I am here to tell you how to write a kickass article that your readers would love, that your audience would share on their platforms, that would rank high in search engine results, that would position you as an a thought leader and get you consistent traffic over a long period of time.

However, this article is going to be very long and cover many pointers across topics and by the end of it you would feel you have learnt something. But how to apply all of that when you sit down to write?

Possibly, you would lose interest midway or not know how to apply the principles or feel I was being pedantic rather than being useful.

The point of a good article is to be useful or to add value and that can be done when I or you narrow down the focus within a broader topic.

Focus. Narrow down.Source

Be Intuitive

The first part is thinking what you would like to write about. Maybe it’s trending or maybe it’s been talked about many times in the past. Now think of the various aspects that you can speak of. An article titled ‘How to create content consistently’ can be about how to mine ideas or how to create an editorial calendar or about scheduling your posts in advance or talk about other strategies like having guest posts or upcycling your content. You have to decide which aspect you can focus on so as to write comprehensively about it.

Back it with Research

Let’s not be all woozy and in love with your topic. Do a keyword research and find how much people search for that particular topic. You can decide on your long tail keywords and that can fire up your brain neurons on what other aspects you can cover.

Get the Correct Match

A good article that delivers value and has an impact is a mix of common sense and some common research. And your expertise in that subject matter is going to give it that x-factor. What’s expertise? It’s your interest, experience or theoretical knowledge. If you have theoretical knowledge of a subject and can talk about the practical aspects as well, good. If you have plenty of experience and have some tips and tricks up your sleeve, very good. If you have a deep interest about something and you have made connections that others don’t think of much, even better!

Create an Impact

You have the topic in mind, you know what aspect to focus on, you have a unique perspective but you still need to be clear enough to deliver value to your reader.

Here are a few oft-repeated pieces that really help while writing.

  • Keep it simple. Think you are explaining it to a 5 yo or okay, a 12 yo. Start with the basics and try not to use jargon that has your reader running to the dictionary.
  • Give examples. Or screenshots. Or pictures. Or infographics. All the while evaluating whether your child-reader can understand it.
  • Don’t tell them what you know, tell them what they want to know. Basically, address a need or an information gap or a clarity issue.

The secret to creating value for your reader is to talk about what you know best to fill in gaps in your readers’ knowledge and need. Know where to focus and keep it razor sharp.