Wednesday, March 31, 2010
~ Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. ~ Albert Einstein
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Article Marketing Is All About The Title
The title of your article is the single most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting your article read. Although the content of the article is ultimately what people are searching for and hoping to find answers to their questions in, the simple fact is that without the right title it doesn't matter how good the content is, no one is ever going to see it. But there is a lot more to writing an effective article title than simply coming up with a catchy line that piques people's curiosity. These are the essential title writing steps you absolutely must adhere to if you hope to write an article than anyone is ever going to read.
1. Write Your Title For Search Engines
No matter how clever or funny your title may be, if the search engines aren't able to understand and categorize what you are trying to say, you are wasting your time. In print it is a different story. You want to grab the reader's attention with clever headlines that may have little to do with what your article is actually about. But search engines do not understand humor and semantics. They will take your title at face value so make sure your title is descriptive and straightforward.
2. Use Keywords
Absolutely imperative is the use of keywords. Choose your key words wisely and use them early. The first 3 to 4 words of your title should include your key words. So even if you like the way your title sounds, if your keywords are at the end of the title, consider revising it. You will be glad you did.
3. Be Concise
Try to be as concise as possible when writing your title. Write a rough draft and try to keep revising and condensing it until you are able to say exactly what you want to say in the fewest words possible. Less is more when you are writing titles that you want to attract attention.
4. Use Title Case
Title case is simply the formatting decision to capitalize the first letter of each word. You do not need to capitalize the first letter of lesser words like the, of, and, etc. However, my preference is to capitalize every word of the title. I think that it makes the title stand out as much as possible without being overdone. But it is definitely a matter of preference. Do not, however, capitalize every letter of every word. All caps titles are tacky and most article directories do not allow them anyway.
So there you have it; four simple steps to writing a title that can dynamically change the effectiveness of the articles you write. Just remember that it is not the title that is the most eye-catching or clever that necessarily gets the best results. It is the one that adheres to the necessities of online writing and utilizes well the internet marketing techniques essential for success that will win in the end.
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1. Write Your Title For Search Engines
No matter how clever or funny your title may be, if the search engines aren't able to understand and categorize what you are trying to say, you are wasting your time. In print it is a different story. You want to grab the reader's attention with clever headlines that may have little to do with what your article is actually about. But search engines do not understand humor and semantics. They will take your title at face value so make sure your title is descriptive and straightforward.
2. Use Keywords
Absolutely imperative is the use of keywords. Choose your key words wisely and use them early. The first 3 to 4 words of your title should include your key words. So even if you like the way your title sounds, if your keywords are at the end of the title, consider revising it. You will be glad you did.
3. Be Concise
Try to be as concise as possible when writing your title. Write a rough draft and try to keep revising and condensing it until you are able to say exactly what you want to say in the fewest words possible. Less is more when you are writing titles that you want to attract attention.
4. Use Title Case
Title case is simply the formatting decision to capitalize the first letter of each word. You do not need to capitalize the first letter of lesser words like the, of, and, etc. However, my preference is to capitalize every word of the title. I think that it makes the title stand out as much as possible without being overdone. But it is definitely a matter of preference. Do not, however, capitalize every letter of every word. All caps titles are tacky and most article directories do not allow them anyway.
So there you have it; four simple steps to writing a title that can dynamically change the effectiveness of the articles you write. Just remember that it is not the title that is the most eye-catching or clever that necessarily gets the best results. It is the one that adheres to the necessities of online writing and utilizes well the internet marketing techniques essential for success that will win in the end.
Make Money Online The Right Way
If You Like This, Please Share It.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Turn Off Smart Quotes In Microsoft Word
Smart quotes are the bane of online writers. If you have never heard of them and have already tried your hand at submitting writing for online publication, you are probably already closely acquainted with them without even knowing it. If you are fortunate enough to learn of this issue early on it will not present much of a problem as it is an easy formatting fix. If however, you have already written tons of smart quote infested text you are hoping to upload onto the web, things can get a bit more complicated.
So what are Smart Quotes?
