Criteria of a Quality Article

[SteveOsborne]

Close your eyes for a moment and visualize the world’s most beautiful individual, at least in your opinion. Then answer this question: What makes that person so beautiful?

Bright green eyes set just so far apart? Perfectly formed lips? Stunning skin coloring? Satiny hair? High cheek bones? The list goes on. No matter how many physical attributes you mention, I guarantee you will miss some that impact your perception of that person’s beauty, such as certain subtle relationships between facial features and the way everything comes together to form an attractive whole.

Plus, you will not likely be able to put your finger on some appealing characteristics that are less tangible than hair color or the shape of the mouth – like that almost imperceptible widening of the eyes or quick tilting of the head. You’re probably not even aware of many of these things on a conscious level. But they are there and you notice them whether you consciously realize it or not.

Asking “What makes a good article,” is a lot like asking why someone looks beautiful to you. When you read the article, you will be aware of certain things you like about it (good information, easy to read and understand, concise), but you will not be able to put your finger on other elements that draw you to it. They are too subtle. Understated stylistic techniques, slight inflections of tone, the ability to maintain just the right amount of tension throughout the piece, and a plethora of additional elements and characteristics play important but often invisible roles in making an article “good” or “bad.”

You can’t apply a formula to this. It’s far too complex. If it could be formulized, machines would spit out wonderful articles in reams and article writers would be on the streets.

What you can do, however, is work on one way to improve your writing at a time. Work on pacing until you become a super-star at it. Work on content organization until you can do it in your sleep. Work on titles until you become a great title writer.

But whatever you do, do not overanalyze the article writing process. If you do you’ll be like the golfer or tennis player who returns from a long lesson with a pro only to find that she’s thinking so much about everything she learned that she can’t feel it anymore and can’t even take a decent swing.

Continuou improvements are crucial to success as a writer. (You can find a ton of things to work on on my blog site on real-world writing tips: http://thewritersbag.com.) But remember: over-analysis will paralyze you – and paralyzed writers never write good articles.

[JayThack]

Pay attention to title...It should be attractive and not long...
Of course the gist of your article...Not monotonous, not very formal. People like interesting articles with humorous moments...

Adding to that, i think the font, the font size and colour are very important. You don't want your readers to tire their eyes out.

[fr@nc!z]

A good article must possess the following:

1) Title - a unique and very catchy title.
2) Summary - this will give your potential reader on what your article is all about.
3) Body - an informative, well written article will make your reader impress ad will tend to search more of your article.
4) Author' Box - you can give a few details about you, what you likely to write, nd also the link of your website (if you have).
5) keywords - helps your SEARCHING reader to find your article.

[Riklets]

Well first of all you have to make sure that you have the spelling and grammar down pat. Nothing throws a reader off than wrong spelling or wrong grammar. It would first of all make you look stupid, and it wouldn't really do much for your reputation.

After basic construction, then comes the elements that make an article interesting and engaging. Elements of style and delivery comes into play. The title should not be misleading and if ever it is, it should never stray too far away from the main topic. Some authors use distant relations for their title and when you're good it sometimes works.

[mel51]

Targeted
Informative
Concise
Correct
Current
WIIFM? (user-centred)
Human interest factor
Humour

Most everything else has already been said, but I've never gone wrong in following those rules and I've been writing professionally for more than 20 years. Web writing requires specific formatting, but good writing is good writing no matter where it appears. I also teach writing for new media and I am continually amazed by how many people think writing/content is the last thing they need to worry about when starting a site.

[Reflection]

Hi all.
Nice tips on article writing.

Title of a article is very important.
Heading and summery of the article should descriptive and up to the point.
Rest of the article should be correct and heart catching.

Then only a visitor will read your article.

[Mitoman]

I usually write articles based on my experience, I seriously hate these SEO sites that has no content, or telling the same stuff over and over again

[sales training]

It is interesting that so many comments focus on clarity, but none of color. I am sorry, but I have to state that great content involves the ability to evoke emotion in the reader. Education needs some flare to aid in learning. Too much information without tone will bore a reader and you will not keep them coming back for more.

