Article Do’s and Don’ts

highfiveARTICLE GUIDELINES

New to article writing and not sure what we’re looking for? Don’t know whether to write a poem or an academic treatise? Your guidelines to WLE submissions are all here!

Defining High-Quality Content

We have a separate page that provides our definition of high-quality work.

Article Content

Although there are a hundred different types of writing, all the articles we’re looking for follow certain simple rules:

  1. They have an introduction paragraph which states what the article is about and hooks the reader into continuing.
  2. They present useful information, not just vague ideas.
  3. They have a conclusion paragraph.
  4. They are not partial or full rewrites of other people’s work.
  5. They do not include links (though an address such as Google.com is acceptable if you really need to include one).
  6. They do not include promotional material.
  7. They do not include first-person anecdotes, op-ed, personal experiences or anything using the pronoun “I”.
  8. If they are list-style articles, they are not just lists, but have details for each item in the list, providing useful information.

Do

  • Write articles that are informative.
  • Write articles whose content matches the title.
  • Write concisely, avoiding fluff and padding.
  • Write with authority and confidence.
  • Write about what you know – or do research.
  • Write articles that clients will want for their websites.
  • Write articles that are (reasonably) evergreen, with a shelf-life of at least several months.
  • Write in English (British or American).

Don’t

  • Copy existing content from the Internet (plagiarism).
  • “Rewrite” existing content from the Internet
    (i.e. copy and change a few words – still plagiarism)
  • Submit content you’ve already published somewhere else (e.g. rev share sites), even if you’ve taken it off the other site.
  • Submit spun content.
  • Submit sales copy.
  • Write articles that are just lists, without any detail.
  • Write articles that are encyclopaedic (i.e. Wikipedia content and style).
  • Write articles with only common knowledge and no original angle.
  • Write articles that consist mostly of quotes.
  • Write articles that are anecdotal in nature (stories).
  • Write articles in first person.
  • Write op-ed articles.
  • Write poetry, fiction or other creative content.
  • Write academic papers.
  • Include your bio or byline.
  • Include external links.