Many website owners make article writing a lot more complicated than it has to be. When writing for websites, remember first of all that people online are scanning web pages, not reading every word, so there is no need to spend hours making every word perfect.

Your content isn’t going to be totally unique, no matter what you write about. Every topic you can think about has already been written about by someone else. Think about it – every newsworthy event is covered by CNN, NBC, ABC, etc. Every network and every newspaper are all covering the exact same event or topic, just in different words.

The fact is, there are no new topics. Your job is to take what’s already been written and improve on it by injecting your own comments and personality.

One way to do research quickly is by inputting the topic you want to write about into a search engine. Choose three or four matches and read these articles thoroughly, taking notes.

Or, other places for quick research include article directories, forums and yahoo answers. By reading what people are asking in yahoo answers, you will learn what information people are looking for.

Amazon.com provides some great tools for quick research. By choosing a few top-selling books on a given topic, you can research quickly by browsing a book’s table of contents, the back cover of the book and even an excerpt.

Once you have taken sufficient notes, it’s time to put your article together. Write an outline of the important points you want to make in your article. Then write the article without looking back at the other articles. This is nothing more than the same work you did in high school writing book reports. Most of us have written quite a few book reports in our lifetime, and in those days many of us put ourselves through the unnecessary stress of cutting it too close to deadlines. That means we already know how to write and research quickly!

Basically, we need to decide what we’re going to accomplish and when. If we intend to write an article a day, then we have to stay glued to our computer until we complete that task. If we want to get it done in half an hour or less, this is another goal to work toward. Practice will definitely lead to improvement.

Article marketing is one of the best forms of free advertising there is. Learning to write articles quickly is an easily learned skill that will help us get the most out of article marketing.

Know who your market is.

Before you even start writing your copy, you must get to know your target market inside out. First of all we will look at general things you need to know about your reader and then will look at pin pointing specifics about your target audience.

Here is the general list as to what you need to know about your readers and how to implement this knowledge into your copy.

(1)People are procrastinators: Give them at least one reason to act now like a time limited offer.
(2)People tend to be skeptical: Make sure your copy is credible and believable. Testimonials can help here.
(3)People are lazy: Your offer must be easy to respond to.
(4)People avoid risks and worry about making a decision thats wrong: This can be averted with an iron clad guarantee.
(5)People don’t pay attention to things of little interest to them: Make sure you are targeting the correct audience.
(6)People move homes & jobs: Make sure your mailing lists and databases are frequently updated.
(7)People need to know how they will benefit from your product/service: Emphasize what they will save, make, enjoy, learn etc. Talk benefits from the very beginning of your copy.
(8)People get confused easily: Make sure your copy is clear and easy to understand.
(9)People want to know when they will receive your response to their response: Tell them how long fulfillment, delivery or other action will take. Always make that commitment.
(10)People are worried about dissatisfaction: Make sure your guarantee eliminates worries and instead reassures.

How to Understand Your Market.

To sell successfully from your website you must know the mindset of your customer. This means you need to know how a potential customer’s attitudes and instincts will make them react to your copy.

This means you should try to determine the following things:
(1)Work out what their objections would be.
(2)Find out their specific needs.
(3)Identify what they want.
(4)The solution to their problems.

Objections

A website should answer every conceivable objection as an unanswered objection is a sale lost. Know the objections of your market like the back of your hand and craft irresistible answers to overcome them. Five basic objections to overcome are:
(1)I don’t have enough time.
(2)I don’t have enough money.
(3)It won’t work for me.
(4)I don’t believe you.
(5)I don’t need it.

The Difference Between Needs and Wants.

Imagine this scenario . . . .

A lady is looking at some slimming pills on a website. She thinks she needs these pills to lose weight so she can become slimmer but the reasons why she wants to lose weight could be:
- to look more attractive
- to be admired by her friends
- to feel more healthy and be fitter
- to the wear clothes at least 2 sizes smaller than she is now

She has found another website selling exactly the same product at exactly the same price.

The first website conveys the message based solely on needs: e.g. This pill will make you slimmer.

And the second site conveys the message based on needs and wants: e.g. This pill will make you slimmer and make you feel prettier, healthier and fitter.

Which would you choose?

The second site? I would.

The Solution to Their Problem.

Once you know what objections need to be overcome, your target market’s needs and wants, you can start writing as if you know your customer’s mindset – by thinking like your ‘ideal’ customer.

Imagine them sitting at their computer, visiting your website. What are they feeling, what are they thinking. Then compose your copy by offering them the ultimate solution to their problem.