[Reflection]

I usually write articles based on my experience, I seriously hate these SEO sites that has no content, or telling the same stuff over and over again

That's not right about SEO.
In fact, more than 80% articles are from SEO people writing for their clients.
Content is the major part of SEO.

[Riklets]

it's also good to start every paragraph with a topic sentence. Instead of stuffing the whole paragraph with keywords, you can use the topic sentence to place in your major keywords, basically what your article is all about. You can make variations of this in every paragraph so it wouldn't look so dull.

[CLSbrunette]

Whether it's offline or online, I think the criteria for a quality article are the same:
It should have the necessary elements in a lead--the first sentence of the article. It should contain the 5Ws and 1H. It should be presented well in format, no typos, grammatically accurate, and with information that's not run of the mill. The only difference when you write for an online article is that should be keyword-enriched cause you have to be cautious about the page rank.

[Rexibit]

One thing that I have always kept in mind, "How would I want to read this?" If you wouldn't want to read it, chances are - no one else would.

The next thing you should always try to do is not sound overly intelligent more than you are. Don't use fancy words unless they are in context. The person reading your article is going to be more cynical than they would face-to-face with you. After all, you have plenty of time to analyze someone's writing than you do their voice.

And lastly, write like you are describing your ideas to your mother. You will always come out more personal if you keep that in mind. People like to connect on a personal level with the author. When you do that, you can ensure some return visits.

[water2filter]

I think the quality article should mean:

1- the article have the right topic;

2- the article have the fresh content;

3- the article will help other understand something.

[UndertheRadar]

1. Great title that makes people want to read more (also title that creates curiosity)

2. Fun and easy to read. No technical jargon. Use day to day language.

3. Informative or practical or solving a problem.

4. No fluff and straight to the point.

[wizely]

All the points raised so far are all important aspects of what makes a quality article, but there is only one criteria really - it has to be what the audience wants. That sounds stupid and it's so simple it's nearly always overlooked, but it's by far the most important thing and will define how the article is written.
A quality article for teenage techno-whizzes will be entirely different from a quality article for middle-aged lawyers. 'Quality', in my mind, just means 'effective'. Know your audience inside-out or following all the 'rules' in the world won't matter!

[Reflection]

As discussed earlier title is the most import thing in a article.
Title should be a gooding heading and with in 100 character.
Then summary should be descriptive and up 300 character .
Then body should well arranged and gramatical error free. It should be written in such a way that a visitor should get some important information form it.
At last in author resource put your website address, contact address etc.

An article equipped with the above points will be a quality article.

[wizely]

It's definitely worth cramming an article into a 300 word max or cutting your reader off to meet this arbitrary limit. Do this and get the title perfect and that's a good article.
Oh, hang-on a minute... there is no formula for a good article.
A title is as long as it needs to be, the content too - a good article is one that gets read lots. A good title helps attract a reader but it's not the most vital thing. A 250/300 word limit is arbitrary - a good article is as long as it needs to be. Concise is not the same as short. The topic is critical, personality and writing style too. Writing for the reader is the key - the 'best written' article will fail if no one wants to read it.

[elhusseiny]

Asking questions and answering them will also work great.

Something like:

Are you tired from the prices of gas? Convert your car into electric now. And so on

[unitekequip]

Length is not as important as everyone is making it seem to be. Grab your reader with a attractive title (info specific, funny, alluring, whatever seems most appropriate). Next, efficiently write your article. It doesn't matter if its 200 or 1000 words as long as it covers the necessary content. Make sure, and this is perhaps the most important thing, that you write for a specific audience. This will really determine the length and style of your article.

[wiseboy]

A quality article should entice the reader to read on from the first paragraph... A good indication of this is to get non-theme-intended readers to sample your article... and if they read on, even though the topic is not relevant to their interests, your on to a winner....

