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All about article presentation & keywords - feedback welcome |
Posted Date: 26 Sep 2012 Posted By:: Vandana  Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 11 Points: 5
Responses:
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A member mentioned about how he has written fairly good articles but is not getting pageviews as per his StatCounter feedback. With his permission, I am posting here in the open forum my views about one of his articles so as to share with you how an article should be presented. He had specifically asked about keywords so that is the focus of this thread. We do not generally put such lengthy threads in the forum but I thought it would be better to share with everybody & the forum is the most frequented place to learn something.
The article I selected of his to discuss is: How to prepare yourself for a successful job interview. My feedback:
1. The topic is a common one, appearing at 100s of other sites. So it is important to make yours stand out.
2. Title: good selection of title. As stated in this help topic words like how, how to, why, where, what, etc are good keywords to use in a title. At the same time, note that this same title will also be the title of articles at other sites. So perhaps some variation could be put in.
3. Summary: The words 'interview process' are good keywords, but the rest of the summary is not what could get traffic. Remember that the text in the summary forms the first few lines which will appear below the title in a search engine. So it should be something really good, but at the same time something which does not overuse keywords because this is spamming. I have found it useful to begin a summary with questions commonly asked in relation to the topic and then putting in text in a way that entices readers to read the article. For example, in this article the summary could be: What is the ideal way to prepare for a job interview? What are good job interview skills? What should be the dress code for a job interview? These and other questions will be answered in this article by providing you with complete information on the job interview process & what are the best ways to prepare for a job interview.
Note: Remember to vary the text of your summary for each article so as to avoid a repetitive type of summary. So in another article you can say "This article provides details about..." or "This article covers various aspects of...." or "You can get useful tips about.....in this article" or "This article lists various points about...."
4. Introduction: Your introductory paragraph is as important as your summary but should never have the exact same text as your summary. It is the introduction which should lead a reader to be interested in reading further. Keep it short and concise without rambling. You can even begin with a quote related to your topic. Starting with a humorous line (and I don't mean a crass joke or slapstick comedy!) will bring a smile to your reader's face & definitely induce him to read further. Look at the intro lines in the article: "An interview is a process where in one presents themselves to becoming an eligible candidate to be selected for a position offered by a system or an institution." – this if far too long a sentence. It should be, in concise form: "An interview is a process wherein one presents oneself as an eligible candidate to be selected for a position offered by a company or an institution." This sentence though is very good as it neatly sums up what an interview is: "In an interview process, we have to utilize each and every minute to our advantage to answer the questions, to express our opinion, to clear the doubts and offer solutions." - this too is a long sentence, but here it makes perfect sense.
5. Sub-headings: your sub-headings should be framed in such a way that in themselves they form keywords. As in the title, you can use how to, why, etc. In this article the first sub-heading is 'Preparation for an interview'. Instead, what I would put is "Top 3 tips for giving the best job interview in your life" or "How to present yourself as the best candidate for a job " or some such attention grabbing headline. This would be put in H3 tags and listed below it, in H2 tags, I would put mini sub-headings: "How to get prepared for a job interview', 'How to be presentable at a job interview', 'How to deal with unexpected questions at a job interview' – and/or any other such sub-headings which explain the points you are going to make in the paragraph. A sub-heading like 'When could it go wrong' is not ideal simply because nobody really types such words in a search engine.
6.Words in bold: Throughout this article there are words which have been needlessly put in bold. What words you should put in bold: the words that people would look up in a search engine. For example, there is this great sentence "One main issue faced by the candidates when they are seated in the interview waiting room" which could be improved upon by stating "One of the main issues faced by candidates in the interview waiting room" and I would put in bold the words "main issues faced by candidates in the interview waiting room". Why put 'might get stuck in the middle' and 'friendly chat' in bold?! Similarly, in the concluding part why is "we are always at the receiving end" in bold? Instead, I would put "interview conversation process" in bold. Remember: excessive words in bold is not allowed.
7. Points: In the sub-heading "Preparation for an Interview" it is mentioned 'Firstly we should....' Now if you have mentioned the word firstly, surely there should be a secondly, thirdly, fourthly, etc. You can either put in points this way or literally list them with S.Nos. 1., 2., etc.
8. Links: There is not a single link to any other article. The point of inter-linking is to ensure that you get traffic to other related articles too & that the reader hangs around at ISC for a little more time.
9. Conclusion: The concluding paragraph should be the ending punch, as good as your introductory text. In this article the sentences about there being a next time and about practice makes perfect were good, but overall the concluding paragraph is ridden with basic errors. For example "The more taste he gets the more sumptuous the dish become. We will succeed. Always believe in our strength." could be "You may have heard of the popular saying that the more taste you get of a dish the more sumptuous it becomes. Similarly, the more you try the greater the possibility of success. Always believe in your strength". What I am trying to say here is (a) when using an idiom, quote or proverb, try to explain it correctly in what way it is related to your topic; and (b) stick to using the word 'you' , 'your', etc since you are referring to the reader. Don't mix up 'our' into it.
10.Overall presentation: always ensure that there is a smooth flow to your entire article, with one paragraph seamlessly leading to the next. Don't clutter up too many points in one paragraph and don't also go to the other extreme of putting such 1-2 sentences per sub-heading.
Final suggestions:
1. Read over and over again the Help Topics related to Content and Keywords Constant reading will eventually make your resource-writing perfect.
2. Feel free to use the forum to get feedback from other members about your article. Even if you think you have written something terrible with no proper English skills, nobody is going to poke fun at you. The purpose of ISC is to reach out to those in need & help them improve their skills, whether it is English, writing, using tags, etc. When others explain what you should do, you are on your way to learning & improving yourself. Take critical comments in the right spirit & make the effort to learn how to do things right.
