Write an effective and well-referenced article, step by step guide
Would you like to write an article that is effective in attracting clients to your e-commerce or generating leads for your business?
So you must know that writing a long format article of 3,000 words is one of the best ways to achieve this. By doing so, you can only improve yourmarketing strategy.
This type of content falls between a blog post and a guide, making it unique content. Not too detailed, but also not too long. It's the perfect type of content to truly help your readers and be useful to them.
In addition, this type of content is perfect for theSEO (Search Engine Optimization)because it positions you as an authority in your field; it attracts other sites to send links to your article, and helps you create a sustainable community of readers by engaging more comments.
I know what you're thinking: "But how do I write such huge articles? I don't even know where to start."
If you already have an idea in mind, that's enough to get started. The other things you really need are: some motivation and good writing and Google skills.
For several years now, I have been writing articles on topics that may be far from my expertise (really far). Now, I will teach you how to write a 3,000-word article and optimize it for search; creating long articles being one of the keys toInbound marketing.
It's really easy to learn. I bet you will finish your first 3,000-word article in a few days.
Ready? Let's go!
Write an article on a topic that you know
First of all, there is a big problem that I see everywhere and I will address it first.
You will certainly come across articles that meet all the points of my guide, but the content is poor. And you will immediately notice that the author has not studied the subject.
If the article contains a lot of vague statements, relies on unsubstantiated claims or experiences of other people, it means that the author does not master the subject. The impression he gives is that he only skims the surface of the subject without going into details.
When you write an article of 3,000 words, you need to know what you are talking about.
As an example, I can easily write a 3,000-word article on marketing. But if I were to write an article on the most beautiful landscapes to discover in Germany, I would be completely lost.
When you write about a subject that you master, that you have studied well, you convey this knowledge. Your readers feel that you know what you're talking about.
Even more importantly, your articles will be interesting and light years away from the boring article I mentioned earlier.
Now, let's see how to write this article.
Keyword research
You may not know it, but keyword research is a very important factor in the success of your article.
Writing an amazing article that nobody is interested in will not bring you much.
But unless you have a website that generates millions of views, you will not be able to rank well for popular keywords.
It is the big websites that dominate most popular keywords and generate a lot of search.
This is why I will be talking about long-tail keywords.
For example, for this article, I want to rank for the long-tail keyword "How to write a well-referenced blog article". Of course, you can spend hours and hours trying to find popular keywords.
I will explain to you how to find keywords in just a few minutes.
Analyze popular content with BuzzSumo
Once you have browsed the best sites in your field and explored their top content, you can visit BuzzSumo to discover which content is the most popular.
This tool will give you an idea of what people in your field like to read and what they are most concerned about.
It also allows you to do some searches for free.
Simply enter a website or keyword to discover the most shared content.
Use search engines
The best way to proceed is to choose a topic that you master and then let search engines guide you towards the most searched words.
To begin, search for the topic on which you wish to write and you will see a box appear with suggestions.
You will also find other suggestions at the bottom of the page.
But always keep in mind that high-quality content will always attract more traffic than weak content with good keywords.
Use a keyword generator
I am going to explain something important to you.
The search for long-tail keywords is not sustainable in the long run.
Most of the time, the topics are too specific. You will only be able to write a few hundred or a thousand words on them.
And this type of content does not meet a real need or solve a real problem.
But long-tail content ranks better on search engines for one simple reason:
By coming across your article, a visitor will understand almost everything about the subject, which means the researcher does not need to go back to Google to find other articles.
That is why keyword generators are also useful.
Here is our favorite at Lions CreativeLSI Graph.
It is a free tool that allows you to generate keyword ideas.
Here is the result of a search for "Create a blog"..
You can also use several of these keywords in a single article.
For example:
In the introduction: Create a free website
Content 1: Create a website for free with Google
Content 2: Creating a WordPress blog
Content 3: create a professional website without advertising
Conclusion
In just a few minutes of research on a topic you want to write about, you can generate dozens and dozens of content ideas.
Create the structure of your content
Keep it simple when creating the outline of your article.
For example, your outline could be a list of all the subheadings in your article. Or it could be a list of points you want to write about.
