Why is it that the first step is often so difficult to take? When it comes to writing your first article, many business owners sit and stare at a blank page. Just not sure where to begin? Here are five great steps to write your first article.
Step #1 Choose a question commonly asked by your audience.
It doesn’t have to be a difficult or particularly intellectual question. In fact, the more basic, the better. This is your first article and it’s better to get your confidence up before you move onto answering the tough questions.
If you have a website on parenting for example, your first article might be ‘Ten Ways to Be a Great Parent’. That’s pretty basic, right? You can probably come up with ten ways without even putting much thought into it.
Make a list of the most common and easiest to answer questions your audience might have. Choose the one that you already know the answers to. That’s your first article.
#2 Outline it.
Don’t worry. This isn’t a secondary school refresher on how to write an essay. Your outline can look like whatever you want it to. No one has to read it or be able to understand it except you. Make a list of the points you want to talk about in your article. Continuing with the parenting article you might start by listing the ten ways to be a great parent. They can be simple two word bullet points or fleshed out ideas. It’s up to you.
#3 Determine your word length.
How long do you want this first article to be? Generally, for online reading ease, most articles are 400-600 words long. They can be longer and they can be shorter. For an article directory and article marketing purposes, they generally want a minimum of 400 or 500 words.
#4 What’s your article’s purpose?
Because it’s your first article, the purpose is likely to be to help drive traffic and increase SEO. That means you’ll want keywords in your article. Not a problem. If your article’s purpose is something else, for example to entertain, then make sure your topic and outline support that goal.
Keywords. Your keyword or keyword phrase should be in your headline, in the first paragraph and in the last paragraph. Otherwise, it should fall naturally throughout the body copy. You’ll also want to make sure you’re using supporting keywords.
For example, if your keywords are how to be a great parent you can also use supporting words like ‘great parenting’ ‘good parents’ and so on. Rule #1 Make it natural! Write for your readers, not for the search engines.
#5 Write your article.
You’ve done the hard work. You’ve chosen your topic and by outlining your article you’ve chosen your format. Now, all you have to do is fill in the gaps. If you’re having trouble, write like you’re writing a letter to a friend. Make each paragraph into a question and answer that question conversationally. You’ll find when you take a conversational approach to writing content; it’s easy and fast to do.
It’s strongly recommended that you don’t stop to edit yourself or your content when you’re writing. Just write, don’t worry about it being perfect. Just get your ideas and thoughts down. Once you’ve finished the article, you can go back and check for grammar, clarity, and your keywords.
Writing your first article isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Ease into it by writing topic ideas and an outline first. Write conversationally and have a purpose.
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From Deanna Maio – Business Growth & Marketing Strategist at http://www.DelegatedtoDone.com.