Articles – also known as website content – are the life-blood of the internet.

Even if you’re searching for an image or video, you’ll almost always use words to search. With the possible exception of Google’s image search where you can hunt for similar images. But you can’t do that with a video and you certainly can’t do it with actual written information.

The search engines are at their best when they are given words to index. They struggle to understand the spoken word – check through some of the automatic captions generated by YouTube, they often make the worst spun articles seem half way decent. And it’s highly unlikely that a search algorithm would recognise a Van Gogh picture unless it was given clues in the file name and alt text.

Which means you need to create written content to get the most from your internet marketing.

Nowadays, that doesn’t mean a 250 or 300 word article either.

It doesn’t even mean a 400 or 500 word article.

That hasn’t really worked for a few years now.

If you want to stand any chance of getting on the first page of the results for almost anything, you need lots of content.

From the checks I’ve done even in some very narrow niches such as fear of numbers, I’d suggest the absolute minimum is 1,000 words currently. And for anything much bigger than that niche, you’re best with well upwards of 2,000 words, often more than 3,000.

That’s a lot of content to write if you’re used to creating shorter pieces but the same process applies with this.

And whilst you might not be able to write a complete, long, article in 20 minutes you could do what I’m doing more of – use several 20 minute writing slots to create one, much longer, article.

The same rules apply, it’s just that you’re writing more words on any given page.

1. Choose a topic for your article

You need a topic to write your article about. The best way to do that is to find out what people are searching for.

Go to Google – or any other search engine – and tap in a few words related to your topic.

You’ll get suggestions appear in a drop down list.

For instance, when I double checked fear of numbers earlier I got things added to the search term such as irrational, OCD, what it’s called (Numerophobia in case you’re interested unless the fear is related to just one number such as 13, which is called Triskaidekaphobia, or other specific numbers which also have separate names) as well as some suggestions for lyrics which means that from the 3 words I typed in, Google isn’t actually certain what I was searching for.

Typing a space somewhere between the words that show up in the suggestions will usually give extra ideas.

The suggestions are much more up to date than the Keyword tool and are based on what real people are typing in for their searches.

Which means that you don’t have to spend lots of time researching out of date keyword information.

Just rely on real people and let the long tail (LSI) side of the search engines deliver you traffic for keyword phrases you never dreamed of.

What I tend to do is drill down so that I’ve got a multi-word phrase that doesn’t bring up unrelated suggestions.

So for this search I’d drill down until they didn’t include the suggestion of lyrics because those are obviously not relevant if someone is trying to overcome a fear.

It’s also worth drilling down until you get a suggested phrase that has some commercial intent.

For instance, if I just wanted to know what a phobia is called, it’s unlikely that I’m trying to get rid of it. And if someone typed that kind of search, there’s a good chance that Google will provide the answer without them having to go off to another site.

That kind of “here’s the answer” search result is in Google’s best interests. It satisfies the searcher and it keeps people on Google so they can run another search which would then stand a chance of earning Google some money if they click on an advert.

It’s also happening more often, so even if your current search doesn’t give a section with the answer in it, there’s a good chance it will in the not too distant future.

Which means you need to make sure that the content you create is the kind of content where a short answer just won’t work. Or, if it does, most people will need a fuller explanation.

The title of your new piece of content obviously needs to be related to your chosen topic.

It also needs to be interesting if at all possible.

When you’re doing your searches to work out exactly what to write about, make a note of any results that seem to leap off the screen at you.

By definition, those are the more interesting titles.

Google pays attention to the click through rates on its results as it is programmed to assume that more clicks (so long as people don’t immediately click the back button) means the result is more relevant to the search.

Don’t be afraid to be controversial.

And strongly consider turning your title into a question or a “how to” style (like the title of this piece of content).

2. Jot down sub-topics for your article

Once you’ve decided on your title, you should write down between 3 and 10 (or even 20 if you’re feeling keen) sub-topics.

Quite often I’ll choose these from the suggestions that show up as you search and/or the related searches that are given at the end of the page for most search results.

These are like the numbered headings in this article.

They need to cover what you are going to be writing about in the article.

This serves two main purposes:

• It makes sure that you keep on track in your article
• It makes the article easier to read because it automatically breaks up the article rather than presenting your reader with a large block of text.

Don’t spend lots of time on this – so long as you know your subject, you should be able to come with these sub-topics in a matter of minutes.

Depending on your preferred method of working, you could put these sub-topics into a document or spreadsheet.

Or you might put them straight into the WordPress editing screen. That’s what I do a lot of the time as it keeps everything neatly in one place rather than being scattered around my computer.

It also means that if I come back to the article later – often the case with longer pieces of content – that I don’t have to remember what the associated document was called or where I’ve saved it.

3. Write 2 – 3 paragraphs on each sub-topic

This bit is easy. Or at least I think it is.

Because you’ve already decided what each sub topic is going to be about, all you need to do is write a few short paragraphs about that sub-topic in much the same way as if you were writing an email to a friend or explaining that sub-topic face to face.

Don’t be worried about using perfect English – you’ll notice in this article that my style is informal and that it would almost certainly freak out an English teacher.

That doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you explain what you initially decided to explain when you chose that sub-topic.

If the sub-topic goes on for less or more time than you originally intended, that’s fine.

But this kind of length (about 100 words per sub-topic) works really well because it’s concise enough for people not to find it daunting.

