by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: March 28, 2009

There is a real advantage for aiming high with your Helium articles. Image Helium as a magazine, and those articles which are highly rated taking the front page. Then imagine the small print items that people don't read, and that's where low rated articles go, away from the public eye. The advantage of having front page worthy articles is that they get more readers and thus more revenue. Working with members on a daily basis gives me a great insight as to what makes a No. 1 article and it is this combination which works the best on Helium, although it may not be the way an established writer has learned to write.

*Layout.
*Bullets and information.
*Grammar, punctuation and spelling.
*Thorough coverage of topic at hand.
*Learning to curb wandering off topic.
*Beginning, middle and end.
*Success

Layout.

What many members fail to realize is that the impact of layout in ratings is proven to be a major factor when calculating why articles fail. An article without spacing looks like a jumble of words in an untidy article and will always be rated down. All capital headings, while popular, are clearly against site guidelines, as noted on the Guideline page, and there are better ways of bringing the reader's attention to sections of an article than shouting at them in an unprofessional manner.

Articles should have clear spaces between paragraphs, neat links (if appropriate), and be clear for readers to access information.

Bullets and information.

The use of bullets on an Internet article is essential. This highlights areas of information. For example, if an Internet reader was looking for a certain aspect of pet care, by using bullets you save that reader time in finding the relevant section of your article. Bullets are highlighted in some manner and many writers use the * sign, or alternatives such as dashes or ~, to list the different elements of an article.

Grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Often typists forget that it is essential to punctuate correctly, and to place a space after each punctuation mark. The reason this is so essential is that the software used for accepting work on Helium will recognize work without the appropriate spaces as a bulk word, which throws the whole layout of the article out of line.

There is a spell-check on the site, and it is wise to read through your articles for grammatical errors which will deter readers and raters alike. The purists will rate you down for errors in grammar, spelling errors and punctuation errors.

Thorough coverage of the topic

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