From My Desk to Yours – 3rd Edition
By: Penny, EzineArticles Managing Editor
Definition: Substantive Articles – Articles that contribute to your niche. These include suggestions, ideas, sources of information, insights into the topic and almost anything that will stir discussion.
Your readers should want more! They should comment on your article and offer you suggestions for more articles. If you’re getting this already, you know the meaning of substantive … Keep up the good work!
If you’re not having this dynamic conversation with your readers, then here are some tips that will help you achieve this:
- It’s Not OK to be Short and Sweet – Saying something is a cool idea without adding the WHY does nothing for the reader. This is not quality – this is easy writing. Your readers will see right through it. Good writing takes hard work and research.
- Relate Yourself to Your Work – Readers want to know how this has affected you and why it works. Add YOU to the topic by offering tips and further exploring why the tip works. People want MEAT. They want to know they can trust you. You’re the expert, so show them you are. Give them the MEAT.
- Make Connections with Your Audience – Do your research and ask them what they want. Then deliver this value in articles. This is worthwhile stuff. Readers want to know what they will find valuable TODAY. They don’t want to know what happened in the news last year. Think EVERGREEN!
- Think 400-600 Words as Your Quality Base – Don’t fill your article body with FLUFF just to reach this word count, but rather allow yourself enough room to explore the topic.
- You Won’t Know Until You Try – Perfection should always be your goal, but remember to submit and learn along the way. Trust me, you’ll get better with time.
Remember, writing high-quality, original content is not an overnight process – it’s hard work. Keep going, and you’ll get there in time.
I promise. :-)
If you have other suggestions for promoting a dynamic conversation with your readers, please share them with the rest of us by leaving a comment below.
This might be an idea, unfortunately it bothers me somewhat because I take 75 online email newsletters and note the articles getting shorter, same with MSN’s Small Home Business articles, most are 300 and under. Additionally, I’ve noted that if the article gets too long and people have to scroll too much they often click out, because they are scanning, not actually reading.
The average Internet surfer studies show 18 seconds per page, and click. So you want them to scan or read your article and then click on your link at the bottom to get more information. Most people cannot write 200-300 word articles very well, but some decent writers can, thus, raising the limits can be a problem, unjust rather for those writers who can do it. I suppose it takes a good deal of practice, but these days with so many laid-off reporters, well many have gone free-lance and I’ve seen quite a few here who can turn-a-phrase and do an excellent job in under 300 words.
So, with regards to online ezine publishers wanting shorter articles formatted a certain way, and with online trends dummying down our reader base, and with Internet Surfer attention spans, these are all issues. Personally, I find that 350 is a good length for me to say what I need to say, but my writing styles packs in lots of references and compound sentences, so I am able to say more in a shorter space. That didn’t happen right away, it took 1000s of articles to get there.
Still, those 1200-2500 word articles I did in the beginning, I wish I never posted, I should have broken them down into 350-400 word articles. Some food for thought, as this is a hot topic.
October 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM[Reply]
Oh, as a quick example that last post was 291 words. So, if I tightened it up, which would edit it down 50-words it would be 241 words, and if I added a three sentence lead in and three sentence conclusion to it, it would be back up around 290 words. And it’s title will be:
Should Online Article Directories Require 400-word Articles Minimums?
So, you see, I could very easily add in a fluffy paragraph, but I’ve said all I need to say, so, if someone can write compactly, then they should if they have the ability to, and believe me it takes time. So, concentrate on your writing write until you’ve completed and stop. Generally, for most folks it will be 400 words or more. But some of these really kick-butt journalist majors and reporters, well, I’d hate to have a rule that forced them to insert fluff just to make the word counts.
Anyway, case in point. But Ethan does bring up that point, and it should be discussed, because otherwise folks who purposely write thinly to begin with, end up getting away with murder and their articles stink.
October 22, 2009 at 10:47 AM[Reply]