The internet is the perfect place for budding writers to publish their work. Publishing websites like Medium have made it easier than ever before for writers to have their work seen.
Anyone with a firm grasp of their native language can write an article and post it on the internet, but not everyone can write a brilliant piece that keeps readers coming back for more. You will be writing articles like a seasoned professional after reading these tips.
1. Know your audience
Knowing your audience is the first and most vital step to creating killer content. Your audience dictates the tone of your writing. Your audience determines your vocabulary and grammar; your audience is the single most important factor in anything you write.
Writing an opinion piece on the global economy for the New York Times requires an entirely different style to writing about the different types of online sports betting Florida residents enjoy.
Similarly, putting acronyms like “LOL” or “LMAO” in an article aimed at academics is a no-go. Still, it could be perfectly okay if you were writing about the latest video games. Know your audience.
Once you have figured out who your audience is, it is time to research your subject matter thoroughly. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes; what would they want to know about your chosen subject?
Do you have all the information you need, and is that information accurate and from legitimate sources? There is nothing worse for turning readers away than inaccurate information.
2. Optimize your title and opening paragraph
Your title or headline is your first, and often your last, opportunity to hook a reader. It is the first thing they see, and those potential readers will decide whether a piece of content is worth reading based purely on whether the title grabs their attention.
Keep your titles short and concise, and consider asking a question. People who scour the internet for articles do so because they have a thirst for knowledge. Feed into that desire to learn by offering them solutions to a problem.
The title of this piece that you are reading now covers those bases. You instantly knew what the article was going to be about.
In addition, it is likely a question many people type into their search engines, which helps the website’s overall ranking.
Other title ideas include making announcements, such as “The New iPhone Finally Hits the Stores,” or instructing your audience by writing, “Stop Making These Common Cooking Mistakes.”
You should spend much time planning and writing your opening paragraph because it is second in importance only to your title. If your title has initially grabbed a reader’s attention, you only have a few lines of text to keep their interest piqued and to encourage them to continue reading the rest of your work.
Your opening paragraph should leave the reader knowing what to expect over the following few hundred words, whether that be an instructional article, an opinion piece, or something else. Some writers like to open with a controversial statement.
Ensure you stand by that controversy throughout the remainder of your article if you go down that path because people do not take too kindly to writers backtracking after such starts.
3. Think of an inverted pyramid when writing any story
Visualize an inverted pyramid when you write content for the internet, where the larger base is at the top, and the peak is at the bottom. Of course, such a pyramid would be unable to stand without toppling over, but that is not the point.
The most newsworthy information goes at the start of your article, the widest part of the inverted pyramid. Think about “the Five Ws and How” – Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Try to naturally include as many of them as possible as they paint a picture for your readers.
The following few paragraphs are where you include additional important details, with the final couple of paragraphs dedicated to other general or background information. In this section, many writers put a call to action or suggest other articles for the reader to enjoy.
4. Keep paragraphs short, use photos, and highlight keywords
People consume content on the internet differently from reading a book, magazine, or newspaper article. Those who read articles online tend to scan through articles at first before potentially returning later to absorb the information within fully.
Large walls of text are offputting to almost every reader, particularly online. Keep your sentences short so that they are easy to read.
Likewise, paragraphs should only contain four or five lines of text to prevent your audience from becoming overwhelmed by the sheer amount of text in front of them.
It is a good idea to break up paragraphs with relevant headings. Such headings help guide your audience down the path you want them to take. Each header gives instructions or arms readers with information about what is coming next.
Get into the habit of using images, photos, and videos in articles you write for publishing online. They not only act as a great way to add some color to your work, but they also help make it more engaging, especially when the photos are relevant to the accompanying text.
You have likely noticed that this article has dozens of bolded words. The bolded text serves as a way to emphasize what you have written, but your audience’s eyes are naturally drawn to anything that stands out from the rest of the text.
This is useful when one considers that many people reading online only scan through articles, as mentioned earlier.
5. Organize your content into headings
Headings are a great way to make your content appealing to your reader. Use a separate heading for paragraphs that are all related to the same thing and another heading for a different section.
Also, organize your content using different headings hierarchy. H1 headers are typically the largest and highest headings. They should be used for the main title of your content.
As you break the content down further, make the headings reflect an inherent order such that H2 headings could nest several H3 headings, which in turn could have several H4 headings, and so on.
This order not only benefits your readers but also helps search engines understand your content and improve your rankings.
6. Edit your work after a deserved break
Lastly, always proofread your work. Save a draft of your article, take a break, and then return to edit the piece. Editing immediately after writing can lead to you missing some glaring errors because you are still in the writing mindset.
Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Look for any formatting gremlins that may have occurred. Using a third-party tool, such as Grammarly, is worthwhile to check your work once you have gone through it manually.
You are now armed with the tools to write stellar articles and blog pieces for the internet. What will you write about, and to whom are the remaining questions?
