If you have a website or blog that you need to develop traffic for, writing articles for online distribution is one of the most effective ways. It can be intimidating at first, and might even take you several hours the first time you put one together. That's okay, but eventually you'll want to become more efficient. After all, if articles are your primary means of promoting and optimizing your website, and you can do twice as many in half the time, you can work less and double your income.

This, then is an article about efficiency, and it is itself intended as an example. I am hoping to have it done within thirty minutes maximum. I'll let you know how long it took at the end of the article.

Writing Articles Efficiently

The first thing you need to do is have files prepared to speed things up. For example, I have a list of keywords that I will base my articles on. I didn't use it for this one, instead going online to do some quick research. Fortunately, I have a link in my "favorites" to a good keyword research tool, and a minute later I had the keyword phrase "writing articles."

I opened up a file that is waiting for the article. That will be used by my wife who will submit the articles to many directories. I also opened a file that has my "author resource boxes" ready in it, so when I reach the end I can quickly copy and paste one at the bottom rather than writing it each time. That speeds things up, and I can modify them slightly as needed.

Then I started to write, being sure to put the keyword in the title and the first paragraph. I am at about ten minutes as I write this, so all is well.

How do you write quickly off the top of your head? Start by focusing on subjects that you know something about or have some interest in. Other marketers will tell you to forget your passions and make websites on whatever sells best. I don't buy it. Start with your interests and then choose one or two that have the most commercial potential. You will stay motivated in this way, and it is much easier to write content for the site or articles to promote it.

When you do write articles, think of several key points that readers are either not likely to know or that you can present from a new perspective. As long as you have something new to say, and something useful to say, you don't need to worry about making the article long. It will have to be at least 400 words for many directories, but if it is more than 800, cut it off and save something for another article.

The fastest types of articles to write are probably lists of tips or "top ten" lists. You can simply introduce the subject, list your tips with a line or two of explanation for each, and then close it with a short paragraph. "Six Ways To Lose Weight," or "Ten Best Vacation Destinations" work well, for example.

You can also just think of the three questions people are most likely to ask about your chosen topic, and use those. Introduce the piece, then answer each one in about two paragraphs and you are done. Writing articles can be done very quickly with the right preparation and by using easy formats like these. This article took twenty-two minutes total, including the minute it will now take me to attach the "about the author" information and paste the whole thing in a file for later use.