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Thinking about starting up a website as a means of expanding your local business into the digital world? Or, perhaps you’re looking to capitalize on a wider audience and increase your brand visibility? Of course, a website can be the remote version of your brick and mortar business. But it can also be a business in and of itself.
Lots of people have something they’re good at, like a craft, sport, or professional skill. One of the easiest ways to earn money on the web is to share your expertise. You can gather all the knowledge that you’ve accumulated over the years and transfer it to the Web, where it will serve as a source of expert advice for people who want to know what you know and buy related products and services – the tools and supplies that they need to do what you do and do it well.
If you set all this up right, you can turn the simple sharing of information into a stream of income that keeps coming in day and night, year after year.
Articles are the Foundation for All Online Business Communication
Before we go deep into the topic of web articles, let’s first get clear on business websites. To keep things simple, there are two main methods of earning online:
- Selling your own “stuff”
- Promoting other people’s stuff
If you plan to sell your own stuff by sharing articles on a website, here’s what you can offer:
- Information products such as article content, eBooks, podcasts, video tutorials, high quality images, special reports, product reviews, recipes, social media posts
- Services, such as coaching, virtual assistance, design, writing, tax preparation, and many others
- Coaching and consulting packages, which contain both services and information products
- Hard goods that are niche specific, such as books, garden tools, pet supplies, etc.
- In-person classes and paid events
- Online classes, such as webinars, video courses, email courses
You can also promote others as an affiliate. This means that when you advertise or recommend other people’s hard goods, info products, and coaching packages, you earn a kickback each time someone buys via your link.
While many aspects of web communication have remained constant through the years, technology has also evolved tremendously. Today, you have a myriad of platforms and channels to get your message out.
The communication platforms are:
- websites
- blogs
- forums
- membership sites
- social media
- videos
Of course, the foundation for all these modes and methods of communication is articles. Articles are the building blocks of all other forms of online communication. Think about this for a minute or two.
If you have a bunch of articles that all cover a single niche, then you have the basis for any number of awesome, information-based products to sell.
Therefore, if you want to build a niche following with your website, then it makes sense to start with articles.
Publishing Your First Website Article: Steps to Success
If you’ve never written web content before in any capacity, it’s time to get your feet wet. Don’t be afraid. All you must do is write one article. Here, in just a few easy steps, is the article creation process. When you publish articles within a specific niche, you build your credibility within that niche. Articles are how people build an online presence and create info products to sell.
So, here are the steps to publishing an article to help get you found for your area of expertise.
Think of a commonly asked question that relates to your niche. Then, write an article that answers the question in a few simple but pertinent paragraphs. The article should be at least 500 to 600 words. Longer is better, but only if your article requires it. Don’t just make an article longer for the sake of it.
Break up your article into key points. To do this effectively, it helps to think of your article content as a list. You can do “5 steps,” 7 tips,” “5 reasons,” or some other list type of article format.
Add an author bio or brief summary of your company that briefly describes what you do and how you may be able to help your reader. The author bio should be about 2 to 3 lines. Include a link at the end of the bio.
Finesse your article’s title. In the title of the article, include common words that will help it get found by people searching Google or another search engine.
Publish the article on its own page of your website. Again, utilize keywords when saving the file using a unique name. An easy way to do this is to just use a shortened form of the article’s actual title, separated by dashes. Don’t forget to choose to copy the article’s title into both the page title and the H1 headline of your article text. If you have a subhead for the article, it, too should contain keywords, and you should code it as an H2 headline.
Link to the article using keyword links, from various other pages of your site. For example, you might have a page that’s entitled Articles, where you share the title and intro paragraph of each article you’ve published. You can also keep a library of links that you update on the home page or another area of your site.
Bing, Bang, Boom. Publish 5 Articles in Half a Day
Now that you’ve published one article, it’s time to publish five more. Articles that you share on a niche website should relate to one another. This way, you can create a little menu of topic-specific web pages that help readers drill down into the details of whatever you’re trying to teach.
So, for example, let’s say you’re developing a knitting website, and you want to reach out to new knitters. You could publish articles on your site, one at a time, on the following topics:
- How to Cast On in Knitting
- 2 Basic Knitting Stitches: Knit and Purl
- How to Bind off in Knitting
- Continental or English: Which Knitting Method is Right for You?
- First Stitch to Learn: Garter Stitch
- Second Knitting Stitch to Learn: Stockinette
As you can see, the articles that you’re writing about knitting can all stand separately on their own, but they also work together to fully explain the basics of knitting.
