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Writing on Helium.com is a wonderful way to express yourself. However, many new members get caught up in the excitement of being able to self-publish on the site and actually get paid for doing it. In the process, it's common for Helium writers to make a significant number of writing mistakes.

Formatting

The first and most common mistake that I see when I'm reading or rating on Helium is improper formatting. Articles which are written for the web should be divided into small, easily digestible paragraphs which are double-spaced. As you can see in this article, there is a white space between each paragraph.

Repeating the Title of the Article

Another common error is repeating the title of the article within the body of the article. This is a major no-no, and will get your articles severely down-rated. There is no reason to repeat the title of the article, or to create a subtitle which is remarkably similar to the title. It just looks unprofessional and betrays that the writer doesn't know what he's doing.

If you like, you may create a subtitle which describes the gist of your article. However, it should not be just a rehash of the words in the title. The subtitle should be very specific. For example, if the article title is "Great Places to Travel," you can create a subtitle which reads, "My Trip to Belize."

Failure to Use Spell Check

There are multiple reminders on the Helium website to hit the spell check. Yet so many writers on Helium fail to use the tool. It only takes a minute to click the link at the bottom of the article and scan through the suggestions.

Also, be sure to take the spell checker's suggestions with a grain of salt. For example, if you write the word "internet" anywhere in your article, Helium's spell checker will want you to capitalize it. Take my advice; don't. Not everything in the Helium spell check tool is correct, and this is one example of something they got wrong. When in doubt, do a quick Google search on the term in question. If the term shows up in search results without a hitch, it's properly spelled. However, if Google offers you a spelling suggestion, such as, "Did you mean anaphylactic?" when you typed "anaphalactic" into the search box, then chances are you got it wrong.

Answering the Article Title

Helium article titles are often phrased as questions. Unfortunately, many Helium writers think that this means they should answer the question. Far too many writers start off their article with a sentence like, "No, because I think that..."

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