Conventional thoughts about web content caution about posting anything that is considered too lengthy. Web surfers, as we know, aren't likely to spend a lot of time looking for information online. They can, as opposed to reading, web content. The problem with generalizing is that this scenario doesn't apply to everyone who is going to visit your site. </p> <p>Two Kinds of Site Visitors</p> <p>The first group of people who may visit your site are one who are the standard web surfers. They are scanning through sites looking for bite-sized pieces of information. This type of site visitor will appreciate web content that is short and to the point. </p> <p>The second group of site visitors are people who are treating the Internet like an online library. They take their time reading and evaluating information. This group is looking for a solution to a problem or an issue, and is more likely to become a paying customer than the first group. </p> <p>Long Web Articles Lead to Increased Revenue</p> <p>Posting short articles is a good strategy if your site generates revenue from visitors clicking through on ads. If the purpose of your site is to promote a product or a service, you want to post content that will appeal to the second group of Internet users - the ones who are doing their homework before making a decision to buy. Adding some longer articles to your content mix will give these potential buyers the information they need to make a decision, and helps to establish you as an expert in your niche market. </p> <p>When should you post long web articles? Post this kind of content on your site when you want to attract Internet users who are close to making a decision to buy. Since a casual web surfer may become a paying customer at some point, a good strategy is to put up long and short articles on your site. Vary the length of your content, with about every third or fourth article a longer one of up to 1,000 words in length to appeal to both kinds of Internet users and increase revenue. </p> <p>

<br /> Blogging can sometimes turn the most unlikely people into online celebrities with six digit incomes. Heather B. Armstrong is the perfect living example of how writing a successful blog can transform one?s life. Armstrong, once an active Mormon and run-of-the-mill stay at home mother from Salt Lake City, Utah, has built a candid blog which generates revenue amounting to $40,000 per month, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Armstrong?s blog has attracted a sizeable readership, due to the author?s ability to cover a wide array of issues in an honest and deeply personal manner. For example, Armstrong has written at length about her own health problems, including painful struggles with depression, as well as the challenges she faced as a stay-at-home mother.<br /> Armstrong?s entry into the world of blogging is particularly instructive. The young mother and web designer lost her full-time job after writing a blog post, in which she was critical of her supervisor. This, however, is what turned her into one of America?s most popular bloggers, and earned her an annual salary, which now exceeds $400,000. Armstrong remains popular, because she uses her blogs to provide mothers, and women in general, with useful advice on how to build their families and professional careers. More than anything, Armstrong?s blog is about female empowerment, which shows stay-at-home mothers how they might use internet-based social networking tools to establish relationships with others in similar situations and avoid living in isolation. Most recently, Armstrong?s blogging success has also turned her into a freelance writer; she just published a promising book on her journey through depression, motherhood, and how she built a career as a blogger.<br /> Thank you to The Los Angeles Times for the initial report. </p> <p>

Internet users don't take the time to read copy carefully. They tend to skim the page quickly, and if they don't find what they are looking for in the first few seconds, they will move on. There are some things you can do to make your web copy scannable, though, and here are three strategies you can use to capture your readers' interest and make them want to spend time reading the entire page and the rest of your site.</p> <p>Use Headlines to Capture Interest</p> <p>Keep the headline text short and to the point to make the reader want to learn more. Use keywords here to attract relevant traffic to the page and to give them an idea of what information the page has to offer.</p> <p>Put the Most Relevant Points Near the Top of the Page</p> <p>Since Web surfers have very short attention spans when they are looking for information, so you want to make sure that you put your most important information near the top of the page. Think of your web copy like an inverted pyramid; you want to get to the point quickly because you can't count on the reader to continue reading all the way to the bottom. With some other applications, building up your text to a big finish at the bottom of the page makes sense, but not for web copy.</p> <p>Break up your text with bullet points and subheadings.</p> <p>Writing long paragraphs doesn't work for web copy. You want to keep your paragraphs relatively short - between three and five sentences is sufficient. To help your readers find the relevant points, break up your text with the liberal use of bullets and numbered lists.</p> <p>Another good strategy is to put subheadings in your text as appropriate. Use relevant keywords and bold type to make them stand out. This strategy breaks up the text into easy-to-skim chunks and helps the reader focus on the information they are looking for quickly.</p> <p>When you are thinking about your web copy, put yourself in the shoes of the person visiting your site. These three ways to make your web copy scannable will help visitors to your site find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

