write the keyword once in the title – as close to the beginning as possible. Make sure that the title of an article always has a Heading 1. More on this later.
- Include the keyword in your first heading, this should be Heading 2.
- Make sure that the keyword appears three to four times in the article
- Draw the keyword once fat from
- Write the keyword in one of the images or graphics used as an alt tag
- Use the keyword as the name of the image
- Use the keyword in the post’s URL and keep it as short as possible
- Use the keyword in the meta description. That brings click rates and, in my experience, has a little effect on the ranking.
However, keep one thing in mind: write your articles for your readers first , then for the search engine.
Point 4 – Write a first draft
Now write down everything on the topic that occurs to you and seems important. You don’t need to pay attention to a good structure or spelling at this point. The main thing is that you write.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s ideas about the core content, the introduction, the final parts or the structure. It’s all about writing the content and getting enough content to make a good article.
Point 5 – Now create the structure
The structure of an article is really important. Make an effort with it. Create the subheadings. Make sure that you use these headings to describe what occurs in the individual paragraphs.
The subheadings should keep the scanner in the text and arouse curiosity. However, you shouldn’t give too much away, otherwise there would be no reason to read the article.
Always keep in mind that many people don’t read the Internet, but rather “scan” the text for the information they are looking for. The aim is to catch these visitors and get them to read the article.
The structure for the search engine
The structure is also important for Google, a good structure ensures a better ranking. Basically, the following rules apply:
- Write an introduction. It shouldn’t be too long and make you curious.
- Write lots of short paragraphs instead of long paragraphs . Structure your texts with subheadings.
- Please use good visual material. If you are good at graphic design, create images for your posts.
- Use – if appropriate – additional videos from Youtube
Point 6 – fill in the gaps in your structure
Point four and point five have now given you a kind of form that you now have to fill out with further information. Adjust your post so that it fits nicely on this form and blends in well with each section.
Start at the top and work your way down. The headlines you have already set are a good reference point for this area of text work.
Point 7 – The finishing touches to the article
You now have a blank blog post in front of you. An uncut diamond that you now have to grind and polish. It’s best to read your article out loud to yourself.
- Notice whether the text sounds rhythmic.
- Is the style okay? Correct.
- Do you start a lot of sentences with the same words? Correct.
- Does everything read fluently or did you write too awkwardly? Correct.
- Do the individual text passages make sense? Correct.
- Do you have repetitions in the text that can be deleted? Delete.
- Are there any text passages that still need to be supplemented? Add.
- Is the spelling correct? Correct.
Point 8 – Let your text rest for a day
Excellent texts differ from good texts in that they have a kind of »maturity«. So give yourself a day off and let your post mature. After a day of rest you have a different view of things, you are no longer so close to the topic.
This is exactly what can improve your contribution again. Because after a day of rest you will have a different perspective on things and you will really be able to improve the text.
After a day of rest, read the article again and correct stylistic errors, inconsistencies, poor explanations and – if possible – make the text more readable.
Point 9 – Find suitable pictures or videos
Adding pictures and / or videos to blog articles is a great thing, but not suitable everywhere. Of course, people often want to recommend that you illustrate each article.
However, this only works with really good pictures and rarely with stock photos that can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet. However, you can still edit stock photos in a photo program (Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, etc.).
Then again stock images can also work.
It is good if you can find videos that support the content. Such content will certainly be accepted and used by your visitors. The younger generation in particular likes it.
Point 10 – Again: Check your spelling
It is really important that you correct your blog posts for spelling. Certainly mistakes happen again and again, that also happens to professionals. Yes, even full-time editors for large online magazines. Despite editing / proofreading.
Nevertheless, you should strive for absolute freedom from errors. Correct your texts very carefully or have them corrected by someone who is familiar with english studies.
If you are not one of the lucky ones who know such people, then use the online options grammerly.com
By the way, texts bursting with errors make a very bad impression on your visitors.
Point 11 – Format your contribution clearly
Now is the time to start formatting your post. Mark out important things in bold or italic . You can use heading 4 to make even more important statements.
Your paragraphs should reflect an idea. This is not always possible, but try to keep it.
Set links to older articles that can thematically support your contribution. Once you start blogging, it won’t always be possible.
But the longer you blog, the more supporting articles you will be able to link to. Don’t overdo it, three to four internal links are okay.
Also try to link external sources and further information. Don’t be afraid that it will harm your ranking in search results, the opposite is the case.
Important: The content must be captured for your readers only by scanning .
Point 12 – Final work in WordPress
The final work before publishing an article is really important.
- Sort the article into the correct category
- Supplement this with a few suitable keywords
- Edit the post’s URL so that it only contains the keywords and no stop words, such as: like, you, also, and …
- Choose a suitable article image (contribution image). The better the picture (and its editing in a photo program), the better for the article. Many people are visually inclined and can also be tempted to read by the picture.
Point 13 – One last check of the text
- Is the headline tempting?
- Is the url okay?
- Are the pictures good and appropriate?
- Is the formatting OK ?
- Have you tested the spelling ?
- Does the article read fluently and understandably?
- Are all links working ?
Item 14 – SEO Title and SEO Meta Description
Now you only have one step left before you can send your article out into the world. Set a special SEO title and the appropriate meta description.
An SEO title is always used if, for example, you want to use a different title for your post on your website than in the search results on Google.
The SEO meta description is set so that Google’s search result is more understandable for the searcher. The user also knows immediately whether the article in question solves his problem or not.
You can make the settings in the editors of the well-known SEO plugins such as Yoast-SEO, wpSEO or All-in-One SEO below your writing editor. Writing really good articles also means tackling these little SEO things.
Point 15 – Publish your contribution
Congratulations! Now you’ve gone through the tough school of a budding, successful blogger. You have worked through all the important points and have not forgotten anything.
Now you can either publish your post or schedule it for a specific date.
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Image Source : Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash
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