Members who are getting good traffic to their pages & editors are welcome to correct my views & share their own suggestions in this thread. Let's help other members to improve their articles, get traffic to their pages & earn better.
Regards,
Vandana
Managing Editor
ISC Mentor
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Responses
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#356239 Author:  Sachin Rambhau Kukale  Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 157 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating:  Points: 5 |
Hello Vandana Ma'm it is very important information shared by you with us. You have covered almost all the topic that will help to write search engine friendly articles. It is one of the great posts on ISC.
But there is really confusing situation when writing summary and first paragraph. Sometimes points which are already explained in summary may come in first paragraph, but we have to avoid this. At starting I have faced this problem but now I am comfortable with the things. Again one best thing for me is that I am getting good amount traffic from search engines.
The next difficult point is to interlinking our various articles. it is really difficult to interlink our articles at ISC because most of the times we write articles on totally different categories. Now I am concentrating to achieve ability to interlink my articles.
Thanks a lot again for guiding us!
Regards Sachin R. Kukale
Forum Editor.
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| #356244 Author: Danish Khan Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 469 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 2 |
Vandana Mam,
Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful information which helped me and other members as well. But, how come that article has been approved since there are many words that have been bold? This thread will surely help the newbies of ISC to make their article gaining more points and more cash credits including Ad Sense money.
Regards,
Danish
Believe in originality, not in creativity!
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| #356251 Author: Vandana Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 11 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 5 |
@ Sachin: it does not matter in which category the other articles are. What matters is relevancy & thinking of a unique way on inter-linking.
Let's take for example the article I have discussed. Now the author of the article has written 2 other articles, one on understanding leadership and anothe on how to secure your future with right savings. How to link these to the article on preparing for a job interview? Simply put in good sentences with relevance to the topic & use the correct words in the sentences to give the links. Here's how:
1. I could put a sentence "During your job interview, you could convey a good impression of having leadership skills & at the same time having the ability to do team work." Here, for the word 'leadership' I would give the link to the article on leadership.
2. Similarly, I could put a sentence "Being successful in a job interview ensures security for your future & hence the importance of preparing for a job interview should not be undervalued". Here, for the words 'security for your future' I would give the link to the article on savings.
Isn't it simple?!
Regards,
Vandana
Managing Editor
ISC Mentor
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#356286 Author:  Ankit Sinha   Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 135 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 3 |
Speaking by my personal experience, the topic mentioned above should not be touched upon by anyone!
This topic has been written not on 100s, but probably on 1000s of sites. This is such a topic that it is impossible to rank for it no matter how unique or good your article might be in English or SEO.
@Vandana ma'am: Even if he follows all the tips you mentioned above, he probably still won't get any traffic for this article.
Regards,
Ankit Sinha
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#356302 Author:  Varun Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 206 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 3 |
Dear Vandana madam
Thank you for this wonderful piece of information! This will surely help me in making my future articles SEO friendly.
Dear Ankit
I had asked Vandana madam about for a few tips on making my articles more SEO friendly. She has randomly selected one of my articles to explain it to all the fellow ISCians (including me) as to how one should make their submissions more SEO friendly. So the target was never this article.
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| #356311 Author: Ankit Sinha Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 135 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 3 (Rs 2) |
Varun,
Probably you didn't get my point. What I was trying to point out is that SEO of an article is not that important than the topic of the article itself! Unless the topic satisfies two criteria-
1. Demand for that article, a respectable number of searches should be done on it, it should not so unique that no one even searches for it.
2. Less or no competition for that article when YOU are posting it.
it is difficult to get an article at a good rank.
Regards,
Ankit Sinha
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| #356315 Author: Sachin Rambhau Kukale Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 157 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 3 |
Hello Vandana Ma'am thank for simplifying the interlinking concept. I have understood the concept now. I will try my best to interlink my articles as explained by you.
One more thing I would like to say and that is why I like ISC so much? Because every member tries to help others. Even our editors, webmasters and above Tony sir are there always to help me. I am really very glad to be member of this precious site.
Regards Sachin R. Kukale
Forum Editor.
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#356319 Author:  Saroja Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 121 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 4 (Rs 2) |
Hi
I just wanted to share my opinion and experience in browsing this site and articles. As mentioned by the editors, topic should be catchy and hour of need, then only it will have traffic. And also the kind of articles I could see (not all members) are using only language of common use, whereas articles should be of high quality subject matter. That is why, when I started using this website, I have raised in my forum that articles should be audited by subject specialists. Here subject matter are left to the audience to judge or get traffic, that is why, every member feels that their articles are of high. Here our first motive should be to learn and practice to develop to the core of writing and then demand.
with regards
Saroja
Saroja
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#356420 Author:  Ajay Kumar Singh Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 110 Date: 26/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 4 |
Mam,
First, thanks for creating this thread and thereby throwing some light on the proper ways to present one's article. Believe me, what big fat books or lengthy articles on proper presentation of articles sometimes fail to convey is properly figured out in this thread. What I liked most is your practical explanation and justification of some relevant points with the help of an example article. It has also been able to clear some of my doubts and queries regarding the same. Hence forth, I would surely keep these simple but important things in mind and capatilize on these while writing articles.
Regards,
Ajay Kumar Singh
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| #356748 Author: Vandana Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 11 Date: 27/Sep/2012 Rating: Points: 2 |
Varun,
I may have used the article to explain about keywords, but what Ankit says is true. Unless you select topics which are not common to other sites (so much so that the topic has been covered to saturation point!), you are unlikely to get high traffic to your pages, even with SEO skills. For example, I would advise you to also avoid submitting resources of recipes.
Regards,
Vandana
Managing Editor
ISC Mentor
Amitabh Bachchan in his first Hollywood film!
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