Effective Article Writing - How to Write an Article
Part 2
Copyright Herman Drost

In Part 1 we discussed the research you must do first before
writing your article.
Part 2 will provide the outline on how to to write the actual article.

1. Create an outline for your article

Your article should include a headline, introduction, body,
conclusion and resource box.

Headline - make this as catchy as possible because your
reader will read this first then decide if he or she will
continue reading the rest of the article. i.e.

"7 Highly Effective Ways to Gain Instant Traffic
to Your Web Site".

Introduction - introduce the problem you will be discussing
in your article or write a short story of your experience
with the problem.

Body - discuss all the solutions to the problem you
outlined in the introduction. Break up each point into
separate paragraphs and keep them to about 5 lines. You may
want to create a sub-heading for each point. This makes it
easier to read as most people will scan your article when
reading it online.

Conclusion - this should include a brief summary of your
article and a call for the reader to take action. i.e. "Be
sure to include article marketing as one of the top
strategies for promoting your web site. It's a self
generating marketing machine that produces a constant flow
of visitors".

Resources - I sometimes include this section if I haven't
included it already within the body of the article. I want
the reader to quickly access the resources without having
to re-read the article.

Resource box - this is the place you can safely include a
little about yourself and your business plus provide a link
to your web site or newsletter (see my resource box below).
This provides an opportunity for readers to visit your web
site, learn more about your product or services and/or
subscribe to your newsletter. The box should be a maximum
of 6 lines.

Write with style - write in an informal style, like you
would explain your topic to a friend. Don't worry too much
about correcting mistakes or how it sounds. This may
interrupt the flow of thoughts you want to write about. You
can always correct them later.

3. Take a break

After you have written the article, come back to it after
several hours, a day or several days. This will enable you
to take a fresh look at it, find new mistakes or even want
to rewrite a paragraph or two to make it flow better.

4. Check your article

After writing your article, run it through a spell checker
first, then read it through a few times to check for
spelling mistakes the spell checker may have missed and to
correct the grammar and punctuation. Make sure it flows
well by clearly identifying the problem, providing a
solution and concluding with an action step or steps. Get
someone else to read it over. Often they will find the
mistakes that you missed.

5. Format your article

You will need to format your sentence length at 60-65 words
per line before submitting it for publication. This will
enable people to read it in their email software. If the
sentence length is longer than this the article may break
up making it impossible to read.

I use Ezy Ezine Ad Formatter
(http://www.netpreneurnow.com/easy/ ) to effortlessly
format my articles before submitting it to online
publishers. If it's not the correct length it will be
rejected.

Conclusion

If you consistently write an article every week or 2 weeks
and submit it for publication you will soon generate a
steady stream of traffic to your web site for years to
come.

Related articles
Top 7 Benefits of Marketing Your Articles
Effective Article Writing - Do the Research First

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Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
and owner of iSiteBuild.com
Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Web Site Promotion

Author of “Marketing Tips” newsletter. To subscribe, enter your information at:
http://www.isitebuild.com/articles.htm