But the most important thing is that you don't spend too much time on it. Instead, focus on the writing part.
Get sources and cite them
Sources are essential for the success of an article. If you do not have good sources, your readers will not trust you.
Now, your sources must meet these two criteria: they must be reliable and relevant.
Always choose a primary source of information; do not rely on a random blog, as it may change at any time.
Here is one of the best writing tips I can give you: find your sources first and base your text on these sources.
This advice comes from a professor I had during my studies. I used to spend hours crafting a plan while my text was still empty. Since then, I have always followed this advice and I work much faster.
Place your sources in links. Users will be able to easily click on them and of course, navigate through them.
Another good aspect is that Google checks your external links. Therefore, the more a page has, Google considers it as quality. This way you will gain places on this search engine.
Pay attention to the quality of the sites you link to. Avoid those with a bad reputation or those that are not related to the theme of your site. The impact on your SEO could be the opposite of what is expected.
Go into the details
Once you have your sources, it's time to write your first draft. When writing, keep in mind that details are your allies.
This is generally why I don't like short content - They are not detailed enough.
If you ask me to write a 500-word article onthe operation of Instagram, I should sacrifice many details and just write about the main points.
Short content can work in good circumstances, but if you are trying to build your authority and grow your audience, you need more content. This means more details and precision.
In general, it is always better to provide "too much detail" than "not enough".
When you start writing, let it flow. Write down everything that comes to mind even if you think it's bad. At this stage, your goal is to get words on a page.
You will edit them later.
Separate and divide your text
When you write a very long text like this one, make sure to separate your content well, that your text is divided into several parts. Explain each part thoroughly.
To help you, here are some questions you can try to answer:
If you were a beginner in this subject, what questions would have interested you?
Have you broken down each area into easily understandable parts?
Have you defined terms that some readers may not understand?
If you are writing about an advanced topic, include a beginner's guide somewhere at the top of your article. This way, inexperienced readers can learn the basics before moving on to your article.
Build on solid pillars
The title is the main point, and the subtitles give you the pillars of your article.
One key to optimizing your article is managing title tags. H1, H2, H3, ring a bell? Yes, some knowledge of HTML is useful for effectively optimizing your article.
If you use Kleap, simply select from the titles (once the text is selected, the list of titles appears and all that remains is to choose). We have indeed integrated the necessary tags into the platform.
Now, how do we organize them?
Use the h1 tag for the title of your article. Make sure that your theme uses this tag as the main title.
Choose the h2 tag for important headings, the h3 tag for lower-level headings, and so on.
Remember to include your important keywords in these titles. For example, "Keyword Research"..
You will have understood, my goal is to optimize for people who are searching for this title on Google or Bing.
In short, a final word for this first draft:
His writing should take up a lot of your time, much more than you would like. Let me explain: during the editing phase, you will cut out many parts (as many as possible)...
I recommend writing about 400-500 additional words as a safety net. If you want your final article to be 3,000 words, aim for 3,400-3,500 words in your draft.
Be ruthless with yourself
Last step in terms of content: editing.
When you edit your writing, be strict and honest with yourself. You are too familiar with your writing, so mistakes will easily slip through your fingers.
To remedy this, leave your article for a day or two. And when you come back to it, you will be more clear-headed and therefore, objective with yourself.
Start by reading your article out loud. Yes, it takes time, but it will help you easily notice your mistakes.
Read your article all the way through, and check if your sentences make sense and if they are clear. In doing so, be ruthless.
Also use spell checkers. In English, there are amazing tools; for French, we make do with what we have. And then, you know the difficulty of our language.
Here is the tool that I use directly on the web. It is a Google Chrome plug-inGrammalecte.
Optimize your images
Images and infographics are also of crucial importance. Imagine this article without any images, unreadable and incomprehensible to say the least. Images will bring some breathing space to your text and allow your visitors to better understand your article.
Regarding the Search Engine Optimization, you must at least fill in the alt attribute for each of your images.
The alt tag serves to provide the same information as the image; search engine robots need this in order to better understand your image.
If you have an online store, for example like this storecontact lenses, your images can bring you traffic from searches, and therefore sales!
