If you want to write paragraphs so effectively that readers actually enjoy reading your content - and maybe make some extra money on the internet in the process - then no doubt you are keenly aware of the potential goldmine that submitting well-written articles to article directories can be. Even if you haven't actually made money with articles yet, certainly you realize the potential of good paragraph writing. I hope so, because if you are an aspiring desktop publisher, you'd be downright crazy if you don't pursue this relatively easy pathway to substantial bucks.
Think of each paragraph you write as its own complete thought or point you are making. This will help ensure you include a lead-in sentence and a last sentence that completes the thought, while also segueing into the next paragraph.
The task of actually submitting your articles to article directories is already easy. This is because of the article submission software already available online. (There's good free software available as well as retail versions.) And while it's convenient to be able to submit to more than one article directory at a time, it's only a smallest and easiest part of what needs to be done. Because the big picture is that you need to give the readers what they want, first and foremost. Well-constructed paragraphs that segue seamlessly from one point to the next. Anything less and you're just wasting your time and effort. (You'll hardly waste your readers' time, because they'll just scan your article for about - quite literally - 5 or so seconds before they realize the article is boring and/or not filled with valuable content before they click away.)
What follows are 3 common mistakes that many people make when it comes to paragraph writing, and how to correct them or avoid them altogether:
1. Publishing content that does not help the readers and/or is not interesting to read. Either way, the article won't get read (at least beyond a few sentences or so). And remember that if your article doesn't get read all the way through, then your author's resource box will not get read, either. And if your author's resource box doesn't get read, the backlink (link back to your website) will not get clicked. Since this is the main reason you'll submit articles to the directories, it pays to take the time to make your articles as informative and as interesting as possible.
...And the only way the reader is going to get to your resource box is if he or she is led from one paragraph to the next with interesting writing that compels them to keep moving through your article.
But most people (including me) that submit articles to the online directories are not talented authors. Maybe you are, maybe you're not. No problem. In any case, don't fret over each article; don't worry that it's not a perfect bit of witty, insightful prose. Instead, make sure it does a good job explaining whatever its subject is. If you're also able to make your article interesting and witty at the same time, great. But focus on the the content; make the reader feel he or she is getting valuable "secrets" or perhaps old information presented from your unique point of view.
Only AFTER you have gotten this basic tenet of paragraph writing covered can you focus on making your paragraphs informative in an entertaining and/or witty fashion.
2. Confusing the reason to submit and write an article with the benefits you stand to get for writing it. There are 3 key benefits associated with the reasons why you want to submit articles to the article directories. These benefits are: Branding, Lead Generation, and Promotion.
There is, however, only one reason why an article is written...and that is to inform your readers. (Unless you're attempting the difficult task of writing ONLY for the purpose of entertaining your intended audience... and if you're doing this regularly with any success, you certainly don't need to be reading THIS article!) If your article fails to do that (or do that well), then it won't achieve these 3 benefits, because nobody will be interested in reading the article. So never, ever forget that the primary purpose of WRITING an article is to inform (or entertain in rare cases) your readers. The reason you submit an article to the directories are for your own "selfish" reasons; but think only of your readers when you write the article.
3. Not maximizing the promotional opportunity of submitting an article. You probably already know that submitting articles helps to get more backlinks back to your website, or gets a reader to click a link you've inserted into your article. This is great, but you can get many more visitors and better search engine placement from the same article with a few easy changes:
Make sure you have a couple of paragraphs that contain your main keyword in your article. And not just any keyword, but 3-5 word keyword phrases. (These are called "long-tail" keywords.) Long-tail keyword phrases don't get searched very often, but when they do, they result in clicks to your website at a much higher percentage rate. Think "quality" not "quantity."
But don't make your article read unnaturally, such as in this example: "SCUBA diving in Bermuda is a wholesome activity because SCUBA diving in Bermuda is clean and doesn't disturb the environment. SCUBA diving in Bermuda is fun because SCUBA diving in Bermuda"...etc. (You get the picture. Obviously, "SCUBA diving in Bermuda" is the long-tail keyword phrase that is overused in this example. Do this, and Google will drop your article from the index.)
As a matter of fact, if you just write naturally you will likely end up using your keyword phrases the optimum amount of times at various places. But this means that you must write effectively; that is, you must write an informative article to that uses paragraph writing effectively to begin with. This ensures your keywords will show up naturally because it "forces" you to use them.
Paragraph Writing For the Web - 3 Huge Mistakes to Avoid
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