my first article

I'm not really any good at writing articles, but wanted to try it out anyway for SEO purposes.

I'd appreciate all feedback on my very first article, so I can improve my writing skills for future articles:

10 SEO tips for WordPress

 

Well first of all, if you're hoping to get any writing gigs, don't say you're "not really any good at writing articles."

1. The organization looks good at a glance.

2. Generally I would say avoid a first-person approach unless people actually know who you are, or if it's something that by nature needs to sound really conversational.

3. You have spacing issues between paragraphs under each point. Is there a reason there's no space there, or is it a Wordpress thing? Either fix the spacing, or combine things into one paragraph if you can't for some reason.

4. I would scrap the line saying "This brings us immidiately to Tip 2." First of all, immidiately, is actually spelled immediately. But there's no reason to say it anyway. They can see the number two just below.

5. In tip 2, you don't choose "for" the custom option, you just choose it. Remove the "for". Sorry, the editor in me can be nitpicky.

6. I didn't read every detail, but it looks pretty good overall, especially for a first article. And the tips looks generally good. I'm not that familiar with Wordpress, so I can't speak to the details in that sense. I would like to use WP for a project soon though, to start migrating away from Blogger, so hopefully I'll even be able to use some of your tips.

Jenn

 

thx for your feedback! really appreciate it.
Just trying to learn things to be able to write better articles (for my own sites that is) in the future..

 

Well if it's for your own sites, that's ok then.

Definitely keep writing in a Web writing style, using bold subheadings, lists, etc. That's one of the keys, and you've already got that down. Other than that, the best thing to do is just proofread. Read it aloud, and you'll more likely catch little things that sound a bit funny how they're written.

Jenn

 

I often read that writing for the web is so different than writing for the printed page. In some ways I suppose it is, especially when formatting.

But one of the key exercises that helps in writing well for print is "reading it aloud", especially when writing dialogue. I think the serious student of writing will find many more similarities than differences between web and print writing.

 

i guess im a serious student of writing since both are similar to me

 

I'm not really any good at writing articles, but now i need 150 unikal articles for my new penis enlargement site ...any idea?

 

In my experience writing for the web is a great deal different than writing for a magazine or newsletter.

Articles on the web need to be clean and active in voice to keep the reader going. Articles for magazines should be written in the same manner, but you have a, more or less, captive audience. The main focus in magazine articles is to write so that when it is broken across pages, the body of the story has enough hooks to get the reader to turn to the back page and continue reading.

Articles for the web require clean formatting, but that isn't really a writing issue.

The use of Hyperlinks is a major difference, whether the link goes to another article on the website or to some place else.

Really, however, the main difference is in the tone and the flow. Web content has to be clear in the message, and clean in the verbiage (not talking about using foul language). If the tone and message is muddled, the reader simply clicks back out of the site, and looks for something else.

Adding in the SEO requirements that many website require puts web content in a whole different category.

Of course I'm talking about commercial, professional web content writing, not blog articles and the like. You can do that anyway you please. After all, its your space.

 

Hello glennhefly,

I will respectfully disagree with a few of your points.

I'm not so sure

• It is very easy to turn a page or simply put the magazine down

• For many/most magazines, that dreaded 3rd party, the editor, looks for those sorts of issues and often rejects the article

Research has shown that web article length should not exceed 4-5 screens to keep the reader's attention. A good web writer / editor will also want hooks to make the reader click a link to the next page.

I think much of the reason for more closely packed content in print, is the cost of publishing.

That goes more to method of navigation and reference than the actual writing, IMO.

I will venture to say that "If the tone and message is muddled" in a print submission, one of several things will happen.

• The editor will reject it

• The reader will look for a different article .. which is pretty much the same as "clicking out of the site"

• The reader may well consider never buying that magazine again

Different category, yes .. a great deal of difference between web and print, I don't see it.

I don't see SEO as using a keyword of every 3rd, 4th, (whatever the formula is) word position. That's because I am talking about good, professional web content.

 

I do not know much about writing articles for web. But it is good try by you. Those 10 SEO tips for wordpress are informative. The important creteria of an article is to convey the central Idea to the readers by the author. One or two erroneous sentences may be ignored but spell check must be carried out before presenting to the viewers.

@ jhmattern. Nice guidelines to be implemented while writing articles.

 

I think it looks nice, and the content is obviously (from the comments) useful to people who are looking for it. (ok, I admit, I learned some stuff, too)


There does seem to be a formatting issue, but I think if you will simply "Align left" the text rather than "justify' you will see a big difference in readability.

I published a newspaper, and experimented with "justify" the spread between the words makes you have to put forth a physical effort to follow the text. (ouch, and work? eww)

I personally have no idea why "justify" was ever even invented. Other than it makes a page look great if nobody's going to read it. LOL

Great Article by the way.