I know, writing a article is one thing. Getting people to read it is a whole other ball game. Seems like a lot of work for nothing to some and to some people, reading articles is kind of boring. Articles are for reading that’s why we write them and getting them read is the task at hand.So we write are articles for whatever reason you may have, sales pitch, branding yourself, there are many reasons. Writing a good article isn‘t that hard, where getting people to read it is a little more difficult. There are rules, guidelines so to speak to write good articles, with great content and attractive looking to the reader.

Here I will discuss 6 ways to improve the reading of your articles and guidelines that I have learned over the years for the best way to get them read and published on other peoples website’s in a lot of cases.

Rules and guidelines I use:

1) Short but detailed paragraphs. When paragraphs get to long, the reader can become bored fast and the words even become scrambled in their mind. Articles that become confusing may seem like a lot of work to the reader to read. So the reader will begin to skip paragraphs (Which may contain important information to your article or sales pitch) and they may leave the article all together before they finish reading it.

2) Use Numbers or Bullets. With bullets or numbers your letting the readers know that this is important or necessary information and they know to pay close attention to it. It also makes your article look more professional and you can explain these important facts in short sentences rather than a long paragraph. It also is easier for your reader to go back to the important facts without having to read through a lot of paragraphs.

3) Sub Headings or Titles for points or subject change of your article. Breaking apart each point or subject within your article makes it easier for your readers to follow. It makes it easier for them to highlight certain areas of interest thus never loosing your readers attention, and they may read over your article several times and use these parts to help or teach others.

4) A Good and Interesting Header. The clitche “Never judge a book by it‘s cover“ is true, but it does help to bring people to open the book to read more. A good strong Title can entice your reader to look more into your article. People are attracted by interesting titles bringing them to read at least the first paragraph of your article, which in fact is my next tip.

But titles are very important do make sure it would draw you to read into the article a couple of paragraphs as well.

5)Your First paragraph and it’s importance. Now that your title has got them to read your article, it’s time to bring them in more. This is where your first Paragraph is important. If your reader becomes bored or confused within this first paragraph, all your hard work is lost. Use captivating content within this first paragraph, usually when a reader reads beyond the first paragraph, they will continue on through to find out what is next.

6) Keeping them Interested or Excited all the way through. There are many ways to do this. Well Written Content is the first. Try not to stray away from the focus of the main subject or title of the article. Your reader is reading because they were interested in the title and first paragraph of your article. So flowing “Off Subject” can lose your reader. It is ok (In some cases) to flow “Off Subject” for a second here and there as long as you return to the main subject quickly and explain why you did go “Off Subject”.

Graphics, Pictures and/or Graphs. Using these mediums to explain or present a visual for your readers can keep them reading all the way through as well. Good Graphics, Pictures and Graphs allow the reader to see what your talking about without having to do to much writing or explaining thus boring your reader again.

It also breaks up the reading of a article (Which can be boring) and allows the reader to relax from reading for a brief moment.

7) Bolding certain keywords and Typos. Highlighting or Bolding certain keywords also makes it easy for readers to find important “Key Elements” of your article. If you help your readers they will feel more inclined to return to read more of your articles in the future. Also, making sure there are no typos in your article gains the respect of your reader, so be sure to proof read your article before submission and spell check often and at the end as well.