So now you have six knitting articles, and that’s a very good thing. There’s a lot you can do with a pack of niche-specific articles that all relate to each other.
Now that we’re thinking about packs of articles, let’s think of them as the foundation for everything you create and sell on your site. We’ll use the knitting articles as an example again.
If you have five knitting articles to share, you can put them together to create…
- a five-day Beginner Knitting email series
- a short e-book on Knitting Basics, to give away or sell at a low price point
- an instructional video that you publish on YouTube, Vimeo etc.
- a set of five short instructional videos covering each article topic individually
- the first chapter of the knitting how-to book that you plan to write
- a chapter of a more comprehensive eBook on knitting, that might also delve into other aspects of knitting such as types of yarn, needle sizes, determining your gauge, more stitches to master, and of course a few patterns for beginner knitting projects
- a series of short social media blips or tweets, that entice readers to click a link and read said articles on your site.
You can build your credibility in any area of expertise simply by writing articles and using them in all your projects. This works for nearly any industry or subject that you’d like to teach people by way of your blog or website.
The Short Formula for Creating a Web Article Fast
Here’s a foolproof formula for writing perfectly developed articles that are neither too long nor too short.
- Create an outline of your topic.
- List five or seven points to support your main idea.
- Write out 3-5 sentences per point so that you now have 5-7 well-developed paragraphs.
- Add your introductory paragraph and conclusion, which should be no longer than 4 sentences each.
- Think up a snazzy title that will be both catchy to your reader and include keywords.
Once you’re finished writing the first draft, go back and read through your article text, checking for grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. Yes, you can use autocorrect and spell check for this purpose, but the human eye remains the best way to catch typos and syntax errors in your articles.
What happens if your web article is too long?
The easiest way to remedy a web article that’s meandering off course into another topic is to break it in half. If you’ve followed the above formula for outlining the topic and filling in each sentence with details, then it shouldn’t take long to determine which parts of the article have run off the rails.
Simply do a cut and paste of the superfluous sections and save them for use in a second article that you can link to from the page where you published the first.
NOTE: Social media has really turned things competitive on the web. So, if you have access to some really good images, take the time to post one on the same page as your article. When you share the link to Facebook or LinkedIn, the image will serve up from your site and it will create that extra interest needed to make people click and read.
Repurpose Like A Pro: Making Articles Out of Old Content
Every time you create something, whether it’s for a client, a project bid, a new marketing endeavor, or even just for fun… you’re planting the seeds for hundreds of web articles. Just imagine all the articles that can spring forth from things like:
- writing drafts that weren’t used like old websites or blogs that you ended up scrapping
- eBooks that you once published, which are now out of date (at least some info must be relevant still!)
- samples you created for job bids that didn’t pan out
- old creative projects that you never finished
- other articles
Just make sure that in reworking old content, you aren’t violating any Nondisclosure Agreements you may have established with other people, and that you aren’t plagiarizing already published content.
Web Article Prototypes: What Can You Publish to Keep Readers Coming Back?
If you’re at a loss as to what sorts of articles you can fill your site with, refer to the Eight Most Popular Web Article Formats. Nearly all of these will work for the web because they’re broken into informational bits and bytes. Any article that can be presented in chunks or steps is well-received by web surfers.
Eight Most Popular Web Article Formats
- The How-To
- The “List of Reasons”
- The Q&A
- The Straw Man
- The 5- or 7- Tips
- The Interview
- The Product Review
- The How-To Article
Everybody wants to know how to do something, whether it’s How to Hammer in a Nail Without Busting Your Thumb, How to End an Extramarital Affair, How to Get the Most Money Back on Your Taxes, or How to Write a Fantastic Web Article. Just pick a hot topic that you’re well-familiar with, type in your “How-To” headline, and let it flow.
The “List of Reasons” Article
Convey your passion through the pages of your site. Get charged up about whatever it is that you do and list some reasons out for them to read. “Six Reasons Why More than Half the US Votes Republican,” “Five Reasons to Start a Business in 2022,” “Seven Reasons Not to Buy Your Child a Pet Rabbit This Easter” or whatever covers your niche area and would prompt a discussion or a share on social media.
The Q&A Article
The Q&A, or Question and Answer, does a perfect job of answering those Frequently Asked Questions posed by your prospects and clients. Write an article and nip those questions in the bud. Post the link on your homepage, in an “FAQ” section of your website, from your Facebook page, and anywhere else where people go online to get good info. Q&A can also be a generic way to show that you have advanced knowledge of a subject.
