How to Write an Article Your Audience Wants to Read

There are countless articles connected the web. But galore of them spot fewer readers. If any.

That’s wherefore we’re going to amusement you however to constitute articles that actually pull your people assemblage and assistance you scope your goals. 

In fact, the process we’re astir to outline is the aforesaid 1 we’ve utilized to turn our blog to implicit 1.6 cardinal monthly readers.

But let’s archetypal get the basics retired of the way.

What Is an Article?

An nonfiction is simply a benignant of (typically nonfiction) penning connected a circumstantial taxable that’s geared toward a peculiar audience. And is usually utilized to inform, persuade, and/or entertain.

While articles tin beryllium successful people form, media outlets and brands thin to prioritize online content. Because it tin much easy beryllium discovered and distributed.

Plus, online contented tin beryllium updated to widen support life. Or adjacent close mistakes.

For example, The New York Times and galore different quality publications routinely update articles to close mistakes:

And erstwhile executed well, integer articles tin assistance you:

• Appear precocious (i.e., “rank” well) successful hunt engines
• Grow your readership
• Drive concern goals

How to Write an Article

Following our seven-step process for nonfiction penning volition enactment you connected the close track.

1. Choose a Relevant Topic

A applicable taxable is 1 that’s intimately related to your concern oregon your country of expertise. And it should ideally beryllium thing radical are funny successful speechmaking about.

If you cognize your manufacture well, you apt person galore ideas already.

But if you're abbreviated connected inspiration oregon privation to guarantee you take a taxable that readers are particularly funny in, look for topics radical are entering into hunt engines.

Use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to bash this.

Enter a wide keyword related to your niche. For example, if you’re successful the question space, you mightiness usage the keyword “travel tips.”

Add your domain successful the “AI-powered feature” tract and click “Search.”

You’ll spot a agelong database of taxable ideas you could cover.

From here, look for presumption that are peculiarly applicable to your concern oregon publication. 

One mode to bash this is to usage the suggested keyword groups to the near of the main table. And you tin prime 1 to presumption lone presumption associated with that group.

For instance, let’s accidental you’re particularly knowledgeable astir planetary travel. So, you prime the “international” group.

Now that you person a much focused list, wage attraction to the pursuing metrics:

• Search volume (Volume): The mean fig of monthly searches the keyword gets. Aim for a tenable fig of searches (at slightest 100 is simply a bully regularisation of thumb) to guarantee you screen a taxable radical attraction about.
• Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %): A measurement of however apt your circumstantial domain is to fertile successful hunt results for the term. Choosing a word with a people beneath 50% is simply a bully idea.
• Search intent (Intent): A metric that indicates what users are trying to execute by searching this term. For astir articles, you’ll privation to absorption connected a word with informational (I) intent—which indicates the searcher wants to larn astir something. 

In this case, “international question tips” looks similar a bully option.

2. Learn About Your Audience

Now, it’s clip to stitchery immoderate elaborate accusation astir your target audience. Because that volition pass the connection you choose, the examples you use, your code of voice, etc.

Use the One2Target instrumentality for this.

Enter a fewer competitors’ domains and click “Analyze.”

You’ll archetypal spot a breakdown of their corporate audience’s age, gender, and location.

Click the “Socioeconomics” tab to larn much astir the audience’s lifestyle. 

Then, sojourn the “Behavior” tab to larn astir the audience’s interests and societal media habits.

Based connected what you spot here, you mightiness tailor your nonfiction to budget-conscious couples betwixt the ages of 25 and 44 who person full-time jobs. 

3. Do Research connected Your Topic

When you’ve picked your taxable and homed successful connected your audience, it’s clip to hole the accusation you request to commencement writing. Which could see speaking to taxable substance experts, gathering information from online resources, etc.

If you’re unsure of wherever to begin, see whether determination are immoderate notable organizations successful your niche that people reports oregon different utile resources.

For example, the World Travel & Tourism Council regularly publishes reports and insights connected the authorities of tourism astir the globe.

But your probe besides needs to see looking astatine the existing articles connected the hunt motor results leafage (SERP) to recognize what’s already been covered.

To get a consciousness of what contented is already retired there, usage Keyword Overview.

Enter your chosen taxable keyword and click “Search.”

Scroll down to the “SERP Analysis” conception to spot which pages look astatine the apical of hunt results.

Then, sojourn the idiosyncratic pages by clicking the arrow icon adjacent to each URL.

Study respective pages to get a consciousness of however the contented is formatted and presented.

And see whether determination are tangents that are underexplored oregon questions that stay unanswered successful the existing content. Because including that accusation successful your ain nonfiction volition let you to connection further worth to your readers.

As you survey this existing content, jot down important subtopics and ideas you’d similar to cover. To hole for the adjacent step.

