1) Use good grammar. Articles for publishing on the Web must be, above all else, professional. Basic rules of grammar must be adhered to. No one wants to publish an article that sounds sloppy or is difficult to understand. The same goes for spelling: make sure you spell words correctly. The advice that you give in your article won’t be trusted if it looks like you don’t even have a grasp on English.

Spell/grammar checkers are wonderful tools for the writer. Always run a spell/grammar check when you write articles for websites. This will weed out most of your errors.

It’s important to remember, though, that spell/grammar check tools don’t catch everything. They may also flag something as erroneous when it really isn’t. After you spell-check, re-read your article and make sure it flows and still makes sense.

If you know that grammar and spelling are weaknesses for you, get a second opinion. Ask someone else to edit your article for you. Find a grammatically-inclined friend, or ask a teacher or another writer to edit your work for you.

2) Familiarize yourself with search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is the art of writing articles for websites which will help the site rank at the top of a search return. The idea is to sprinkle specific “keywords” throughout an article in the right numbers and in the right places. By doing so, the site that posts the article has a greater chance of landing in the top three listings for those keywords when used as search terms.

Conventional wisdom dictates that articles should have between one and five percent keyword density. In other words, the chosen keywords should comprise one to five percent of the total number of words. Keywords should also appear in strategic places within the article, including the title, first and last paragraph, and at least once in the middle.

When you write articles for websites, they should be no less than 350 words, and generally no more than 700 words. Articles in this range have the best chance at garnering high search engine rankings.

Many websites are willing to pay for great articles, and thousands of writers make a living writing articles for websites. You can also start making a name for yourself by distributing articles to syndication sites. You won’t necessarily make money this way, but it’s a good way to break into the business.

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