Structures to Lean on

Writing articles is a necessary part of Internet marketing. It’s a great way to build up backlinks and get yourself (or your products) in front of a new audience.

It can also be challenging. Especially if you feel like you’ve exhausted all your topics. Best thing to do is stop pulling your hair out, take a deep breath, and think about structure and form.

Now this isn’t a post on grammar, and it’s not just about stating a thesis and then defending it. Instead, understanding the impact of structure can mean getting four articles out of one topic instead of just one.

You probably use structures when writing without even realizing it. The basic structure for online article writing is an opening paragraph or two, five to seven paragraphs supporting your argument, and a closing paragraph.

There are other ways to structure an article. So once you’ve written an article promoting your product or service, and giving example to back up the claim of superiority, take a moment to try a different approach.

Instructional articles are huge hits. How-tos and step-by-step guides are highly sought after and can be made into Squidoo pages as well.

Lists are another great structure. Top tens, top fives – how many reason can you come up with of why your product or service should be purchased? How can your product or service be incorporated into a list of the best advice from niche experts?

Dos and Don’ts articles are like lists, in that they can be bulleted, even numerically. They follow a similar structure to the classic article format, but can be as long as the needed.

Question and answer articles can depart from the classic format, and that’s fine. Maybe there are three big questions about your product, or three big questions in your service niche – you can structure an article in the following way:
1. Introductory paragraph. This explains what industry/niche your serve and what the issues in that niche are.
2. State the first question – even mark it with a ‘Q.’ first. It’s fine if it’s just a sentence.
3. Then give your expert answer.
4. State the second question.
5. Give your second answer.
6. Last question.
7. Last answer.
8. Closing paragraph. This could be just a sentence or two about how your product or service meets all your customer needs.

You’ve got a convincing article that’s informative and useful.

You’re always going to have to support any claim you make – that’s a fact of writing articles. But if you’ve been writing endless reviews and are stumped, try a step-by-step guide to the product, or showing off your expertise with a Q&A. Variety is the spice of article writing!