Your articles wont amount to a hill of beans if the audience doesnt want to read them. Even if the content is for SEO purposes only, a person will quickly press the back button if they discover theyre looking at useless informationor even that the writing is difficult to follow.

This means that your content should have ALL of the components of a great article. One thats easy to read, even easier to scan, and has information worth reading. How do you do this? Lets start with the basics of writing.

KISS
Perhaps the keep is simple stupid rule has become clich, but it will always apply, and is often ignored. If you can say it in one sentence, do it. Dont try to turn it into a paragraph just to push in more keywords. If you need to fill more space, then find more information. Dont repeat what youve already said.

Easy Scanning Easy Reading
Use subheadings and bulleted points to make it easy for the reader to find the information they want. Dont try to force them to read the entire article. When using bulleted points, bold or highlight the first words so they can easily see what that bullet is about.

Make your article easy to readif you cant write it without a dictionary, people cant read it without one. Avoid technical jargon unless the article is industry specific. Even if you explain what the jargon means, use a substitute whenever possible if the article is for the general public.

Flowing Text
If you cant write, dont try to. It takes experience to understand how to pull your audience innot to mention some underlying talent. Even if the reader is scanning the article for information, the right wording will suck them into reading the entire article. Theyll suddenly look up and realize theyve read the whole thing.

To do this, your article should read like a conversationbut that doesnt mean it should sound the way you talk. Some people talk like a technical manual, and no one wants to read (or hear) a technical manual. Use an active voice, and dont be afraid to break some of the grammar rules you learned in English composition.

Make it Relevant
Know your audience before you write for them. If you want to attract roofers, then write about some of the new roofing tools and other things they want to hear abouteven if its not directly related to roofing. But dont publish articles telling them how to fix a leak in a rubber roof. They already know how and wont bother to read any more on the subject.

Follow these rules, and your articles will attract a larger audienceand eventually lead to conversions. Just remember: the fact that the content is there, doesnt make it worth readingand your audience knows this.

Eric Engel
http://copyforsale.com/store