4 Steps For Getting Your Article Published

By William Speir
Author Marketing Ideas - Professional Marketing Solutions for Authors Worldwide

Have you ever thought about publishing an article that you have written? Have you ever wondered how to go about publishing an article? Have you ever looked into article publishing as a way to increase traffic on your web sites, increasing public awareness of who you are and what you do? Did the process seem just too daunting for you? Don’t worry. It seemed too daunting to me in the beginning as well. That’s why I decided to take my experiences and lessons learned, and write an article that describes, in four easy steps, how to publish an article that will accomplish whatever it is you want article publishing to accomplish for you.

Throughout this article, I use the term “marketing article” to refer to an article that is written, not just to educate or entertain, but to impel the reader to take a specific action (in the cast of marketing, get them to visit your web site where they can learn more about something and purchase something you are selling). While the four steps presented here will work with any type of article you are writing, it is geared toward writing marketing articles. These four steps will help you, the author, create articles that more effectively support your marketing and branding initiatives. This is not an exhaustive work on the subject – many of those already exist – but this presents some of the more pertinent information that will help you with planning your article, selecting the style of your article, writing your article, and getting your article ready for publishing online.

STEP 1. Plan Your Article.

Planning is one of the most important aspects of article writing. It’s not just working out what it is you want to say, it’s understanding what it is your audience wants to ready. One of the most common mistakes with article writing is when the author is too focused on what he or she wants to say – the point the author wants to make – and not focused enough on making sure that someone actually wants to read the article.

Articles that are part of a marketing program to increase the author’s, or the author’s company/organization’s, brand recognition must be written so that they will be read. Otherwise, the marketing initiative will fail. The article that was written for a purpose, but remains unread, will not accomplish the intended purpose.

The following are some of the steps that need to be taken when planning for your article(s):

A. Determine Your Audience
An article written with a specific audience in mind, answering their specific questions and giving them detailed information that is useful to them, will be more successful. Answer the following questions when you are determining who your intended audience is:
- Who do you want to read the article?
- What is their connection to the topic? What is their current position on the topic?
- Why are they interested in the topic?
- What concerns do they have about the topic? What do they need to know about the topic and why?
- What do you want them to do as a result of reading your article?

You need to research your intended audience so you can understand them better. This can be accomplished easily. There are online forums that cover a wide variety of topics which can be read. There are online social media sites that allow the public to read other people’s conversations about a particular topic. There are blogs that can be ready on specific topics. There are industry or topic-related publications that can be read online or in print form. There are also online question and answer sites where you can read the kinds of questions people are asking about your topic. All of these will help you research your intended audience.

B. Find Out What Your Audience Wants
Once you have researched your audience, you need to determine what it is they want to read about. The easiest way to get the information you are looking for is to ask questions, either through social media, email, blogs, focus groups, etc. People generally don’t mind answering questions – especially if they know they’ll get something from the exercise (in this case, an article they want to read). There are other ways to research what your audience wants, including blog or social media comments from your intended audience, search engine key-word queries on your topic, and search engine “frequently asked question” queries on your topic. You can also brainstorm topics from your own head based on what you already know about your intended audience.

C. Define Your Article Topics
Once you have a list of potential topics that will be of interest to your intended audience, you need to begin defining what you are going to write about. What are the key points you want to make about each topic? Do you already have all the information you need to write the article, and if not, where do you need to go to get the information? How long will it take to get the information? Are there people you need to talk to? Do you have a schedule for when you are going to speak with them? Is there a deadline for completing the article? Are there things that have to happen first before the article can be written? If so, when will they be completed? These are the questions you need to ask yourself when putting together a plan for publishing your article.

However, all of the planning and research in the world will not help you if you do not have a clear goal in mind for what the intended audience should do once they have read your article. Is there an action you want them to take? If so, what is it? Will your article impel them to that action? This is a critical piece of the planning stage that is too often overlooked. You need to define your success criteria for going to the trouble of writing the article, and you need to have a way to measure if you achieved the success you wanted.

