by Dr. G. A. Anderson

Created on: May 23, 2010   Last Updated: July 18, 2010

New writers on Helium.com are not always sure what they should be doing in order to make their articles rise to the top. In this piece, we'll look at what things about some articles do not fare well with Helium raters. The best way to provide insight into this question is to look at the guidelines our behind-the-scenes editors use when deciding how to deal with new articles.

*Introduction - Articles should begin with a paragraph of introduction. It is good to let the reader or rater know what they are going to be reading about. Many readers look for this when they are rating, even if they aren't aware of it. It may just feel as though the beginning of the article has no connection to the rest of the article. If the piece calls for a list and starts right off with that instead of an introduction, the article will most likely plummet in the ratings.

*Plagiarism - If there is plagiarism in the text of an article on Helium, it's an automatic disqualification and possible grounds for termination of an account. Plagiarism is never acceptable in any form of writing, and anyone writing online, in academics, in journalism, or in any other forum should recognize this as the first and foremost rule of writing. The ramifications here are more far-reaching than just having your article rated down.

*Keeping the interest of the reader - Is your article boring? If the reader or rater can't get beyond the first paragraph, the competition will get the thumbs up.

*First person - Writing in first person (I, me, my mine, etc.) is out. Unless you are writing in the Creative Writing channel where memoirs, poetry, and other types of articles such as "reflections" call for first person writing, stay away from this. You may insert a first-person blurb somewhere in the text as an aside if it helps your article.

*Self-identifiers - This will definitely cause an article to be rated down and flagged. Nothing that personally identifies you should be found in your article. Your name will appear at the beginning and end of your article when it is published. Do not include links to your blog, your web site, or include your email address. Anything that personally identifies you will cause your article to be rated down, flagged, and you may be notified with a request to remove self-identifiers.

*Very long articles - Three, four, five or more pages of text may become tedious and redundant. The word minimum is currently 400. Raters like to be able to read, absorb, possibly re-read, and make a decision.

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