Optimize the SEO of your article
Use the Yoast plugin If your website is on WordPress, to optimize your article to the fullest extent...
Here is the snippet that is added at the bottom of your article when you use the plugin.
The length of your title is not defined by a fixed number of characters, but rather limited due to display in search results.
For titles, the following points are to be closely examined:
They should always contain the name of your brand, preferably at the end, so that people can recognize you in search results.
They must always contain the keyword that you deem most important for the current post or page. Preferably, place it at the beginning of the title.
The rest of the title should encourage people to click on it; those presenting a number work very well. For example, "10 ways to" or "the 8 best"..
Optimize your meta descriptions
Now that we have a good title for our article, we need to focus on the meta descriptions.
The meta description is used by search engines for the snippet, it is the text displayed under the URL of your site. It therefore deserves the special attention that is devoted to it. In addition, users read your description to see if your article answers their questions or problems.
Some plugins or CMS use what is called "automated descriptions". For this, it is the first sentence of a post that is defined as the default meta description.
And this results in a terrible outcome, because often your first sentence is just an introductory sentence that has practically nothing to do with the topic.
Therefore, the only well-made description is a description written by hand; by your own hand. Imagine yourself in the place of the people who would come across your description.
Is it convincing enough? Does it make you want to read the rest of your content?
If you do not use a meta description, search engines will find the keyword in your document and automatically choose a snippet around it, resulting in a search result with one or two words in bold.
In short, use the Yoast SEO meta description field to write a meta description. Make sure it contains your main keyword at least once.
Optimize your links
Here is one of the factors that makes me love WordPress, URL rewriting is at the heart of it. However, you need a clean and short URL.
You can easily change the URL by clicking on edit next to the permalink of your article.
Remove the connecting words and only keep the important ones. In any case, people should understand the content of your article just by looking at the URL.
Links to related publications
Internal links also play a big role in Google's understanding of the site's structure.
You must not only display related posts beneath your post, but also create links within your text to other articles or pages on your site.
The more links an article or page contains, the more important it will be for the search engine.
With the Yoast plugin, there is a link counter, if you see that one of your important articles has very few internal links, start working on this point right away.
Comment optimization
Engage your readers
Comments are also one of the most important aspects of blogs.
They are not only pleasant because people tell you how special you are, or that you made a mistake, or whatever they have to say to you.
They are especially kind, because they show commitment.
Engagement being an important factor in getting people to connect with you.
They show you that they care, and they open the conversation. Now, all you have to do is respond, and in doing so, you will build a relationship!
Encourage people to comment on your content
The simplest way to get people to do something is to ask them to do it. Write in an engaging style, then ask your blog readers for their opinions, stories, etc.
If you want to thank us for this article, leave a comment 🙂
Another good practice to do is to thank people when they comment on your blog. Not every time, because it becomes annoying, but doing it the first time is a very good idea.
You can, for example, send an email to people who comment on your blog.
Keep people engaged in the conversation
Once internet users have joined a conversation on your blog, you must ensure that they stay engaged in the conversation.
That is why you should install the WordPress plug-inReplyable, which allows interested parties to subscribe to a discussion thread as they would in a forum, and receive an email for each new comment.
In this way, they can continue the conversation, and thus your readers will become more and more active.
Conclusion
It wasn't so difficult, was it?
Well, I agree, there are a lot of steps. Bookmark this article to make it easier to follow. For the creation of each of your content creations, take a look at it!
As you write a long article, you will surely improve! In the end, it will be child's play for you.
Furthermore, you can apply this concept of long-form articles to any topic. Find your subject, research keywords, find your sources, build your pillars, write in detail, find and optimize your images, proofread your content, work on SEO, and optimize it for comments.
In fact, I would say that writing articles of over 3,000 words is easier than writing short articles (500 to 700 words). You can cover a lot of ground in 3,000 words without having to worry about going into too much detail.
It takes a lot of practice to write great, effective articles (I myself continue to make progress by constantly learning, and have been doing so for 6 years now).
So, take this formula and use it to create long-form content.
By following this guide conscientiously, you willattracting traffic on your blog or website..
But what is your biggest challenge with writing long-form content? Feel free to comment and ask questions below.