There are some things you need to remember about marketing articles. First and foremost, a marketing article is not intended to promote the article’s author. Marketing articles are intended to improve brand recognition and to compel an action that will lead the reader to your products and services – in short, to generate sales. Second, you need to chose the type of article you are going to write. Feature Articles are like news articles and are written from an unbiased perspective. Editorial Articles, which more marketing articles are, make a point, provide information that is educational to the reader, or take a position on the specific topic. With an Editorial Article, the author is considered to be the expert on the subject.

STEP 2. Select the Style of Your Article.

The style you use in your article sets the tone for how you are going to convey your information to the reader. The various styles discussed here help you make your point in different ways and should be chosen carefully. For authors that have multiple articles or a series of articles planned, look for ways to use different styles for each article so that your writing style does not become predictable uninteresting to your intended audience.

If you are writing a Feature Article, is will be similar to what you read in the newspaper, in news magazines, or on news websites. In Feature Articles, the articles are written to be factual and the author gives the appearance of being unbiased. There are several styles of Feature Articles.

1. “News” Articles. This style does not go into great depth on the topic.

2. “Human Interest” Articles. This style is used to trigger an emotional response from the reader through a story about an actual event or person.

3. “Interviews” Articles. This style is used to help the reader experience what it’s like to be the person being interviewed.

4. “Analytical” Articles. These factual articles (like an in-depth analysis or a case study) are typically longer that most articles.

If you are writing an Editorial Article, which is what most marketing articles are, there is no need to be unbiased because you, as the author, are the expert on the subject and the information you are conveying is based on your own research, experience, or knowledge. There are several styles of Editorial Articles.

1. “Personal Perspective” Articles. This style relates either the authors personal experience, provides instructions on how to do something, or relates the author’s lessons learned from having done something.

2. “Lists” Articles. Lists articles provide a list of things, like Number of Lessons Learned, Number of Problems, Number of Steps, Number of Benefits, Number of Predictions, Number of Resources to Help, etc.

3. “These Mistakes” Articles. The titles for these articles are posed as a question (Are you making these mistakes?”) to draw in the reader to find answers about how to avoid making those mistakes and what to do if the reader has made them.

4. “Introduction To The Topic” Articles. These articles target beginners, or readers new to the topic, and provide a general overview of the topic.

5. “Secrets Of The Topic” Articles. These articles attract the reader by revealing something not generally known about a topic.

6. “Reviews” Articles. A Review should include how you used the product or service, what you liked or didn’t like about the product or service, and whether or not you recommend the product or service to others.

7. “Question and Answer” Articles. These articles can either be about providing answers to one question (the topic of the article listed in the title), or it can be providing answers to several questions on a related topic.

8. “Makeover” Articles. Makeover articles are similar to “Case Studies” and are either about an improvement you did or an improvement you observed.

9. “Strong Personal Opinion” Articles. These articles create controversy as a way to attract readers – both those who agree and those who disagree – are about expressing a personal opinion and generating debate, inviting response, stirring the pot, and creating “buzz.”

10. “Myth-Busting” Articles. This type of article is an exposé about a particular topic and explains why something that the reader believes is not true.

The key thing to remember about both Feature Articles and Editorial Articles is that the information you provide must be accurate and credible or you risk losing your intended audience for your subsequent articles. Do not fictionalize facts, and do not simply repeat the facts of others that you did not thoroughly research yourself.

You need to provide enough information so that the reader can take the action you intended when writing the article. Articles need to answer questions in the mind of the reader – sometimes questions that readers never knew they had. Too little information is just as bad as too much information. Both can cause you to lose your audience or keep them from taking the desired action.

Use the style that best helps you get your point across effectively – not the style that you are the most comfortable with or have used the most. Remember, an article is written for the reader, not the author.

STEP 3. Write Your Article.

