Exploding the myths about what makes a good seo article writer!

Internet Article Writer – what makes a good one?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what makes a good Internet Article Writer so I thought I’d clear up a few simple points and myths.

Myths

A good article writer must have an English degree and be journalist trained.

Why is this a myth?

Most people who surf the net are neither of the above and thus they are unfamiliar with the rules of grammar or how journalists are trained to lay out text. Many have English as a second language. Thus while being grammatically correct is valuable, it is not the deciding factor when it comes to what makes a good article writer for the Internet.

It is the user that determines how we write on the Internet not the editor!

A good article writer must lay out text the same way it’s laid out in magazines.

Why is this a myth?

There has been a lot of scientific research done into how people read content on the Internet. These results show that people largely scan text.

Internet users are looking for specific information and so often won’t read the full text they will scan for the information they’re looking for. If it is not quickly apparent, they will click away to another page on the Internet to see if they can find it faster.

This is not how readers of magazines behave. They don’t have the luxury of duplicate topics in the same magazine. So how you lay out an article for the Internet requires different ‘rules’ to how you lay it out in a magazine.

For example: short paragraphs and bullet lists are essential ingredients to ensuring Internet users ‘scanning’ requirements are met.

A good article writer should use keywords in great abundance to attract search engines.

Having content picked up by search engines is of course important but keyword stuffing and writing nonsense articles as a result is counter productive. It is also in dispute as to how effective keyword stuffing is in terms of attracting search engines. Word on the street (and in Wikipedia) is that Google penalises content that appears to be keyword stuffed.

Also keyword stuffed articles are rarely read as they don’t read well.

So what does make a good article writer if none of the above?

Interesting, engaging content laid out in a manner which satisfies the scanning needs of people who surf the net.

If you fill your niche website /blog with engaging, relevant content often, the search engines will favour you and readers will enjoy what you write and return for your latest contribution.

Keyword optimisation will help. Keyword optimisation is not the same as keyword stuffed.

Summary
There a many ‘qualified’ writers on the Internet but not all of them attract a regular following or high volume traffic. This might be due to their inability to write in the manner required for Internet surfers, or it might be due to dull content.

Tip

As an article writer myself, when writing for pleasure I nearly always try to inject a rhythm into my writing, so it is almost poetic. I take the reader on a ride and I believe this rhythm is what keeps them reading my articles from start to finish.

I started writing a novel the same way a while ago and I was told by those that reviewed it that they couldn’t put it down. It was far from a great work of literary genius. But I believe the way the content flowed and the almost poetic way I used words is what kept them moving through the pages.

If you want to write articles for your own website or blog, give that small tip a consideration.