You must respect your reader... find an ideal balance between humour and point making... and only write about what you know....

I think..?!

[wizely]

Good headings x long about blah, good first paragraphs, length x words... People sure do read and regurgitate the same "How to write" book advice over and over.

And has anyone seen the wee back button on a browser? If you're writing for the web then the reader can abandon at every syllable, every word, every sentence, every paragraph.

Follow the 'rules' by all means, but you can't be creative or find your own style if you follow. Writing is easy - it's figuring out what people want to read that's the trickier part.

[Shyflower]

It's definitely worth cramming an article into a 300 word max or cutting your reader off to meet this arbitrary limit. Do this and get the title perfect and that's a good article.
Oh, hang-on a minute... there is no formula for a good article.
A title is as long as it needs to be, the content too - a good article is one that gets read lots. A good title helps attract a reader but it's not the most vital thing. A 250/300 word limit is arbitrary - a good article is as long as it needs to be. Concise is not the same as short. The topic is critical, personality and writing style too. Writing for the reader is the key - the 'best written' article will fail if no one wants to read it.

Very well put. I believe a major part of the problem is that too many people are writing for the web and not caring a rat's tail about their readers... just how to get visitors for their AdSense, Affiliate sites. Writing that sells is written to pander explicitly to the reader's interests. In order to do that, you have to care about their aspirations, their objectives, and their needs.

[ajparker]

Grammar and spelling are two ESSENTIALS. For example: I have a directory site that also accepts articles. This morning I rejected 2 articles because they bordered on being incoherent. One was writing as though they had been doing an IRC chat or a forum post or something: "bcause ur" etc... and the other was almost as incomprehensible. "You are needing to lose fats....." Unfortunately spellcheck alone is NOT enough. Proofread and have someone else proofread.

So, poor grammar/spelling are probably the top reasons I would reject an article someone had submitted to me. Those are the easy things that will make your article worthless.

As for what TO do after you've mastered the grammar and spelling. KNOW your audience. If you're perceived audience is astrophysicists there's no reason NOT to use technical jargon. Just make sure you use THEIR technical jargon... If you're explaining astrophysics to someone off the street, then try to "translate".

The simplest model is to have a nice concise topic. Tell in the first paragraph what you're going to say, then detail it, then summarize what you just said. That's the "classic" model and it can work quite well.

But please proofread!

[datatrond]

1. Quality content (Content is king)
2. "Teasing" title (must be relevant - otherwise you will lose credability!).
3. High quality and relevant images.
4. Make a statement!

Quality content is important if you would like to gain SERP results.
Link building & Link baiting is a positive SEO steps that gives you better rankings in the search engines like Google.

Make the article for human eyes - not only for search engines.

[Shyflower]

All the points raised so far are all important aspects of what makes a quality article, but there is only one criteria really - it has to be what the audience wants. That sounds stupid and it's so simple it's nearly always overlooked, but it's by far the most important thing and will define how the article is written.
A quality article for teenage techno-whizzes will be entirely different from a quality article for middle-aged lawyers. 'Quality', in my mind, just means 'effective'. Know your audience inside-out or following all the 'rules' in the world won't matter!

Certainly true if you are writing to a specific audience. But on the Internet, you never know who might be reading. Maybe you're writing about pocket bikes. Your audience could be a kid looking for the latest models or a mom or dad looking for a birthday or xmas gift. Those parents could be lawyers, brain surgeon, small business owners, factory workers, retail clerks, etc. How do you write for them all?

The key to writing a quality article that anyone can read is to know your subject thoroughly and write directly to your readers as if you were talking to them. Keep your content interesting, fresh, and informative so that the brain surgeon, the homemaker, and their kids find and understand the information you are serving. Don't use technical terms that only the "in crowd" understands, but don't "talk down" or oversimplify too much. If you can explain your subject to either a rocket scientist or a sixth grader and still get your point across, then you have a quality article.