Creating a web article 101

Time is increasingly valuable and when creating a piece for your website an unspoken assumption is that the article should be as valuable for the writer as the reader. Because of this I have created a tip sheet to help support your writing efforts.

Research

To gain and reach a significant readership you will need to write for your target audience. A positive way of gauging what your target audience would like to read about by understanding what questions people are asking.

To do this we advise using the following tools:

• Buzzsumo (click here to access it)

Analyse what content performs best online for any topic.

• Google alerts (click here to access it)

Monitor the web for interesting new content.

• Answer the Public (click here to access it)

Enter your topic and the website suggests content ideas in seconds.

• Google

Google your topic and scroll to the bottom of the page to see what other people are searching/saying under the “Searches related to… ”heading.

• Your and your team’s clients

What are the common topics which are increasingly being brought up by clients? Could you write an article around it to help answer their query? What’s topical? All things are important to consider.

Creating an engaging title

1. The heading is the first thing a reader will focus on and is the main call to action. Things to remember are:
2. Keep it short – 12 words at most.
3. Add the keyword (I.e. the topic) into the heading.
4. Make it personal... add “you” into the heading.
5. Potentially consider doing a: “top X things to consider…” article or a ‘How to…’ article.

Writing the article

Finally, writing the article...

1. Make it long enough to count. People tend to prefer articles they gain something from and it can be hard to do that in 100 words. Aim for >300-600 words.
2. Remember to present a problem and a solution to your target audience.
3. Do link to external websites such as governing bodies.
4. Please do include a conclusion with your final thoughts and a call to action.
5. Write in the first person.

Sharing your article

Once the article has been drafted and made live it is important to promote it. Without going into the proverb about a tree falling in a forest… getting the article in front of people is as important as drafting it. Please use the following methods to help promote your article.

1. Email it to clients who would find it beneficial.
2. Promote it within your team and encourage them to share it externally with their clients and on social media.
3. Add it to social media.