The Straw Man Article
The term “Straw Man” is taken from the debate world. Straw Man is when you play Devil’s Advocate in your article by listing the opposing view, point by point, and then knocking down each point with your own rebuttal. This one is a little trickier if you’re not used to writing in argument form, but once you get the hang of it, Straw Man is pretty fun. For example, “Six Excuses Not to Get a CSA This Summer and Why They’re Totally Bogus.”
The 5- or 7- Tips Article
This type of article is very similar to the Reasons Why article, except instead of presenting a case for something, you’re just offering some good advice. Since the internet is full of information-hungry prospects, why not make their day with 5 or 7 tips that cover a topic you know inside and out? Five Tips on Keeping Cool in a Crisis; Five Tips on Choosing a Hearing Aid; Seven Tips for Organizing Your Workspace.
The Interview
The Interview Article is a great way to get your name out there in your own field while aligning yourself with other prominent people in the business. Email makes it easier than ever to quickly tap out a few good questions and have your spotlighted guest send back some thoughtful replies in writing.
Select someone who can offer advice that will prove interesting to your target audience. Make it someone who is at least semi-fantastic, even if only to some micro niche of eager nerds who make up a small cult following. It helps to know someone in PR for this, or at the very least, be bold and reach out past your comfort zone. What started out as an interview of your own mother could end up being your next celebrity cook-off starring Rachael Ray.
The Product Review
The product review is the way to go if you intend on earning money via affiliate income, which you really should if you want to go through all the bother of having a website. Social media has made it even easier to push your product reviews further out into the world, which could mean a nice, meaty chunk of earnings for you.
Where to Get Articles if You Don't Want to Write Them Yourself?
If you’re looking to publish articles on a niche website but you have no desire or inclination to write them, you have a few different options for accumulating good content.
Pay a copywriter to write the articles for you.
This is probably the most professional, but also most expensive, option. A copywriter is a trained professional who will be able to quickly and efficiently research and write on any number of topics.
If you do decide to hire a copywriter, ask for a few writing samples that are specific to your industry, trade, hobby, or skill.
Also, make sure that the copywriter you choose is proficient in writing for the web. Keywords, H1 headlines and web-friendly article formats do take some specialized knowledge and experience to master. Sites like Freelancer, Upwork and iWriter are great places to find your next content provider.
Publish guest articles.
There are always other writers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses looking to develop their organic backlinks. Reach out to bloggers, website owners, and online personalities that you know and enjoy and ask if they would be interested in writing a guest article for you.
You’ll be surprised how many will quickly agree. Also, post the request on your social media accounts.
Conduct and share online interviews.
A quick way to get a full web page of article content written in a hurry is to set up an interview of someone in a complementary field. So, for example, if you have a website that sells paint supplies, you could interview the local one-stroke painting authority. It won’t take long at all to type up a series of compelling questions, and with any luck you’ll have a perfect article in your email within a few days.
Focus on product reviews.
The product review is a legitimate piece of web content that gets a lot of traffic from curious consumers who want to gather information before making a purchase.
The great news is that if your product review serves as the final sales conversion, then you can hopefully get some clicks on the affiliate links that you’ve included along with said product review. Of course, images are important, in this case especially.
Summary
To summarize this series, here’s what we’ve learned about website articles and the role they play in growing your niche-specific website, so you can earn passive income online.
Passive income comes from many sources. It’s up to you which ones you choose to profit from your online marketing effort. If you’re truly interested in monetizing your blog or website, start signing up as an affiliate. Article publishing goes hand in hand with this.
Articles are the building blocks of all your website communication. With a simple pack of 5 articles, you can create an eBook, a week-long email series, a set of social media posts, and a mini how-to section of your website or blog. Just think of what you can do with 2, 10, 50 or 100 sets of five, topic-related articles.
A web article is quick and easy to write if you employ the tried and tested formula. Outline the topic, make your 5 or 7 points. Develop each section. Add an intro, conclusion, and author bio.
Don’t think in single articles; think in sets of five articles instead. This will increase the amount of content on your website and drive more targeted traffic, so you can move on to promoting via social media.
Use a writing formula that works. If you’re at a loss for article topics, go for the “5 or 7 reasons,” “top 5 list,” “steps to success,” straw man argument, product review, or interview article.
Hate writing? There are plenty of solutions. Farm it out to a website copywriter or article writer. Ask individuals you follow and post on your social media accounts that you’re looking for guest authors for high-quality content. Interview another expert in a complimentary field.