Now that you have your audience identified, your topic researched, and your style selected, it’s time to start writing. Successful articles are typically well written, concise, speak directly to the reader, have a title that catches the reader’s eye, has a powerful opening paragraph, gives useful information, shows authority, stays on topic and avoids fluff. Often, successful articles also explain things in an easy-to-understand way, teach the reader how to do something, offer practical advice, give step-by-step explanations, provide authority, and recap other articles on the same subject. However, if the reader feels the you don’t know what you’re talking about, if the article is full of typos and bad grammar, if you use poor English, or if the article appears to be unfocused or unstructured, you will have produced an unsuccessful article.

Many sources will say that an article should be 500 words long. Others say an article should be between 400 and 800 words, or between 550 and 700 words. However, some topics simply cannot be covered in so few words. If that is the case you need to ask yourself if it’s better to write a long article or break the topic up into a series of articles, each dealing with a specific sub-topic. The decision needs to be based on two factors: will the reader read a long article, and will the website where the article will be published allow for longer articles. Just as you had to research your audience and your topic, you need to research the submission guidelines for where your article will be published.

Outlines are important when organizing your thoughts about your article. They keep you focused on the topic, and they help you structure your article based on the way it will be published. When creating an outline, the following information is useful to have:
1. Topic. The topic should be detailed and specific.
2. Target Audience. Who is the reader, what do they want, and what do you want them to do as a result of your article?
3. Research (or draw on your own information). Make sure you have all the information you need to write your article before you start writing.
4. Keywords. If you are publishing your article online, keywords or keyphrases need to be used throughout the article to improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
5. Completion Date. Set a deadline and then meet the deadline.
6. Article Style. Select the article style before you start outlining and writing. The style drives how the information will be presented.
7. Title. The title is what makes someone want to read your article. It needs to be compelling and make the right first impression. It needs to create the desire in the reader to read the article.
8. Opening Paragraph. If the opening paragraph is not interesting and compelling, the reader will never read the rest of the article. The opening paragraph needs to be dynamic and should make the reader wonder what will be in the rest of the article.
9. Body Text. This is the content, and it must be well written, offer useful information that is presented in a way that speaks to the reader (engaging, educational, entertaining, authoritative). The article needs to flow so that the reader can process the information and take the desired action.
10. Conclusion. Conclusions are your parting words. This is where you make sure the reader understands the point of the article (summary) and knows what they need to do with the information presented (next steps).
11. Bio. This is more properly referred to as the “Resource Box” and is basically an advertisement where you market your company and give your reader their next step after reading the article. Always have the web site address spelled out in the Bio section.

STEP 4. Get Your Article Ready to Publish.

If you want your article to rank high on Search Engine results pages, you will need to make sure you have one or two keywords or keyphrases in each article. Some sites allow you to place a Title Tag, which can be different from the article title, in the web page code and should be a compelling summary of the article. Other web sites allow for an Excerpt Field to be completed and these show up in search results. A Tag Cloud is a field where you can insert keywords or keyphrases that are relevant to your article. ALT Tags are added to graphics in your article and need to be an accurate description of the graphic. Anchor Text are words that are linked to another web page, and should be used in the Article Body and the Bio.

When your article is completed (and edited if necessary), you are ready to publish. Whether you are uploading the articles yourself or using a service that uploads articles to the most popular sites, you will need to make sure you have all the pieces of your article necessary to attract potential readers. May article sites limit your title to a certain number of characters or works. Others want a two to three sentence abstract about the article. Most will let you enter your own keywords or keyphrases, but others create them for you. If you are going to upload the articles yourself, make sure you know the word and character limits before you write your article or you will be doing a lot of last-minute editing to make it fit. If you are going to use a service, the people you will be working with will know that and can help guide you through the editing process before you start publishing.


Do you want to learn more about the 4 steps covered in this article? Are you ready to start working on getting your article published? Author Marketing Ideas (AMI) can help! Visit our site at http://authormarketingideas.com/articlesubmissions/ to learn more. AMI is an imprint of Professional Publishing Press (PPP). Visit out site at http://professionalpublishingpress.com/ to learn more.