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Author: Martin Lemieux

 

What Will You Learn Here?

  • What Are Article Descriptions Used For?
  • How Long, or Short Should Your Description Be?
  • Should You Write A Description, or Simply Use The 1st Paragraph Of Your Article?
  • Should You, or Can You Use HTML Within Your Description?

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What Are Article Descriptions Used For?

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The description you generate my be the deciding factor on whether or not a visitor actually goes forward and reads your article.

You've done your job with creating a proper article title to attract a visitors eye, but have you done enough to keep them interested? A well written description can keep visitors interested in your article. Descriptions are typically displayed with the article title within article directory categories.

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How Long, or Short Should Your Description Be?

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A well written description should be no longer than a paragraph, and no shorter than one sentence or two.

Descriptions that are longer than a paragraph might seem to drag on, and may come across to visitors as "too much" to read. On another note, a description that is too short may not peek a visitors interest enough to force them to read the entire article. Your description should be an extension of your title, and should briefly explain the article further.

Here is an illustration on the maximum characters shown for a description within search engines:

1. Google.com - 155 characters
2. Search.msn.com - 200 characters
3. Yahoo.com - 155 characters

Should you stay within 155-200 characters no matter what?
No. Ultimately it is your decision for creating your article descriptions, these tips are just unique guidelines to follow.

Description Tip: When you have a group of article titles that all say the same thing, your article description could be the one thing that really tells a person what each one of your articles discuss.

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Should You Write A Description, or Simply Use The 1st Paragraph Of Your Article?

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This process is entirely up to you. Most authors write out the 1st paragraph by explaining what the article body is about. This is what we call a description.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are going to use the 1st paragraph of your article, make sure to CUT out the 1st paragraph instead of just copying it. There are 1000's of articles that have their description repeated twice within the article. When submitting your article. Paste the entire article within the "Article Body Box", then highlight your 1st paragraph and hit (CTRL+X) to cut out the 1st paragraph. Click your mouse within the description box and then hit (CTRL+V) to paste your 1st paragraph.

I've illustrated this process below:

  • Step1) Paste The Entire Article Body Into The "Article Body" Submission Box:
  • Step 2) Highlight Your 1st Paragraph, or 2 Sentences:
  • Step 3) Cut Out Your Description By Hitting "CTRL+X" Together:
  • Step 4) Paste Your Description Into The Description Box:
    • - Click your mouse into the description box...
    • - Hit "CTRL+V" together to paste the description.

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Should You, or Can You Use HTML Within Your Description?

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ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Most article directories don't allow HTML within the description of the article. This rule is typically true because article directories use the article description within their article categories online. They do not want HTML tags to disrupt the flow of their website.

To date, I cannot recall a single article directory out there that allows HTML within the description box unless they only offer one single submission box for the entire article.

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Martin Lemieux is the owner of a successful article directory network with over 80,000 author submitted articles, with over 30,000 active authors world wide.

This tutorial is a small part of:

http://www.Article99.com - Authors Club
http://www.MyFamilyLiving.com - Family Article Directory


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