Online Writing - Don't Write For Magazines

Now let me clarify that title a bit. I'm not saying you shouldn't write for magazines at all. If that's your market and you like it then go ahead. There are some great rates to be had.

What I'm saying is that you shouldn't write for online markets in the same way as you write for magazines. Online writing is a whole different thing, and if you write and submit articles just as you would for magazines, you won't get very far.

People are looking for different things when they search for online content. When you write for a magazine you don't need to worry about keywords or trying to be found by a search engine. And yet when you sit down to write an article for a client, or for article marketing purposes, you will have to bear those two things in mind plus a lot more besides.

Another aspect of online writing is that articles will tend to be a lot shorter. Have you ever clicked hurriedly away from an article on a web page that appears to be well over a thousand words long? You probably have - I know I have. Short quick and snappy articles are the order of the day online.

They still need to be useful though. That is one mistake a lot of newbie online writers make. You shouldn't assume that just because an article is around 500 words or even less (especially in the case of blog posts) that it isn't full of facts and advice. Every article, no matter what market you write it for, must be worth reading and have a strong purpose behind it.

For example, this article you are reading now is designed to help you understand that writing for the web and writing for magazines require two very different writing styles. SEO must be in your mind when writing for online markets, whereas that isn't a concern for magazine markets.

As such you shouldn't assume that just because you are a great magazine writer you can make the transition to web writing easily. You can transfer many of your skills over to the web for sure - but they may not all be suitable. You might need to tweak them and learn new skills in order to make sure your article and content writing is just as well received online as it is offline.

So if you want to learn more about how to write and earn a good income from it, be sure to read my writing blog at My Online Freelance Writing Career. There is plenty more advice and information for you there!

I'm a full time successful online writer, and I regularly take on work from clients all over the world. You could too.