A Powerful Tool for Writing Ezine Articles

EzineArticles.com is not exactly a forum for fine writing. No one goes to Ezine like they might the New Yorker—for entertainment, enlightenment, a fine read.

Still, article directories serve a purpose, which I discuss in my book Write Where the Money Is. Freelance writers might well end up submitting articles to Ezine or other article directories—if not for pay (there is none on Ezine), then to promote their business or expertise—or (and this would pay) someone else’s business or expertise.

For the time being, let’s forget the underlying raison d’etre of article directories—search-engine optimization, self-promotion, keyword utilization, and all that good stuff—and simply talk about a strategy that will get your articles read and valued.

Headline: Grabby, to the Point

Headlines like: How to… The Six Best Strategies For… Ten Mistakes Not to Make When You… XX Techniques that Work… all work well. They set up exactly what you intend to do, and they intrigue readers. Here’s one I could use for this article: Four Powerful Ways to Write Better Articles.

Lede: Grabby, to the Point

Your lede (journalism lingo: “lede” in lieu of “lead” so as not to confuse the opening of an article with the stuff fishing sinkers are made of) should amplify the headline and set up exactly what is to follow. Your lede should be a laser-beam focused statement of opinion or fact that points directly to what follows. One or two sentences should be enough. Like: “Online articles are effective only when writers pay attention to these four (usually neglected) fundamentals.”

In other words, minimize your setup. Maximize your payoff.

Body Copy: Think Bullets or Numbers

You don’t have to write in bulleted or numbered paragraphs, but THINK in those terms. That’s how clear and organized you want your article to be. In this article, I’ve used subheads for the same purpose. I set up the fact that writers should pay attention to four fundamentals. Then I spelled out what those fundamentals are. Simple.

Kicker

Kickers for article-site articles are different from kickers in magazines, where you might employ a bit of wit while harking back to the lede. In an online article, your goal is to so enthrall and impress the reader that he will be compelled to continue to the resource box and click through to your website, or to the site of your client.

One clever approach is to construct your kicker to read directly through to your resource box, essentially setting up your resource box to be the final paragraph of your article.

Or just write such an effective article that readers won’t be able to help themselves; they’ll be dying to click through. That, of course, is your goal.

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Robert Earle Howells is the 2009 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year Silver Award winner and author of more than 1,000 national magazine articles. His e-book Write Where the Money Is details the steps to take to start and succeed as a freelance writer for print or Web.

Tagged as: article writing