This is some dummy copy. You’re not really supposed to read this dummy copy, it is just a place holder for people who need some type to visualize what the actual copy might look like if it were real content.

<br /> Freelance writer Kevin Gibbons shared some key tips earlier this week on how to produce the most effective written content for the internet. When writing articles for blogs or news sites, one of the most important considerations to keep in mind is search engine optimization. This essentially means that content writers must be careful to ensure that keywords make their way into the article, in order to improve the website?s ranking in Google and other major search engines, and to ensure that the material is easier to find. Before writing an article for the internet, the freelancer should always sit down and think of a handful of terms to repeat whenever natural in the given post, and must be sure to use them most near the beginning of articles. When search engines crawl sites for new content, they tend to examine the text from left to right. As such, including keywords near the beginning of an article, line or sentence can help ensure that it is indexed more prominently by major search engines. Perhaps most important is to ensure that keywords are prominent in both article titles and subheadings.<br /> Gibbons also suggests that content writers try to keep their sentences short and to the point. Most online readers are looking to find and absorb information as quickly and as effectively as possible. Relatively few people search the net for deep, philosophical discourse. As such, content writers should appeal to the largest possible audience, using relatively straightforward language. A content writer?s job is not always a simple one, as they must often explain complex events or topics in short, succinct articles and do so in a way that can attract human readers to the site and an automated search engine?s crawler at the same time.<br /> Thank you to Kevin Gibbons of E-Consultancy for the initial report. </p> <p>

<br /> Nicole LaMarco is a professional freelance writer, who has accumulated a wealth of information and experience on how to succeed in the content writing business. Based in the United States, LaMarco has spent the past eight years as a freelancer and content writer, focusing on women?s health and fitness issues, as well as a range of how-to articles. Her entry into this growing industry is not an unfamiliar story to most other freelance writers. Following the birth of LaMarco?s second daughter, the young mother was not sure what type of career or professional life she wanted to build for herself. After a period of uncertainty and ideas about launching a home business or returning to university, LaMarco?s husband convinced her that if she loved to write so much, she should try to build a career and a regular income out of this passion. Since then, LaMarco has been a successful, full-time freelance writer.<br /> LaMarco?s newest book, Paying Markets for Writers: Make Money Writing for Online Publications, however, tries to lend a helping hand to those who are completely new to the industry. LaMarco explains that there is an array of opportunities for those with good writing skills to make either a part-time or full-time income by signing up for writing contracts advertised on the internet, and most often by major content providers. LaMarco, however, notes that the one thing that all freelance writers must have in order to be successful is perseverance?both in terms of hunting for writing projects, but also displaying an ability to complete a large amount of very varied work by firm deadlines.</p> <p>

