7 Article Writing Mistakes You Don't Want To Make

It is worth bearing in mind that not all article directories have the same rules for your article submission. Using the following article writing tips will give you the very best chance of having your articles accepted by the editors at first reading without you having to do re-writes or, at worst, having your article rejected because of some minor technicality.

Just the other day I received an email from a directory owner, (only 1 spelling mistake and no paragraphs but hey!, they make the rules), with a warning to it's authors that any spelling mistakes, bad punctuation, grammar and so on would result in the article being rejected out of hand.

From an authors point of view this is a little drastic as, whilst we don't expect the article editors to spend an excessive amount of time proofing the article, we would like the opportunity to adjust minor errors.

Not everybody has friends and family who can help proof their articles prior to submission and no matter how much care you take to grammar and spell check, the odd mistake is bound to happen. The more prominent article directories and submitters, like Ezine Articles, Article Marketer and Go Articles to name just 3, always give you a chance to correct any errors.

Remember that different sites have different formatting and submission rules and ezines /newsletters may require each line formatted to a certain CPL.

Here we go.

Tip 1:

Use Title Case For Your Article Titles – The first letter of each word is capitalized. Do not use a period at the end of a sentence but you may use a ? and an !

Here is a little known tip about article titles. I once made the mistake of using a bland headline. Well, it was basically my initial heading for the article when I first starting writing it without any of the "punch" to draw in the readers and I forgot to amend it.

The article was rejected and it was only because an article editor took the trouble to tell me about it that I became aware of this issue. So, put some punch in your titles!

Tip 2:

If you have a choice of, say, 3 categories and your article will fit only one then just use that category. You do not have to use all 3 just because the options are there. An article can be rejected if you have selected a "close" but not relevant category.

Tip 3:

Check the number of links you are allowed in your resource box. If in doubt then just use 1. If possible you must use anchor text links to help you with off-page search engine optimization. The use of anchor text links is very important. Keep the information in your resource box factual and hype-free.

Tip 4:

Do not use links or HTML in the body of your article. Some sites will allow the use of certain tags but if you are mass submitting your article you probably won't even see the allowable tags anyway.

Tip 5:

Avoid using repetitive decorative symbols to form dividers in the article body such as the double underline, hash or dollar signs.

Tip 6:

Do not write an advertisement for your affiliate product and definitely no affiliate links, even in your resource box.

Tip 7:

Some article directories will not accept a series of articles in parts so don't put Part 1 or Part 2 in the title. Also refrain from placing wording similar to "the next article in the series will be about " at the end of your article.