10 Habits Of Highly Effective Articles

There are thousands of websites containing articles on how to become a better blogger or simply how to blog. Enter any of these websites and you will find numerous articles on interlinking, connecting with other bloggers, increasing page rank, getting traffic, exploiting social media, and blah, blah, blah. Where the heck is “CONTENT”? If content is king, as each bloggers say, why are these websites full of everything except content.

And frankly, people don’t visit your blog post because it is linked with other sites or because it has more keywords. They visit your blog just for two reasons. First, because they are your friends or you just know them. They come because you have maintained a personal relation with them in some or the other way.

And second, they visit your website to read your articles. They come because they think you know much about the topic and they want to learn from you. Or maybe your articles are simple entertaining and they like it.

You can definitely pull them a long way by involving personally in your blog. This can be done by replying to every comment or emailing them.

However, they are the ones who have already visited your blog and like you because of your personal touch. But what about the people who are directed to your website through search engines? They want information. They want quality content. They want something that hooks them, entertains them, and give them a reason to search for other articles on your blog.

The rule to get more visitors is simple. You have to write excellent articles. Period.

However, what is the difference between a simple article and an excellent one? How can an article be effective? Here are 10 Habits of Highly Effective People:

1. They Don’t Make Grammatical Mistakes:
   If you fail to use correct grammar in your article, it’s no more effective. People quickly understand you are an amateur or a novice. You lose the authority and significance. The readers no longer believe that you have more knowledge than them.
2. They Don’t Use Jargon:
   Everyone wants to astound their readers. I like doing it. But that doesn’t mean you do it by using words that few understand. They aren’t holding an Oxford dictionary while reading your article. Keep it simple, always.
3. They are personal:
   Personal doesn’t mean you ask your reader to post their girlfriend’s number in the comments. It means having a personal touch. Share your personal experience; show your self in the article.
4. They are humorous:
   The best way to attract, retain, and mesmerize your readers is to add humor to your posts. I am sure most of the people like to smile, so they will visit your posts regularly. Use sarcasm, irony, satire, jokes, or funny examples to create humor.
5. Use Stories and Examples:
   Theory is quite boring. Blogger who keep posting theories need to understand that their readers aren’t attending a high school. They need information with fun and clear understanding. Provide examples and stories, which will help them comprehend the message.
6. They are easily readable:
   Make sure the readers read your full article. Most of the readers don’t because you scare them away with the quantity of your post. They just skim through the post and try to grasp the message. I know they can understand much, but that’s what they do and you know it. However, you still keep writing 2000 words article. Keep it short.
7. They provoke action:
   Have you ever written an article which asks the reader to do something immediately after finishing the article? You didn’t? D o it. It’s very effective.
8. They initiate interaction:
   A good article attracts lots of comments. However, they are many blogs that doesn’t get a single comment. Here is a simple tip: Ask your readers something like feedback, suggestion, or a direct question.
9. They are full of information:
   Write informative articles. Let them clearly how something works. Provide tutorials about something in some easy steps. Define a very difficult process in simple terms. Give them precious information.
10. They are well designed and organized:
    As mentioned earlier, most of the readers just go through the main topics and sub topics. Great, now you know their secret. Provide them what they want. Write the article in pointer format with titles and sub-titles in large fonts.

No, I am not as perfect and effective as Stephen Covey. But I guess together we can be better. Let me know other elements of a good article.