Writing or putting together some content for a web article is not enough. To stand out, attract traffic and to gain credibility; your content needs to be the best it can be. Even expert article writers, who have written thousands of articles, can make mistakes that can reduce the quality of their articles. However, most article writers will agree that there are some essential points that needs to be considered before you can click on the publish or send button and upload your content on the Internet. Here is a checklist that all content writers will find useful.
1.Keyword checking
Keywords are important for any web content as they play a part in search engine optimization. Keywords ensure that the right audience finds your article from a search engine result. However, changes in major search engines mean that you have to be more careful while inserting keywords in your article.
•Check if your keywords are related to and relevant to the content and title of your article.
•The title needs to have relevant keywords and must be relevant to the content.
•The keywords must sound natural and should fit with the flow of the article. Unnatural sounding keywords will not only put-off any reader but could also hurt web rankings.
•Files names of images and alt tags should describe the images clearly and should have relevant keywords.
2.Use visual content
A picture speaks a thousand words. This holds good even for web content and to make your article more engaging it is best to use a relevant image or images. They easily attract a reader’s or casual surfer’s attention to the article. Moreover, a correctly tagged image attracts more web traffic from a Google image search results page. Visual content does not constitute only images; you can and must include charts, infographs, videos, screenshots, etc. wherever possible. Visual content also increases the chances of your article being shared on social networks.
3.Increase readability
It is of the utmost importance that any reader should be able to read and digest the facts in your web article with ease. Effective readability will not only ensure that the reader reads the whole article but will also encourage them to share the content, subscribe to the email list and browse through the rest of your website.
•The colors for the font should not be too garish and should not strain the eyes of the reader. The font should also be distinguishable from the background.
•Do not use too many typefaces in one article. Sticking to one typeface for title, sub-headings and body should suffice.
•It is best to keep the content left-aligned.
•Paragraphs should be small and to the point.
•Make sure to use bold and italics to highlight important points.
4.Proofread
This is probably the most important point on the checklist. This may sound obvious but you have to read your article thoroughly after you have finished writing it and before publishing it. Errors in spelling and grammar are natural, so reading the article will help you spot and correct such mistakes. The article should also have a good flow and sentences and paragraphs should be short. It is highly recommended that you read the article aloud.