<br /> As a growing number of high-ranking political, business and cultural leaders, as well as opinion-makers and the public at large, turn to blogs and online written content for their daily news, some of the largest newspapers are forced to ponder their less than hopeful future. The National Post?one of Canada?s two national newspapers?has launched an entire series, which almost reads as a type of obituary for print media, as blogs, freelancers and content writers see their influence and role rise. Sir Conrad Black of Crossharbour, the former owner of a string of prominent newspapers in Canada, Great Britain and the United States and a regular contributor to the National Post?even from his Florida prison cell?wrote that newspapers have served as the ?most storied aspects of advanced civilizations,? over the past 250 years. Newspapers were often at the forefront of political and social change, including the French Revolution, or federalist ideas in America, prior to the US War of Independence.<br /> Yet even this former newspaper magnate seems to realize that print journalism may be giving up important ground to online freelancers, bloggers and content writers, who are successfully attracting large audiences, often breaking key news stories, and accomplishing both in a much more cost-effective manner. Blogs are growing in influence and bringing in impressive advertising revenue, while the newspaper industry?Black concedes?has not expanded for the past 10 years. Black believes that newspapers are in ?serious trouble,? even though he predicts that many major publications may still prosper, if they adapt to the times.<br /> Blogs and online news providers, on the other hand, seem to face much more favourable odds, especially as a younger generation of readers grows up with access to unparalleled online information and sees the internet as their primary source of news. </p> <p>

<br /> While traditional print journalists, major newspaper chains and television networks with falling advertising revenue struggle to stay afloat during the financial crisis, blogs are actually prospering and freelance content writers are continuing to find work, as some of their more established journalistic colleagues face challenging odds. Two major media giants found themselves in hot water this week, including one in Europe and one in North America. Canwest Global Communications, the owner of Canada?s second largest national newspaper, two dozen big city daily papers, the Global TV network, as well as a range of speciality channels, has until May 5th to pay back creditors at least $30.4 million in accumulated interest. If Canwest fails to come up with the funds, it may be forced into bankruptcy protection and would undergo major restructuring and cutbacks. Like all major media giants, Canwest newspapers face falling circulation figures, as more people go online for news-related content, and as blogs become ever more respected sources of punditry and editorial columns.<br /> In Europe, Hungary?s Zoom.hu media company?a rapidly expanding firm which provided online news articles and extensive video reporting?was forced to shut down yesterday, after the company?s new owner chose to discontinue the news service. Its content-rich website was removed from the internet for good late yesterday.<br /> Blogs are becoming more successful and giving the traditional press a run for its money, for a number of reasons. Blogs launched by companies to offer news related to niche markets are much cheaper and more effective to run than even a small newspaper business. Content providers have teams of experienced freelance writers who can produce up-to-date quality content in a short amount of time. Secondly, Google News provides news-based blogs with top notch visibility. In fact, if one?s blog is accepted into Google?s news feed, it will be featured side-by-side with the biggest names in the journalism industry, such as The New York Times, the Washington Post or Britain?s Guardian. </p> <p>

</p> <p>A question I am asked regularly is: ?How do I go about writing an informative and useful ?about us? page that people will actually want to read?? As a result I have written this post to give you the edge when writing one of the most important pages on your website. I hope that it is helpful.</p>

<br /> Blogging has become a major, recognized profession in the United States and according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, there are now almost as many bloggers in America as there are lawyers or firemen. In fact, the most recent statistics reveal that a growing number of Americans are earning a steady income through blogging, often by working for content providers and writing regular blog entries for clients on a freelance basis. There are currently approximately 20 million bloggers in the US, and 1.7 million of these avid writers are getting paid for their work and are earning anywhere from a steady part-time to a full-time income. Nearly half a million Americans earn more money from blogging than from any other source of employment.<br /> According to the Wall Street Journal, blogging has now become the one aspect of the information age with the ?most profound effect? on popular culture in the Western world. Columnist Mark Penn believes that while journalists have long been seen as the fourth estate, bloggers are rapidly becoming the ?fifth estate? and the public is now taking their postings seriously.<br /> Research shows that bloggers usually have a top notch education, with the majority (75 percent) in possession of a university diploma. Other demographic data suggests that the majority of bloggers in the US are males and that they tend to be under 40 years of age. Those looking to maximize profits from their blogs should keep in mind that in order to earn revenue of $75,000 per year, the blog should attract 100,000 monthly visitors.<br /> Thank you to Mark Penn of the Wall Street Journal for the initial report. </p> <p>