Common Mistakes When Article Writing

Common Mistakes When Article Writing

As an article directory owner, there are several common mistakes that many article authors make, some of which may directly affect how successful an article is in its purpose of website promotion.

One of the most common errors that are made is not reading over an article to check for spelling errors. Although it is understandable that the occasional spelling mistake may go unnoticed, it is not uncommon to find articles with dozens of errors throughout. This immediately conveys that the article author is not as bothered about the article as they should be and is merely using it to try and get their resource box link out to as many sites as possible.

But what about human visitors using article directories?

In order to gain traffic directly from article directories it is important that the article is interesting but also grammatically correct and spell checked, so that readers will respect the article and will be more likely to read it to the end and follow the resource box link. An article author who does not spell check an article after completion is not only missing out on a lot of promotion and wasting time submitting to article directories that reject the article, but also from the direct traffic that could have been received from the directories that do accept it.

One surprising mistake that is made by some, although not as common as spelling and grammatical errors, is an incorrect/broken link provided in the resource area. This area is meant to be the section where a reader will read a brief promotional segment about what you and your website offers and then to hopefully follow the link to your site. However, on occasions mistakes are made in the URL. For example I have noticed a website with an URL such as "mypetdog.com" spelt as "myptedog.com". This is an obvious typo which many article directory owners will notice and correct, however it is possible that a lot of traffic and link popularity is being lost from directory owners who miss the error and accept the article "as is".

Another mistake, and one that is a pet hate of many article directory owners, is article authors who do not read a sites terms of service and article submission guidelines prior to submission. This is shown repeatedly when authors submit articles with more links in the resource box, for example, or directly linking to an affiliate program. Although many errors are corrected by article directory owners, there are some that are simply rejecting articles that do not abide by the submission guidelines, as there are so many others to review that there is no time to correct articles.

To increase the likelihood of an article being accepted, ensure that the layout is correctly formatted. This is to say that the article is not formatted to a specific line width but instead should flow to the end of the line and onto the following line. Space paragraphs clearly as paragraphs with a line space between them.

Probably the biggest point to remember here is to double check an article before submission. If possible, also have a friend read the article to check for errors. Doing so will allow for the best possible results to be gained from the submission.

BONUS : Confessions Of An Article Writer: Time Wasters!

I hate to admit it, I even think I'll be misunderstood, but there are several time wasters I encounter throughout the day that can negatively impact my business. Let's be honest: the internet is a cool tool, but there are enough distractions to it that can keep you from what you really need to do: make money. Here is my short list of things that are real time wasters:

Blogging -- Yeah, I like to blog. Love it even. Still, there are times that blogging can become an end to itself. What is my page rank? How do I rate with Technorati? This particular blog is my favorite -- I manage 7 of them -- but some of the seven aren't worthy of my daily thoughts. Just thought that you would like to know!

Forums -- Going back 8 or 9 years I used to regularly participate on this one particular, not-to-be-named forum. Got into a lot of heated arguments, but I still had some fun. When it all adds up, the only thing I can chalk up to experience is that spending too much time on any forum is a real time waster. Okay, I still like forums, so I control my time usage.

Web Pages -- Tweak, I must! There is no such thing as a "done" web page. Maybe overdone! There are times that I simply have to stop making updates and simply go with the page as it is. No one else cares about the javascript, the background color, the font as much as I do. Why sweat it?

Ad Networks -- Three years ago I relied heavily on banner ads to help generate revenue. All that work for the occasional $25 monthly check...not worth it!

PPC Schemes -- Some plans are better than others. Personally, I haven't found one that works as well as Google's AdSense program although the Yahoo! Publisher Network is improving. For 30 consecutive months I have made the monthly minimum payouts with AdSense -- even generating that much money in just one day -- so it is a good program. Still, I don't have time to monitor every ad on every page on every site.

So, there you have it. My short list of time wasters. I am sure that there are more, but you probably have already gotten my point.