Writing a good article requires good content and technique. There are certain skills that will be helpful to write the perfect article and you will need to be committed to what you are writing. 

There is a lot of competition online and there are lots of other people that are competing for ranks on google. Anybody is able to write an article and post it online, but not everybody’s writing is going to be successful if it isn’t properly thought out and planned. 

Having good ideas for content is relatively easy if you are creative enough, but good technique is more difficult and is harder to come by. The techniques outlined in this article will tell you what you need to know in order to write a good article.

Introduction

The beginning of an article is often where you will either hook or lose a reader. If the person reading the article isn’t interested in the introduction of your article, then they aren’t going to bother reading the rest of it. 

The introduction should be short so you don’t bore the them with unnecessary information. I typically keep my introductions under 200 words, but this depends on what the project is and what is required of you. A few sentences or a short paragraph is usually enough.

It is important for the introduction to be engaging and get straight to the point. You need to show the reader that you are going to provide quality content in your article.

Paragraphs

Try not to write lengthy paragraphs that are going to come across as overwhelming for your reader to engage with. More often than not, if we see massive paragraphs of text that seem to have no end, we simply click off the page and find an easier article to read. Less is more in this situation. Make sure to start a new paragraph after each new point that you make and look for other places where it may be necessary to start a new paragraph. 

Shorter paragraphs are going to break up the text to make it easier to read, which gives your reader the space they need to focus. 

Shorter paragraphs do not mean that you have to sacrifice any key information. Don’t skip a certain topic because it is lengthy, simply find a way to break it up instead.

Writing for Word Counts

You shouldn’t ever write just for the sake of writing. If what you’re writing isn’t beneficial to the article or continuing the flow, then it isn’t necessary to include. Don’t write just to bump up your word count, as this is going to confuse your sentences as can make the reader lose interest. Just get straight to the point. 

Write Substance

The number of times that I have researched a topic and found an article to then realisee that it didn’t even provide any information about the subject at all, is insane. Some people on the internet just like to write absolute nonsense in the hope that it brings views to their website. The is the worst thing that you can do. 

If a user clicks on your article and then finds that it is of absolutely no use to them, they are just going to close it and find a better one. This is going to negatively affect the bounce rate on your website and will put people off returning. 

Practice and Experience

The more that you write, the better you will get at it. Nobody becomes an excellent writer overnight. It takes patience, time, and dedication. Over time, your skills and techniques will start to improve. If you keep persevering, you’ll be able to learn everything you need to know.

Everyone learns differently. Some people are able to absorb information quickly, whereas, others take more time and that’s alright too. 

Tone and Engagability

The tone of the article that you are writing will depend on what it is being written about. Your article will need to be informative but also engaging. It can help if you know your target audience. Writing conversationally can be a great way to keep the reader involved. Using contractions is a also good way to make your writing slightly less formal.

Writing in the second person is also beneficial as it makes the reader feel involved in what you’re saying. You are always writing for someone else, which is something that you should keep in mind.

Try to avoid using big words that people aren’t going to understand. If people are looking to you for information, they need to be able to understand what you’re talking about.

Flow

Your article needs to make perfect sense and also needs to be written so that it flows in a logical order. For example, ending your article by explaining what the topic is, is not going to be helpful to your reader. This is something that should be at the start of the article as it sets the structure for the rest of the article to follow. Always think about the order in which you are explaining things. 

Editing

During the editing process, you can go through your article and perfect it. You will need to refine your writing in a way that makes sense, whilst getting your points across. You may need to reword or axe some sentences or change some of the words that you have used. The editing process is where you are able to take your raw outpouring of thoughts and turn them into polished ideas.

Some tips for editing your article include:

• Remove weak descriptions – Phrases like ‘very bad’ can be changed to ‘terrible’ or ‘awful’. This just provides a more exciting choice of words.
• Keep it simple – Complicated sentences that are difficult to read can result in you losing your reader.
• Paragraphs – Make sure each paragraph is focussed on making a certain point.
• Tense – Make sure that you aren’t switching between tenses. Switching from the past to the present is confusing. 
• Jargon – Complicated words can be confusing and are often unnecessary.

Proofreading

The final stage of writing a good article is to thoroughly proofread it. You need to make sure that there are no mistakes in your work and you should closely check your spelling, punctuation, and grammar. People will be put off by your work if it is full of errors.

Try not to use unnecessary punctuation. A sentence that is littered with commas won’t flow well. You can either break up the sentence into two sentences, or you can remove any punctuation that isn’t needed.