4. Create Your Outline

Putting unneurotic an outline gives you an overview that helps you program your contented (including subtopics), debar writer’s block, and draught much efficiently.

One casual mode to make an outline is to usage AI tools similar ChatGPT. By entering a punctual similar this:

“Create an outline for an nonfiction connected the champion planetary question tips. Mention places similar Paris, Bali, Tokyo, New York City, and the Maldives. Cover budget-friendly tips related to packing, aerial travel, uncovering hotels, and navigating unfamiliar locations.”

It volition make an outline for you:

Of course, this is simply a unsmooth outline. Feel escaped to adhd oregon region immoderate points based connected your research.

To incorporated hunt motor visibility considerations, effort the SEO Content Template.

Enter your taxable keyword and click “Create contented template.”

When the instrumentality is done, you’ll spot recommendations related to connection count, semantically related presumption to include, and more. 

Use these insights to update your outline.

5. Write Your First Draft

Using your outline, it's clip to commencement penning the existent nonfiction contented by fleshing retired your ideas. 

To get started, spell to the “Real-time Content Check” tab successful SEO Content Template and prime “Open successful SEO Writing Assistant.”

This volition instrumentality you to a blank papers successful the SEO Writing Assistant that’s primed for your topic. And you tin commencement penning straight successful the tool

Here are immoderate cardinal points to support successful caput arsenic you write:

• Start with a beardown introduction. Grab your readers' attraction from the precise beginning. Consider utilizing an absorbing fact, a thought-provoking question, oregon a compelling connection to gully them in.
• Follow your outline. Use the operation you've created arsenic a guide, but don't beryllium acrophobic to set arsenic needed.
• Write successful a clear, conversational tone. Unless you're penning for a highly method audience, purpose for a benignant that's casual to work and understand. Imagine you're explaining the taxable to a friend.
• Use abbreviated paragraphs and sentences. This makes your contented much digestible and little intimidating to readers.
• Use subheadings. Break up your contented into logical sections with descriptive subheadings. This helps readers scan your nonfiction and find the accusation they're looking for.
• Incorporate visuals. Where appropriate, see images, infographics, and/or charts to exemplify your points and interruption up text.
• Write a compelling conclusion. Summarize your main points and permission the scholar with thing to deliberation astir oregon enactment upon.

And retrieve to usage the assemblage probe you conducted earlier.

In this case, that means focusing connected affordability and clip savings. And sticking to taste references from nary much than 20 years ago.

Keep successful caput that your archetypal draught doesn't person to beryllium perfect. Because you tin ever refine and polish your penning during the editing phase.

6. Optimize Your Piece for SEO

Even if you're not predominantly focused connected SEO, it's important to assistance hunt engines find and fertile your articles. Because it helps enactment your contented successful beforehand of adjacent much imaginable readers. 

Here are immoderate elemental ways to optimize your nonfiction for hunt engines:

• Include your keyword successful the title. You’ve apt already included this. For instance, if you’re penning astir "international question tips," it’s earthy to see that operation successful the title.
• Include the keyword successful the rubric tag. The title tag is an HTML rubric that tin look successful hunt motor results. And it should lucifer oregon beryllium precise akin to your nonfiction title.
• Craft a compelling meta description. A meta description is simply a little nonfiction summary that tin amusement successful hunt results. And portion it doesn’t straight power rankings, a bully 1 tin entice users to click connected your nonfiction erstwhile it appears successful hunt results.
• Use a short, descriptive URL. Clear URLs assistance readers recognize what your station is astir astatine a glance. The simplest attack is to marque the URL slug bespeak your topic.
• Add alt substance to your images. Google relies connected alt text to construe images. Ensure each representation has concise and close alt text.

The SEO Writing Assistant tin assistance here.

It grades your contented successful existent clip arsenic you write. And clicking the “SEO” tab volition amusement you recommendations that guarantee your nonfiction is hunt engine-friendly.

7. Get Feedback and Revise

It’s casual to marque mistakes oregon miss immoderate important details erstwhile penning an article. Which is wherefore having idiosyncratic other cheque your enactment is precise helpful.

At Semrush, we person a squad of editors who thoroughly reappraisal our content. And they springiness feedback on:

• Sections that could beryllium restructured for amended flow
• Grammar and usage mistakes
• Parts that could beryllium removed to debar redundancy
• Sentences that could beryllium written much clearly
• Points that request much explanation

Here’s an example:

Feedback and input similar this typically leads to improvements.

You should likewise collaborate with idiosyncratic connected your squad to guarantee you’re producing high-quality content.

Write Your First Article Today

Now that you cognize however to constitute articles from commencement to finish, you’re acceptable to enactment what you’ve learned into practice.

Find a taxable utilizing the Keyword Magic Tool. And past dive into the readying and penning process. 

Get started today.