Ingredient #1 A Compelling Title When writing an article title remember this is the first thing your reader sees so it is very important to create a title that catches their attention.
What is your target audience searching for? What question or problem do they want a solution for? A good formula for the title is keywords, benefits, keywords.
For example in the title to this article I begin with my keyword, article writing.
Then I stated the benefit to the article which is the 5 tips for driving traffic to your website.
Finally I ended the title with another keyword, article marketing.
Ingredient #2 the Correct Keywords It is important to have relevant keywords in the title and also in the article body in the opening paragraph.
Keywords are turned into tags and tags are how the search engines index your article.
There are two ways your reader can find your article.
First they can go to the article directories to search by category or keywords but they can also do an organic search on Google by typing the keywords into the search box.
If your article ranks high for those keywords then it may also show up on the first few pages of a Google search and your reader will find it that way too.
Ingredient #3 A Properly Formatted Resource Box Lots of people take a really informative and well written article and then mess it up with an improper resource box.
They mistakenly believe that the resource box is the place for their personal biography so they spend too much time talking about themselves and everything they have done.
Don't forget that your reader is primarily interested in a solution to their problem.
Your resource box should contain a link to lead your reader to the place where they can get the solution they are searching for.
In most cases, it is better to have only one link in the resource box so as to not confuse your reader.
Ingredient #4 A Correct Article Summary The summary is a quick concise snapshot of what your article is about and how it will solve your reader's problem.
You do not need to summarize the article but instead you should write something that acts as a teaser to peak your reader's curiosity.
Asking a question in the summery works really well.
Ingredient #5 Pick the Correct Article Category While some readers will find your article from a keyword search, many find it by browsing the different categories in the article directories.
It is important to try chose a category as closely related to the main topic of your article as possible.
Don't pick the category based on your business or niche because your reader may not know your niche when they are searching.
They will be searching based on their specific problem and its solution.