Do you want to be able to write excellent articles that will also be read? Here are 15 top tips for you. I’ll show you step-by-step how to write an excellent blog article. The instructions are also primarily suitable for writing newspaper articles.
Writing excellent articles – the instructions
First, the contribution, then the search engine optimization.
15 simple steps distinguish between a good article and a mediocre one. Follow these 15 simple steps, and your blog will get more readers. And if you read my article on improving your Google ranking, your posts will be significantly more successful. This also includes optimizing internal linking so that Google knows which articles are essential to you.
Then, with some practice, you can write really good articles and market them successfully.
Write an enticing headline.
Your headline needs to apply 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. It is also one of the most critical points of SEO optimization.
Therefore, always write your headline and try several variants from which you can choose the most successful headline. Highly successful websites such as Upworthy have the editors write 25 different headlines for each post.
Only one of them manages to get published. Best of the 25. To find your best headline, you can browse 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 to…« Headline: How to Write a great article
- The question heading: What skills are you still missing?
- The command heading: Get my new free e-book
- The “reason why” headline: 7 reasons I don’t like your blog
- The Customer Testimonial Headline: Why I Read This Blog Every Week
Research thoroughly and very carefully
Research is fundamental. Your articles should be highly qualified if you want to get a lot of traffic in the foreseeable future. You feed Google with different search terms or short sentences to do this.
You can find the so-called ” long-tail ” keywords at the bottom of every search results page, you can find the so-called »long-tail keywords. « These are search terms made up of several words and were entered by the searching user to find a solution to their problem.
And that’s precisely what you should offer them. Proceed like this:
- Look at the first fifty search results.
- Open the appropriate pages.
- Scan these pages for the relevant content
- Filter out the garbage
- Read up on 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.
Excellent articles are always well-researched and, unfortunately, also time-consuming.
Don’t forget keyword research
Google provides you with two good tools for this. On the one hand, Google Search, as already mentioned, and on the other hand, the Google Adwords Keyword Planner Tool, which is excellent.
Together, both approaches form the foundation for an article that is well-optimized for the search engine. Pay attention to little competition and good search queries for the desired keywords.
Excellent 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 is always marked with a heading 1. More on that later.
- Incorporate the keyword into your first headline, which should be a Headline 2.
- Make sure the keyword appears 3-4 times in the article.
- Mark the keyword in bold.
- 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. This brings click rates and, in my experience, also slightly affects the ranking.
However, keep one thing in mind: write your articles for your readers first, then for the search engine.
Write a first draft
Now write down everything on the topic that comes to mind and seems essential. You don’t need to pay attention to good structure or spelling. The important thing is that you write.
It also doesn’t matter whether they are ideas about the core content, introduction, conclusion, or structure. It’s all about writing and getting enough content for a good article.
Now, create the structure
The structure of an article is critical. Make an effort. Create the subheadings. Make sure you use these headings to describe what is happening in each paragraph.
The subheadings should keep the scanners in the text and arouse curiosity. However, they should keep the article a secret; otherwise, there would be no reason to read it.
Always remember that many people do not read the Internet but “scan” the texts for the information they want. It is vital to catch these visitors and persuade them to read the article.
The structure of the search engine
The structure is also essential for Google. A good structure ensures a better ranking. The following rules apply:
- Write an introduction. It should be brief and arouse curiosity.
- Write lots of short paragraphs instead of long paragraphs. Structure your texts with subheadings.
- I like to use good pictures. If you are good at graphic design, create images for your posts.
- Use – appropriate – supplementary videos from YouTube.
Fill in the gaps in your structure
Points four and five have now given you a form to fill out with further information. Customize your post so it fits well on this form and blends well into each section.
Start at the top and work your way down. The headings you have already set are a good starting point for this text work area.
The finishing touches on the article
You now have a blog post blank in front of you. A rough diamond that you now need to cut and polish. It is best to read your article out loud.
- Notice if the lyrics sound rhythmic.
- Is the style okay? Correct.
- Do you start many sentences with the exact words? Correct.
- Does everything read smoothly, or did you write too awkwardly? Correct.
- Do the individual passages make sense? Correct.
- Do you have repetitions in the text that can be deleted? Delete.
- Are there passages in the text that still need to be supplemented? Complete.
- Is the spelling correct? Correct.
Let your text rest for a day
Definitive texts differ from good texts by a “maturity period.” 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 precisely what can improve your contribution again. Because after a day of rest, you will have a different perspective on things, and you will be able to improve the text.
After a day of rest, reread the article, correct stylistic errors, inconsistencies, and poor explanations, and make the text more readable.
Find suitable pictures or videos
Adding pictures and/or videos to blog articles is excellent but only sometimes appropriate. Of course, people often want to recommend that you take photos of every piece.
However, this only works with really good pictures and rarely with stock photos that can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet. Of course, you can still edit stock photos in a photo program (Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, etc.) to personalize them. Or you can use an online service like Canva.com to create individual graphics using templates.
Then again, stock images can work, too.
It’s good if you can find videos supporting the content. Such content will undoubtedly be readily accepted and used by your visitors. The young generation, in particular, loves it.
Again: Check your spelling
You must spell-check your blog posts. Of course, mistakes happen again and again. It also happens to professionals. Yes, even full-time editors of large online magazines. Despite editing/proofreading.
Nevertheless, it would help if you strived for absolute freedom from errors. Correct your texts very carefully, or have them corrected by someone well-versed in English.
Both are excellent and free tools. By the way, texts full of mistakes make a horrible impression on your visitors.
Item 11 – Format your post nicely
Now is the right time to format your post. Mark important things in bold or italics. You derive even more important statements with a heading 4.
Your paragraphs should reflect an idea. This is not always possible, but try to keep it.
Set links to older articles that can support your contribution thematically. When you start blogging, it will only sometimes be possible.
But the longer you blog, the more supporting articles you’ll be able to link to. Please 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 might hurt your ranking in search results; the opposite is true.
Important: Only by scanning must it be possible for your readers to grasp the content.
Point 12 – Final work in WordPress
The final work before publishing an article is essential.
- Sort the article into the correct category
- Complete this with some appropriate keywords
- Edit the post URL to include only the keywords and no stop words, such as: like, you, too, and…
- Choose a suitable article image (post image). The better the picture (and editing it in a photo program), the better for the article. Many people are visually inclined and are also tempted to read by the featured picture.
Item 13 – A final check of the text
- Is the headline enticing?
- Is the URL okay?
- Are the pictures reasonable and appropriate?
- Is the formatting okay?
- Did you check the spelling?
- Does the article read fluently and understandably?
- Do all links work?
Item 14 – SEO Title and SEO Meta Description
Now you only have one step left before sending your article to the world. Set a special SEO title and 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 to make Google’s search results more understandable for the searcher. The user then immediately knows whether the article in question solves his problem.
You can edit the settings in the editors of well-known SEO plugins such as Yoast-SEO, wpSEO, or All-in-One SEO below your writing editor. Writing excellent articles also means tackling those little SEO things.
Item 15 – Publish your post
Congratulations! Now you’ve gone through the tough school of being a budding, successful blogger. You’ve worked through all the crucial points and have remembered everything.
You can publish your post or schedule it for a specific date.