In short, smart quotes or "curly quotes" are the default quotation marks and apostrophes that Microsoft Word uses. Instead of using standard straight quotes, or "dumb quotes", Word automatically reformats them and turns them into the curly nuisances we speak of here.
If you do not fix this issue before you upload your nice, new, shiny article to the internet, it will not look the way you wrote it. Most likely what will happen is that every instance where an apostrophe or quotation marks are used will be turned into a question mark or some other unsightly character. The result will be a very unprofessional, unfinished looking article and a very frustrated writer.
How to Get Rid of Smart Quotes
Thankfully this is an extremely easy fix. If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 here are the steps:
1) Click on the Office button in the upper left hand corner of your screen. Scroll down to Word Options (at the bottom of the box). Click it. Scroll down to the "proofing" selection in the new window that just opened up, click it.
2) Now, click on Autocorrect Options. A new window will open up. Browse the tabs at the top of the box and click on AutoFormat. You will see the word "replace" with six check boxes below it. The first one is the one you want. It should say "straight quotes" with "smart quotes". Uncheck this box. If you like you can also uncheck the rest of the boxes save the last one titled "internet and network paths with hyperlinks" to further uncomplicated any internet formatting issues that you may experience.
3) You are almost done. Go back up to the tabs at the top of the box and click on the one that says AutoFormat As You Type. Now simply do the exact same thing you did in step 2 unchecking all of the same boxes here.
What if I Already Have Articles Written with Smart Quotes?
If you have already written text using Microsoft Word with the smart quote option on I will tell you what I did. There may be an easier way to do this but this seemed the easiest way to me. I simply used the find feature (just hold ctrl and hit F) in Word to find all of the apostrophes in my article, then all of the quotation marks. This way the program will bring you to each one, one at a time, and you can deal with them as they come. This will save you the trouble of scouring through your articles by hand trying to pick out every last apostrophe.
That is about all there is to say about smart quotes and what to do about them. I just hope you were able to find this information before smart quotes were able to cause you too much trouble. That's all for now!
Make Money Online The Right Way
If You Like This, Please Share It.
So what are Smart Quotes?
In short, smart quotes or "curly quotes" are the default quotation marks and apostrophes that Microsoft Word uses. Instead of using standard straight quotes, or "dumb quotes", Word automatically reformats them and turns them into the curly nuisances we speak of here.
If you do not fix this issue before you upload your nice, new, shiny article to the internet, it will not look the way you wrote it. Most likely what will happen is that every instance where an apostrophe or quotation marks are used will be turned into a question mark or some other unsightly character. The result will be a very unprofessional, unfinished looking article and a very frustrated writer.
How to Get Rid of Smart Quotes
Thankfully this is an extremely easy fix. If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 here are the steps:
1) Click on the Office button in the upper left hand corner of your screen. Scroll down to Word Options (at the bottom of the box). Click it. Scroll down to the "proofing" selection in the new window that just opened up, click it.
2) Now, click on Autocorrect Options. A new window will open up. Browse the tabs at the top of the box and click on AutoFormat. You will see the word "replace" with six check boxes below it. The first one is the one you want. It should say "straight quotes" with "smart quotes". Uncheck this box. If you like you can also uncheck the rest of the boxes save the last one titled "internet and network paths with hyperlinks" to further uncomplicated any internet formatting issues that you may experience.
3) You are almost done. Go back up to the tabs at the top of the box and click on the one that says AutoFormat As You Type. Now simply do the exact same thing you did in step 2 unchecking all of the same boxes here.
What if I Already Have Articles Written with Smart Quotes?
If you have already written text using Microsoft Word with the smart quote option on I will tell you what I did. There may be an easier way to do this but this seemed the easiest way to me. I simply used the find feature (just hold ctrl and hit F) in Word to find all of the apostrophes in my article, then all of the quotation marks. This way the program will bring you to each one, one at a time, and you can deal with them as they come. This will save you the trouble of scouring through your articles by hand trying to pick out every last apostrophe.
That is about all there is to say about smart quotes and what to do about them. I just hope you were able to find this information before smart quotes were able to cause you too much trouble. That's all for now!
Make Money Online The Right Way
If You Like This, Please Share It.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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