‘How-to’ articles – how to write a good one
An advisory article (aka a guide or how-to article) is one of the types of contents that web browsers read the most. Due to its form, it is easy to read, provides answers to diverse questions, provides practical tips to solve problems, and in addition, simply satisfies curiosity.
A guide is also an excellent marketing tool that helps attract users and thus increase website traffic, as well as conversion rate.
However, in order to achieve a specific goal through an advisory article, it must be written in a skillful way. And here the question arises, ‘how do you write a good guide’? You will find the answer below.
What should you remember when creating advisory articles?
Guides provide readers with specific knowledge on a specific topic that they are interested in, and at the same time subtly promote a brand, product or service.
An advisory article can include information about the product or service being sold, present its advantages and possible uses, thus encouraging the reader to make a purchase. It is a kind of advertisement that does not stand out as an advert and is not intrusive.
What do you need to take care of when creating an advisory text?
Defining the target group
One of the most difficult things to do when writing a professional advisory article is to define the group it is intended for. Regardless of the task of the text, its style, form and language must be adapted to the target recipient – the model user.
Of course, it may happen that it will reach someone outside the target group. However, it is impossible to write universal content that will appeal to everyone. The article will always make a greater impression on some, and a smaller one on others. A text that is not personalized in terms of the target audience will not reach anyone, so it is as if it does not exist.
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Conducting research
An extremely important element of writing any type of content is research, i.e. obtaining information on a given topic, e.g. via the Internet. A specialist in a given industry will probably skip this step and will draw from the top of his head when writing, although s/he may also need to learn from time to time – after all, some scientific disciplines are developing quite dynamically, and new achievements are negating information previously taken for granted.
Either way, you don’t have to be an expert in a given field to write a good article – all you need to do is spend time on research and then just put what you’ve read into words.
The Internet is a true treasure trove of knowledge and you can find the answer to any question there – you just have to look hard enough.
Preparing an outline
The main task of an advisory article is to solve the reader’s problem – after all, they stumbled on the article while searching to learn something specific. After reading the last sentence, they must feel satisfied and have the feeling that they have found what they were looking for. For this to happen, the text must be not only substantive, but also clear and coherent.
That is why it is so important to prepare an outline first after doing the research, and only then move on to writing. Otherwise, chaos may creep into the article and even if readers are provided with a solid dose of knowledge, it may become incomprehensible to them, and that is not what we want.
Ensuring the uniqueness of the content
A guide must not only be interesting, but above all unique. This is not just because the person reading the same thing for the umpteenth time may feel frustrated, although of course this also matters, there are many benefits to having unique content on your website.
This translates into its visibility in search results, and also improves internal optimization. Legal aspects are also of no small importance here. Of course, there are topics that are so simple and popular that they have been practically exhausted, but with a bit of creativity it is still possible to write an article that will positively stand out from the rest.
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Solving reader’s problem
People love to read guides for one reason – they want to find a simple and quick solution to the problem that is troubling them. Not everyone is patient, so it is best if it the solution is provided straight away, without being wrapped in clutters, and at the same time easy to understand. This can be done in several different ways.
If the path to solving a problem is a long-term process, you can prepare step-by-step instructions that the reader can follow to achieve a given result.
If there are several ways to achieve the goal, then it is worth presenting them in the form of examples, describing the advantages and disadvantages of each, so that the reader can choose which one will work best in their case.
Once you know how to write a good advisory article, you can then get to work. While creating it, it is worth remembering that the form of the article should be legible, the arrangement of sentences and elements connecting subsequent statements should be logical, and the vocabulary should be understandable. Good advisory articles that effectively attract representatives of the target group are the key to success in business.
Summary
- An advisory article is a great marketing tool that helps attract users and thus increase traffic to websites that publish them.
- When creating a guide, remember to define your target group, conduct research, and prepare an outline.
- Also, take care of unique content and try to convey such information in the content that will solve the reader’s problem.
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