by Sean W. Makiney

Created on: October 11, 2007

Social bookmarking sites are growing in importance as new writers and websites catering to these content developers continue to grow. Also the job of directing and increasing traffic to a new blog or website becomes more difficult with the recent explosion of sites like Reddit, Newsvine, StumbleUpon, etc. Frequently new posts and insightful information goes unnoticed on these social bookmarking arenas since the front pages of these sites and headlines written for the articles are not adequately captivating. Creating that initial idea that the user needs to read this, has to be the primary goal with the title or headline of the post. If the exertion is not made to grab your reader with the headline, the chances of your post making it to the top of the list or the front page of any section are unlikely.

Craft Compelling Articles by starting with Exciting Titles

Creating the title is critical in driving viewers to your site and or article. The picture you create in the viewers mind with that title must be interesting because this is the first thing the viewer sees. The option to create your title is open here
and the best option is to be precise and short. However, I recommend that you don't lie or use falsehoods to rouse curiosity. If you resort to this type of tactic you will see a short bump in readership but it will be short lived and readers will become perceptive to your writing style of flash without substance.

Next, you need to grab the reader with a precise intro paragraph

You might think that writing a long well-tuned fully detailed intro would lure the user to continue reading. The truth is the reader wants a synopsis only. Your average reader will not read more than 100-150 characters. So keep that first paragraph to less than three sentences and keep it precise.

Write about what you say and make sure you are not off topic

The title and introduction is not enough and your job is not done. You now need to deliver and maintain and contain the users' attention on the subject. If your articles are simply throw away pieces or simply uninteresting or uninformative. Again, the readers are not stupid and will remember you and ignore your posts the next time they come across them. Additionally, it is not uncommon for social bookmarking sites to restrict content providers that consistently post worthless pieces.

Reworking Old Articles, just don't do it

Resubmitting old or overwritten articles and posts will not aid you in becoming a valued content provider. If you are writing on a topic that is current, go ahead, but if your ideas are hitting the page days later, just pass and move on. Either posting old news will not be noticed or simply make you appear as if you take too long to write. It is all appearance and speed on these sites is critical when writing about real news.

Regardless of the differences in the various social bookmarking sites, there are many similarities when it comes to the readers, this will never really change. Remember that the readers are who drives the articles to the top or front of the pages and not the site itself. In addition, a great article on one site will more than likely be a highly rated article on the others. Use this to your benefit by focusing your hard work to making it on the front page of the most important and highest rated sites out there.

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