Writinghood > Online Writing

Secrets to Making People Read Your Online Articles

Easy ways to improve your online writing and get more readers.

The Internet is a writer’s paradise. Not only does it make it so easy to get published, it also lets you reach readers from all over the world. But with so many other writers competing for attention, how can you make people read the articles YOU write? What are the secrets to writing great articles online?

Here are a few tips I hope will help:

Choose An Intriguing But Informative Title

People usually find articles from search engines that show little more than the title of your article. Your title needs to tell them exactly what they will find in your article. If they have to guess, they won’t click on it.

Also, make your titles intriguing. Make them want to see what’s inside. The best example I’ve seen so far goes “The Best School You Hope Your Kids Will Never Attend.” “How to” and “Secrets of” are other tried and tested formula.

Make Your Keywords Work

What words should a person type in the search bar to find your article? These words should appear at least once in your title and again on your first paragraph, to lead the search engine to your article. Remember, if your readers can’t find your article, they won’t read it.

Use Headers

Online readers are lazy. They like to see what’s in your article in just a glance. Headers give them a quick summary and, at the same time, encourage them to read more thoroughly.

Keep Sentences And Paragraphs Short

Long sentences and paragraphs are intimidating. When people don’t see many periods and open spaces in your article, they might just stop reading altogether.

Use Simple English

Remember that many of your readers are not native English speakers. Avoid hard words, figures of speech and slang to avoid being misunderstood.

These tips may not immediately increase your readership by 100%, but they will keep you from driving away the readers you already have. I can’t say either that I always obey the rules mentioned above, but I try.

At the very least, I hope this article was easy and fun for you to read. Good luck with your writing!

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Comments (21)
#1 by kellieh hastings, Sep 6, 2007
Some very good advice Beatrice. And your right simple
informative reaing goes a long way. Im doing ok and
put links to my articles on my site along with funny
pics of animals-entertainment content site.
check these pics out though, hilarious.
freewebs dot com/skilled-writer for a laugh.
replace dot with .
thanks
#2 by C A Johnson, Sep 6, 2007
These are some very good tips. I try to do these when I write my articles.
#3 by Loretta Johnson, Sep 6, 2007
You did a great job with your article. Your advice should help people with their columns.
#4 by Elena H., Sep 8, 2007
Great tips. I need all the help I can get. Thanks for sharing them
#5 by Nicholas Kenney, Sep 29, 2007
Thank you so much for all the great advice. I've tried everything except your tips and haven't gotten anywhere. People like my stories when they read them, my problem has been gaining readers.With all your information, I'll give it another try.Thanks again!
#6 by Beatrice Adams, Oct 2, 2007
Hello, all.

Thanks for all your kind words. I just had to add this, to make sure my article does not mislead: A good Internet writing style is just half the battle for getting readers. A big part of it is still subject and content, and as far as I am concerned, that is still very much hit-and-miss.

Just for illustration: My very shallow McDonalds article earned twice as much in 15 days as all my other practical-and-hopefully-useful articles put together in one whole year.

Sure, I love the money; still, it's kinda sad, if you think about it...
#7 by Anne Lyken-Garner, Jan 8, 2008
I know what you mean Beatrice, I used to take days refining articles of literary perfection, but no one read or commented on them. Wheras, recently I've quickly put together others which turned out to have a margin of success.

I don't know the secret at all, but I think that part of it has to do with the suitability of one's article to be passed around as chain mail,what's hot at the time of publication, and whether or not the author has had previous success at the top.

I can see no clear pattern, as many articles here have had wonderful titles and have been written well, still they do not do well.

Others, as I'm sure you've seen, were written badly, had spelling and grammatical mistakes and seemed to be shoved together quickly, yet they made the hot content list and stayed there.

Having said this, I do agree with your points above and I'll try to follow them when I submit my articles. Well done.
#8 by louie jerome, Jan 8, 2008
Some useful tips here. I too have noticed how many badly writen articles get to the top and stay there and I thought it must be because these people have lots of contacts who will read their work and pass it on (chain mail as Anne says).
#9 by Francie, Jan 8, 2008
All great information. Makes good sense what you have written here.
I believe a good following is all important as well. The list grows from there.

*it seems the more Strange the Title, Bizarre or Amazing the article content, at times the more readers you attract. It's still a bit of a mystery to me.

Thanks for this article!
#10 by Wendy, Jan 10, 2008
Great advice and sensibly to boot. You have a flair for words and get your thoughts across in a well written fashion

I find Titles are a bit disarming in that sometimes they work and sometimes they don't Guess I will have to work on that
Wendy
#11 by Liane Schmidt, Jan 13, 2008
Great article Beatrice!

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

-Liane Schmidt.
#12 by M.C. Johnson, Jan 19, 2008
Thanks!
#13 by Erica Barton, Jan 20, 2008
Excellent suggestions that I shall definitely incorporate.
#14 by miriam ramirez, Jan 25, 2008
well done. All great tips.
#15 by Moses Ingram, Feb 7, 2008
Thank you for those great tips.
#16 by K D Blakley, Mar 27, 2008
Good advice. And obviously your techniques worked to lure me in!
#17 by M.K. Beavers, Apr 11, 2008
Great article. These are easy tips to use and very helpful. If anything they help to make an article more reader friendly.
#18 by jhenz, May 8, 2008
Bravo! I love it! :D Very direct, concise and interesting, not to mention, informative too! :D Thank you. ;)
#19 by Joy , Jun 23, 2008
I've just joined this community and am enjoying looking around. Your article seems to be right on target. Thanks.
#20 by Allison West, Jun 30, 2008
Great article, very useful! I'm new here and need these tips!
#21 by salifaye, Sep 6, 2008
I am new to the computer, and there are a lot of things that I do not know how to do, therefore maybe, my articles are not as appealing as others, due to the looks. The looks are not what makes an article in my estimation, it is the wording, the content.I do the best I can with my writing, without submission of all that dress up stuff. Some of my writings has had views right of the bat, then there are those with no views. I'll continue to submit content and work on those things I need to learn. I appreciate your advise and feel it is right on the money. Well written/
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