How To Write an Online Article

I had quite a bit of fun with the last blog post,  how to write a blog post, and a few emails came, you all know you can comment here, and suggested the next how to topic: How to Write an Online Article.  So here it goes:

To write an online article, you will need to know the website which you are writing on.  There are Terms of Service (known as the TOS) which you will need to follow or some “unspoken rules” that you will need to know.  The three most important things to be aware of : Word Count, type of topic you can write about, and the type of traffic that comes to that particular website.

Next, you will need to start to write this article.  Choose you topic and write the article, preferably on a word processor.  This will allow you to “See” more spelling and basic grammar errors.  Plan to write the article beyond the minimum owrd count that is required for the site.  The minimum word count is often there as a guide, but you should surf a bit on the site to see what more successful writers have as a word count.  Aim for that length.

Next, copy and paste your text in the text area of the website ( it can be called different things by different sites, but look for where you can place your text)  Make certain that your text looks “good.”  This goes beyond spelling errors but how it looks to a reader.

Hit the “save as draft” button at this point.  If you do have to leave your work, your text will be saved. After saving it is important to preview this article to make certain that there is nothing missing, and that there are breaks between paragraphs.

If you are allowed you will need to add photos or polls or videos.  Make these as professional as possible.  At this point it is also a great idea to save your work.  If you are allowed to monetize your work, you should look into your content.

Make certain that your content (what you have written) has some good search terms, so that the search engines can find it, as unlike a blog post, an online article is more like a website.  Rather it is more like a static website, where it doesn’t change much.

Once it is there, you will only need to make smaller corrections to get the most value out of your work.  This is also where you have to decide if you will promote it on your blog or not.

After you are happy with your work, publish the article.  After you have been published ( if it goes under editorial, then after it is approved) you will need to continue to promote this article by adding links to the article.

The most important aspect is to write as best you can.  It is in many ways like a blog post, but it is also more like a website.