I also suggest that you split long paragraphs into shorter ones.

Even if your English teacher wouldn’t approve.

You’re not writing content to pass a formal exam. You’re actually writing it to pass an informal exam which is whether or not your visitors will read the content and, if they do, will some of them take the desired action by clicking one of your links, either to lead them to another page on your site or to one of your videos ot an affiliate link or wherever else you intended to go.

Another advantage of longer articles is that you can include more links in them without it seeming to be cluttered with links.

I don’t have a specific rule of thumb for the number of links to include – it’s just what seems appropriate when I’m creating the content.

I know from experience that more than one or two links on a short (few hundred word) piece of content looks wrong. But a dozen or more links on a several thousand word piece of content is almost sparse.

Personally, I err on the side of caution.

I could probably include a lot more links in an article as long as this one but I tend not to.

That might change in the future and it will certainly change from article to article and between different niches. Because I’m basically making it up as I go along, so outside the original intent of the page I’m creating – and which I know the link I want to include – everything else is down to what seems natural.

That’s actually a big plus point because the search engines are looking for pages that appear natural. Wikipedia doesn’t have a quota of links per page and nor should you.

4. If needed, write a resource box

If you’re writing an article for something like an article directory (not recommended as they generate next to no traffic nowadays) or as a guest blog on someone else’s site, then you’ll need to write a short resource (or bio) box that is your call to action, asking people to click through to your website.

This should not be boring!

A lot of resource boxes treat themselves as though they’re a snippet you might read on Wikipedia and read along the lines of “XYZ is an authority on whatever topic”. Why would anyone want to click through on that?

The resource box needs to address the question that is going through your reader’s mind which is basically “what’s in it for me?”

If you’re in any doubt, go to a large article site such as Ezine Articles and search for prolific article writers. Then use their resource boxes as a model because if they’ve written hundreds or even thousands of articles, they’re not doing it for fun.

They almost certainly will have tested what works best.

But that’s about the only use for article directories nowadays unless you’ve got a lot of content on them already.

In that respect, I’m lucky.

I created a lot of content on EzineArticles back when it actually sent traffic to me.

And every now and then, it still does send me traffic.

I use those article titles to create new content because if EzineArticles is showing up in the results (which it must be if I’m getting a click from it), there’s no competition for that keyword.

But other than using it to check what to put in your resource box, it’s not a site I’d recommend you to use.

It’s far better to create a new page on your own site or a video or a guest post on a relevant blog in your niche.

Or all of those things.

The more the merrier is a cliche but it definitely helps on the web.

5. Have a final read through

Editing articles is a separate process from writing them.

It uses a different side of your brain and is best done separately.

If I’m submitting to an article site, I’ve probably typed the article in directly so there’s no spell check or grammar check available. If I’m feeling really enthusiastic, I’ll copy it into Word and run the check there.

But, personally, most of the time I’ll let it go at that.

If I’m writing for my blog, I’ll hit the “publish” button and then view the page and read it through.

Or if it’s a longer page I’ll use the preview button.

Or at least skim the article, again depending on what mood I’m in.

Sometimes I’ll copy and paste the article into Word and look for the red squiggly lines that mean I’ve done something it objects to. Sometimes that’s a word I’ve not spelled correctly – my browser doesn’t have a spell check so that can happen. Sometimes it’s a comma at the end of a sentence rather than a full stop (or period if you’re not from the UK).

Most of the time it’s not a deal breaker if I don’t spot it. But remember that I’ve been doing this for longer than I care to remember and have thousands of articles (under a variety of pen names) and thousands of blog posts (spread across lots of different sites) so I do have an edge in that respect.

But if you decide to create content regularly – and I think you should – then you’ll look at your stats in a year’s time and have the same kind of experience.

I suggest that you read through all your first few articles and then take a view as to how much – if any – editing was needed and adjust your writing process from there.

Reading out loud – rather than in your head – is best initially.

There’s something about reading words out loud that helps to bring them to life. And it also highlights where something isn’t quite right.

If you stumble when you’re reading your article, the structure isn’t quite right.

If you read something a slightly different way, consider changing it. I do that all the time when I turn my written content into a slideshow video.

Partly because my mind is in a slightly different place by the time I get to reading out the slides.

We’re not actors, reciting carefully written lines.

So unless you’re something too close to a robot for comfort, there’s a good chance you’ll do the same.

You’ll need to decide whether or not the spoken adjustment gets amended in the written article. Most of the time – unless something really doesn’t make sense – I don’t do that.

But if you’re more of a perfectionist then maybe you should change it.

Just don’t get stuck in a perpetual round of revisions.

Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, famously said “publish and be damned” and there’s a lot in favour of adopting that attitude.

The major plus point with the web is that you’ve not gone to print. So anything that really needs to be changed after the event can be changed.

Newspapers have to print corrections. All you need to do is edit the original article and click the update button.

There’s a chance that the original will stick in Google’s cache for a while but most normal people don’t view the cached version of web pages. And there’s an outside chance that a site like the Wayback Machine will have indexed the page for posterity.

But most of the time updating is no problem – it’s good enough for sites like Wikipedia and Google (which is constantly re-crawling pages in case they’ve changed) so it’s good enough for you.

If you’d like to follow this entire article writing process on video, click here.

And for more help with creating content for your website, check out my Content Creation Crash Course.

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