Why Online Writing Is Different
Lesson 2 from You Can Make Money Writing
Yes, online writing really is different from writing for print
magazines...
I remember the first time I tried online writing. I did almost
everything wrong - no keywords in the headline, a poor resource
box, spelling errors and other mistakes. I wondered if it was
a waste of time, but a couple weeks later I started to see traffic
coming into my website from the directory where I posted the
article.
Even better, that traffic was starting to make me money from
advertising clicks. I had never even considered writing for print
magazines, but this was easy and fun. Seven months after my first
article I was making a good living writing about things that
interested me.
The goal of online writing is not the same as that of writing
for print magazines. You write a magazine article to entertain,
inform and to keep readers interested in the magazine, where
the advertising is. The goal of an online article is to entertain
and inform, but it is also meant to get readers to leave the
"ezines" or websites where they are reading your article,
by way of the link at the bottom which leads to your website.
This is a crucial distinction. Of course you want to entertain,
inform or otherwise give value to readers, but all for the purpose
of getting them to click through to your site. In other words,
a poorly written article that gets more clicks is more successful
than a well-written article which doesn't entice the reader to
click through.
There will be tips throughout this e-book on how to get readers
to click through to your site. Lesson 9 covers the "author's
resource box," (where that link to your site will be located)
in detail, with clear advice on how to make a reader a visitor
to your site. It is one of the most important lessons here.
Other Differences of Online Writing
Internet attention spans are short.
You need to get right to the point in fewer words. From my
experience, the ideal online article length is somewhere between
400 and 800 words. That's about six to ten short paragraphs.
Some article directories won't accept articles that are more
than 1500 words. (Don't worry - all these rules and guidelines
will all be summarized later in the course.)
Online writing is just for your readers.
Magazine articles have to start by pleasing the editor, and
for this they have to be on popular topics. With online articles
you can target a few thousand people who share your common interest
in rock collecting or whatever. I have an article on how to build
a raft and float down a river on it - and yes it makes money.
You can then publish your article, get the readers to visit your
site, make money from them - all with no rejection letters or
anyone to tell you that your topic isn't commercial enough.
Online writing is about keywords.
Writing to target the right keywords is something you'll get
used to in time. You may love to write about "angling"
for bass, but if people are typing "bass fishing tips"
into the search engines, you better have those words in your
article - and have them in the right places as well! This really
isn't as difficult as it seems, but it sometimes makes for awkward
writing, especially until you get used to it. There will be more
about this in an upcoming lesson.
Perfection is not required.
Do you best, but don't worry if you are a poor writer. You'll
get better with practice, and expectations are different online.
People browsing the internet want information, and they are more
forgiving of shaky writing skills. Just be sure to have good
content - good form can be learned with time and practice.
You are your own editor and publisher.
The better article directories do have editors, and they will
occasionally reject a poorly-written article or one that is a
blatant sales-pitch. However, it is up to you to determine the
demand for your subject, research the topic, write and rewrite
your articles, check your spelling, and distribute your articles
to the right places to get them read. This isn't as much work
as it seems, as you will see.
You get residual income from your online writing.
It can be tough to get a magazine to buy your articles, and
you get paid just once. An online article might take you an hour
or two to write, and may only deliver enough traffic to your
site to generate just a few dollars per month - but it can keep
doing that month after month for many years to come.
You can see the advantages of online writing, but maybe you're
not sure you can write interesting articles. If this is the case,
continue with lesson three right now, for some tips on making
it easier.
Continues with Lesson 3 here... An
Easy Way to Write an Article
Note: This is part of the book, You Can Make Money
Writing. There are links to all the all the lessons/chapters
on the home page.
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