How To Write A "How-To" Article That Gets Attention And Sends More Traffic To Your Website

Most readers will make the decision whether or not to even click on your article just by looking at the title. And the way to get people to click on your title is simple:

Marketing 101 - Tell them about the features and benefits of your product.

Your 'product' is the article and the title should include the following:

The Feature - What will they learn when they read your article?
The Benefit - How will this knowledge improve their life?

Here's an example of a really bad How-To title:
How To Write How-To Articles
it tells you the feature - you're going to learn how to write How-To articles. But it doesn't tell you how that's going to help you. The reason you want to know how to write How-To articles is so you can get more clicks and generate more traffic. The title doesn't promise to solve your problem so why even bother reading?

Here's a better example:
How To Write How-To Articles That Attract Attention
It's better because it does give you a glimpse at the benefit you'll gain from reading the article. However, lots of articles 'attract attention.' Your goal is to write articles that send more traffic to your website.

You encounter lots of things throughout the day that attract your attention - cute babies, bright yellow umbrellas, fuzzy puppies. But that doesn't mean you follow those babies or umbrellas or puppies all the way home. You glance at them and keep on walking. That's what happens when you see this type of title. You glance at it and keep on surfing.

Here's the best example:
How To Write How-To Articles That Attract Attention And Get More Traffic For Your Website
This title says it all!

• It tells you what you're going to learn - The Feature


• It tells you what will happen when you use the information - The Benefit


• It tells you how that particular benefit will make your life better - The Answer To The Problem

When this title turns up in the index, searchers will immediately know that reading this article is beneficial because it will help solve a problem.

Before you can come up with a killer title, you're going to have to decide what you want to write about. You probably already have a list of keywords but a good article, no matter what type it is, will solve a problem for the reader.

People who use article marketing to promote their websites know that readers like How-To articles. But the question is - how do you write them so people actually read them and then click through to your site?

The answer is - you need to let the reader know that your article will solve a specific problem.

Using the example, the problem was "How to get more traffic from How-To Articles."

Once you identify the problem, then you can put together your title.

Visit the Self-Help section of any library or bookstore and you'll see thousands of books whose titles all start with the words 'How To'. But don't stop there. Look at the cookbooks, the spirituality books, even the fiction books, and you'll find millions of book titles that start with the words 'How To'. You'll probably even find the words 'How To' carved on some ancient Egyptian pyramid!

People will always want to know how to do something. If you don't include 'How-To' Articles as part of your article marketing campaign, you're going to be missing out on a huge promotional opportunity.

People come to the Internet looking for solutions to problems. What better way to tell someone how to solve a problem than with a 'How-To' article?

If they like your article, and if it does, indeed, solve their problem, then you've just established yourself as an authority on that topic.

However, that won't happen if they don't read your article. That's why writing a killer title is such an important step.

The best place to find ideas for your 'How-To' articles is to visit forums and see what problems people are talking about. That's how I came up with the idea for this lens - someone was asking for tips on writing 'How-To' articles!

When you do your keyword research you'll often notice long-tail keywords that lend themselves to 'How-To' articles.

Read relevant blogs to see what people are talking about, read the newspaper, read books, eavesdrop at the coffee shop.... Anywhere people congregate, either online or off, you're bound to be able to pick up a few article ideas.

Look at your own blog for ideas. If you've written an article on the benefits of making your own dog food, then write some articles about HOW TO make your own dog food. Take your 'Why You Need' articles and tell people 'How To Do It' articles.

And THAT'S why you're here, isn't it? That's the promised solution you saw in my title. How do you write "How-To' articles that attract attention and generate more traffic? Isn't it funny how that worked out? I wrote a catchy title, and here you are reading my 'How-To' Article!

I've already increased my traffic just by writing a title that attracts more attention. The law of percentages is on my side. The more readers I get, the more clicks. However, if you've put all that thought into the title, why not do a little work on the content of the article so you can assure you get more click-throughs?

The key is to make sure you deliver what you promised in the title.

Give the reader all the information he needs to learn how to do something and then show him how that 'something' is beneficial.

In this Lens, I've shown you how to put together a title that attracts attention and gets more people to read your 'How-To' articles.

The key to getting more traffic out of your articles has always been to over-deliver on quality content. Deliver on your promises. Tell your readers 'How' to do something and then show them how it will benefit them to learn from your article.

If you learn from THIS article, your 'How-To' articles WILL generate more traffic!

Some people just naturally shy away from reading anything that starts with the words 'How To.' A 'How-To' article usually means you're going to have to do some work at some point. Change up your titles a little and bring those people into the fold!

Instead of 'How To...." try:

• How I did...


• How I made...


• How you can...


• How a single mother (unemployed teacher, handicapped teenager, hard-working father of 7)...

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