The Keyboard Is Mightier Than The Pen

Mention online articles to most people, and if you're lucky, you'll get a grimace that could resemble a half-hearted smile. More often than not, you get a full-fledged grimace that could get the most chipper chap down in the dumps.

The problem is, that most people don't realise that online articles do not have to be, well, boring. Many a time, businesses will fill their websites with pages and pages of online articles all about how good they think they are. Obviously, if you are going to be filling pages and pages with the same useless drivel, common sense dictates that it will sooner or later get awfully boring.

There is undoubtedly an art to writing online articles

Off the cuff, online articles definitely should not be a monotonous drone about how boringly brilliant the founding director of a company is, and how amazingly better the generic company product is compared to the competitor's generic product.

Online articles should be...well, kind of like the online article you are reading right now - intelligent, witty, engaging and highly entertaining.

Taking Baby Steps To Becoming A Grown-Up Writer

So you think you're no good at writing? Bollocks!

Your online articles don't have to be as well referenced as a doctorate thesis, as long and detailed as each Lord of the Rings book, or as widely acclaimed as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

When writing for business, consider writing about the industry. Share knowledge, give your clients tips or address past and current industry trends. Not only will you be building your own expertise, but you will also be building your authority on the subject matter amongst your readers and within the industry.

Start off by defining and understanding your topic. If it's not an opinion piece, do your research - you would be digging a pretty deep grave by saying the Global Financial Crisis had ended if stocks were still crashing and companies were folding. Organise your thoughts and opinions in a logical sequential order, and then, start writing your first draft. Remember, it's just a draft so if it's not the perfect, it's not the end of the world.

Once you have everything down, edit it to your heart's content. Check the flow, juggle words and paragraphs around, and add or delete sentences. If your grammar and spelling are a little shoddy, thank god for the spelling and grammar check tools and check that piece of prose to technical perfection. Finally, check for readability, add a dash of personality and post it online.

On a side note, don't be afraid to add a little va-va-voom. So you won't get nominated for the Pulitzer, but at least your readers won't fall asleep.

The 'Why' Files

Writing quality online articles on a regular basis doesn't just mean you will build your own credibility in the industry. Check out our other reasons below.

1. Quality online articles published regularly give your site visitors a reason to keep coming back - there's always something interesting to tickle their fancy.
2. If you publish via renowned and respected publishing sites or news services, you will generate meaningful back-links to your site. These meaningful back-links will give your site more oomph with Google.
3. If your online articles are of good quality, you will gain youurself a higher status quo with these publishers which mean that your online article will be published front and centre and not somewhere backstage with the rest of the writers.
4. The communities that frequent these external sites that you are publishing through will have ready access to your site, and if they respect your work they will definitely want to know more.

To find out even more about writing quality online articles, contact us. You can also download our eBook or register for a free online analysis report.