How to Write Successful Articles for Helium and Other SEO Keyword Content Sites

Helium, like many other web-based content publishers, exists for the sole purpose of generating revenue and spreading profits to their writers. Web content writers are constantly perfecting the art of targeting markets or perfecting keyword usage to gain readership and high earnings. For many, this strategy alone does not equate to financial success or high ratings and they are left frustrated by the process.

Through trial, error, and general experience with Helium and other websites, I've come up with ways to help your articles receive the recognition and earnings they deserve.

1. Don't turn the topic's title into the first line of your article.

Repeating the topic not only looks unprofessional, it is discouraged in Helium's Writing Standards. If you have the ability to repose the original topic question as a thought-provoking statement somewhere in your first paragraph, you won't have to worry about this repetition in the first place. More than half of the articles I see start with the topic's question posted as the title or turned into the first sentence.

Article titles are not required or needed on Helium unless you are submitting prose such as a short story or a poem.

2. If the topic poses a question, do not answer it in the first sentence.

Topic: Is time travel possible?

First sentence: "Yes, it definitely is!" or "Yes, yes, yes!" or "No, time travel is impossible and here's why."

The whole point of writing an article for any publication, print or web-based, is to give valuable information to the reader while providing facts and sounding professional. In essence, by giving an answer in your first sentence, you are answering an imaginary question because not all web content will show the topic's question above your page, especially when articles are accepted by an outside publisher. Helium's topics are called, "Article Titles" and not, "Answer this question for me".

As alluded to, the title is a given so it does not need to be repeated. Even though topics are present above your articles on Helium, pretend you are writing for a more formal outlet and more raters and outside markets will take you seriously.

Here is another example:

Topic: Artificial selection and its application to medicine.

"What is the selection? Who is responsible for the selection? What can be selected? These are the questions that we ask ourselves when we think about this subject."

This opening statement would render the entire article as lacking and unprofessional in the eyes of a major publication or web-based new source, or even the person rating your article. When writing, imagine no one else will see the topic and you have to present it intelligently to your readers. Without the presence of a topic, no one would know what this author was talking about until reading further into the story, something most readers don't have the time or patience for.

3. Articles always need more than one paragraph.

So many people either write one long article with no paragraphs, which goes against every writing lesson taught since grade school. Most readers and publishers won't take articles seriously if an article is improperly formatted, no matter how well-researched the article is. Some readers will ignore the article altogether because one long paragraph, or even multiple long paragraphs are just too difficult to read. It causes eye fatigue for one, but main thoughts broken up by paragraphs, which make articles naturally easier to read.

Paragraphs in web content articles are smaller than paragraphs in books. Some people go to extremes and make each sentence its own paragraph, which is also incorrect. Recently transitioned writers need to find a happy medium. If you are a published author who is just starting out with web content, short paragraphs will make you feel a little dirty, but it's a must.

4. Keep your witty, personal stories to a minimum.

Articles are not blogs. Unless the article's topic specifically asks about your personal experiences, leave your personal musings out.

If you are able to sum up an entire life experience in a sentence or two, and it's relevant to the topic, it's probably forgivable. If the article is about a health issue and you can use brevity to filter out unimportant parts of your personal experience, that's forgivable as well, in moderation, because facts confirmed by medical statistics and research are imperative in order to help others. One person's experience with any topic is not necessarily the average reader's experience and this could hurt you in the long run because readers are looking for universal solutions to problems.

For instance, a topic called, "Determining proper weight" showed two articles - both were from people who had experienced either judgment or weight issues in their lives and went on and on about how it was wrong for others to judge them. By the time the articles were over, neither one mentioned health risks for being overweight or using the Body Mass Index as means of determining a proper or healthy body weight. I found it impossible to rate one of these articles as "more valuable" than the other so I just skipped them to stay true to my sensibilities.

5. Don't forget to use periods and capital letters.

I've recently come across many articles with no capitalization, except one obligatory period at the very end. I see this at least once a day while rating. Writing like this is an insult to every writer who takes his or her writing even half-way seriously. This should be common sense.

Learning disabilities aside, writing of this caliber has a stench of laziness to it, which is why these articles are never taken seriously. It is not possible to know the personal backgrounds of anonymous authors during the rating phase, so everyone is treated equally.

6. Less isn't always more.

Just because an article has a lower limit of three-hundred words doesn't mean that's what you should strive for. It's common sense that longer articles generally contain more relevant information. Short articles won't be taken seriously during the rating phase.

In most cases, good articles should discuss the problem at hand, give a short background, and either a summation or a look ahead. Writing an article that contains three-hundred words about how you agree with a subject won't take you to the top.

7. Two common problems - a lot and its versus it's.

Alot and allot should be "a lot". I see this error frequently. "Alot" should always be two words - a lot. Some people use the word allot and since it's an actual word meaning "to assign", it isn't caught by the spell-checker.

This is another common error and thankfully there's an easy way to remember when each should be used. It's, the contraction for it is, should be used for that exact reason - to abbreviate "it is". Its, on the other hand is used to substitute her or his or a noun. Take a look at this sentence:

The car's engine died because its gas tank was empty.

In this example you can replace the word its for the word her, showing that the usage is correct; The car's engine died because her gas tank was empty. It makes sense. You can use this substitution any time you aren't sure which word to use. If it doesn't make sense, use the other form of the word.

8. Your first paragraph is the most important, so make it count.

However unjustly, many raters judge articles solely on the presentation of the first paragraph. If raters aren't impressed, they will rate both articles by which one has the most intelligent sounding first paragraph. As mentioned before, don't waste that precious space answering your topic's question with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" Try to lure your rater into reading your entire article by making a strong argument in the first paragraph. Use facts, a surprising statistic or even wit to wow the reader. If you start out strong your effort might just be enough to trump the article to the right or left that has a weak opening.

9. Try not to preach in your articles.

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but facts as well as pros and cons will take you to the top faster than preaching about why you are right and everyone else is wrong. Writers touching on topics such as religion, abortion, and other sensitive and personal issues often display more emotions than facts, which will turn good raters off.

10 Stay on topic.

Some articles in the rating phase are completely off-topic, such as discussing baseball in a topic about religion. I'm assuming these are simply accidents but they happen frequently. Before hitting the publish button, make sure you are submitting your story in the right topic.

Another issue arises when writers get lost in personal stories and wind up drifting off-topic. Most get back to the point before finishing the article but some don't. Drifting off will keep your articles from rising in the ratings.

Before worrying about strong keywords, target audiences or markets, articles must be well-written. Poor grammar, spelling and formatting plague Helium's article database. Many more are quietly turned away from websites like Associated Content.

One positive aspect of Helium and other content websites, such as Associated Content, is how we can learn from each other's mistakes and successes and use them to our advantage to rise to the top. A little effort goes a long way.