Social Networking Tips for Writers

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

If you’re going to be writing for the web, social networking can play a large part in your level of success.  Joining multiple sites and using them properly can help your career.

Twitter

Twitter is a great place to network with other writers, look for jobs and obtain readers and page views.  Always tweet links to your articles, especially if you getting money for page views or ad clicks.  But remember, it is important to also connect with your Twitter followers.  Have conversations with people, re-tweet others links and comment on others articles.

Facebook

Use your Facebook account to share your articles with your friends.  This can help you to gain a following and increase your traffic.  It is also a great way to let your friends know that you are transitioning into a freelance career, you never know who might have some connections for you.  There are also many fan pages on Facebook where you can find fans of the subjects that you write about.

Writer Forums

Going on writer forums can help you to connect with other writers and share feedback and tips.  New start up companies will also visit writer forums and post ads for employment opportunities.  Feel free to ask questions to others writers and share tips of your own.  Remember to promote your blog or website in your forum signature.  Be friendly and polite to other forum posters.  Putting down the work of others is never a good way to expand your online networking circle.

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Tips for Internet Writers

February 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

If you’re just beginning to write online it is important to be familiar with a few formatting rules.

Break Up Your Content

Writing in long paragraphs is not optimal for the web. Make sure to break up your content into small sub sections with headers. Typical web articles should be between 300 and 700 words. Limit your article to three to six sections.

SEO

Search engine optimization, known as SEO for short, is key for Internet writing. SEO writing uses keywords and meta tags so that your content ranks higher in search engines. One major key to SEO is to use popular keywords multiple times in the same article. It is important to study the basics of SEO before beginning your web writing adventure.

Market Your Articles

If you’re writing for a public website as opposed to a private client, it is good to market  your writing on social networking websites as such as Facebook and Twitter. This practice can increase your page views, your income and your readership. You can also use website like Digg and Stumbleupon to promote your work.  Readers can vote your articles up in popularity if they enjoy it and more people will see it.

Learn to Write How-to Articles

How-to Articles are one of the more popular writing styles on the web. Any successful web writers should know to format these articles. How-to articles are usually around 400 words in length and explain to readers the steps to complete a task. You should also include the tools needed to complete the project that is being explained.

Be Original

Never attempt to plagiarize. Many employers and personal website owner’s use a software called Copyscape and they can easily tell if your article is plagiarized. Plagiarizing can get you fired and ruin your reputation. You can reference the work of others as a resource, but make sure to rephrase the wording. You also need to cite your references properly at the bottom of your article.

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