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There are many reasons why people get low ratings on a site like Helium that they can do something about, and the purpose of this article is to help those that are suffering from rating blues to realize that sometimes, it takes a little know how to make the most of the writing system.

Upon first glance, the writing guidelines aren't apparent and many members do not frequent the Community forum or even know of it's existence, which is a great shame since there are many pointers that can be picked up from reading the many postings there. Those that do read the forum regularly and contribute will often rate harshly though with good reason. The kind of articles that are rated down are the following:

*Not adhering to the writing standards of 400 words.
*Not factual enough to have any substance.
*Grammatically incorrect
*Obviously Googled
*Written with no experience of the subject
*Written in capitals
*Paragraphs lumped together carelessly
*Little structure

I learned that presentation of an article really does matter. Think of what the rater will see in the two boxes when they are asked to vote upon which one is the better of the two. Presentation is everything, but must be backed up by good knowledge of the subject. Many articles accidentally go off topic and do not address the subject matter and these will fare worse than those that have a well thought about content with a beginning, middle and end.

It's become a catchphrase of mine and a huge bugbear that writers don't introduce their work with any punch, or add to it by using substance rather than padding, and end the article with a nice rounded finish. Spell-checking is even easy for me, a British person, and brings my articles into American spelling and I never understand when rating why people refuse to use the spell checker.

Conversely, many complain about their articles being under-rated and I have suffered this with a couple of pieces, but take the easy way out and leapfrog them if they lie stagnant at the bottom of the heap, as this helps them to go through the rating process again. Leapfrogs are a way of improving your work, either in layout or information and most raters will accept a Leapfrog if they can see that there is a genuine reason for it and the new article is an improvement upon the last one.

If you suffer from what you perceive as low ratings, look at the list above and see which apply in your situation, as we all have off days when things don't go right, and sometimes taking a look at why an item is failing brings out the obvious and these silly mistakes are easy to change.

Members have complained that others rate their articles down in an attempt to gain an advantage and I used to believe this to be the case, although have proven sufficiently that it would take some dedication to actually come near to achieving this.

At the end of the day, rate as you wish your work to be rated, i.e. Honestly and with care, respecting that irresponsible ratings make the site look silly, and at the end of the day don't help to bring the best to the top. They are only numbers and bowing down to better writers is a great way forward in improving the ratings and the seriousness of the site as a whole.

I would prefer to think that the ratings are honest, rather than low, but that's my good natured personality. It works for me, and instead of worrying about ratings, worry about the ratings you give, and we really will get the order right, working as a team together, for the benefit of everyone. Respect others, and do read what they have to say. It only takes a short while and one valid and fair rating is better than a dozen blind clicks.

Learn more about this author, Rachelle de Bretagne.
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