No article writer is infallible. Even the best of article writers may churn out an article with several obvious defects in it. Of course, experience is a good teacher, and it can crease out several of the initial jitters in writing articles. It is with this experience that we put forth to you the methods to avoid the top five article writing mistakes that are committed.

(1) Title and Opening Paragraph

Much of the success of the article depends on how it makes its beginning. The title is of paramount importance. Your title must be attractive enough for the reader to consider clicking the link to your article from the search results and reading it. Here are some simple tips to write a good title:- Your title must be a short summary of the article itself. It should clarify to the reader what the article is about.

Do not make long-winding titles. They will not show fully in the search results and will be wasted. Do not use puns and other figures of speech in the titles. It is possible that the reader will not understand the play on words and will be misled. Always use the keyword in the title. This is very important if the title is to show in the search results. Ideally, the keyword should form the first words of the title.

You must always have an opening paragraph that is a precursor to the rest of the matter of the article. The opening paragraph must be short and attractive, and must goad the reader on to read further.

(2) Grammar and Narrative Approach

Obviously, all article writers have good grammatical knowledge, or they would not be in this field at all. But it does not harm to hone up the grammar a bit. Especially if you are a non-American citizen, it pays to learn American grammar and write your articles in that language. Most users of the internet are acquainted with American English. Use their method of spelling. There is a 'Set Language' option on every word processing program. You must set your language to US English.

Do not create any inconsistencies in your article. Always write in the same person pronoun, Check your article for disagreements of tenses, numbers and genders.

It is a very good idea to read the article after it is finished. There might be some mistakes that you wouldn't have dreamt possible. When reading, you can also check the flow of the language and make rectifications if needed.

(3) Information in the Articles

People read articles on the net with the sole purpose of getting information. So your article must provide good information on the subject. This is where the initial research on the article helps. You must always spend time on research for the article and make point summaries of what you have learnt. Only when you get an adequate number of points must you begin drafting the final article.

It is understandable that all information on a particular subject cannot be fitted in one article. One way to solve this problem is to break an article into many articles, each handling a particular aspect of the topic. This will help you focus on one topic at a time. You must also bear in mind not to give too much technical and scientific information in your article. Just a layperson's approach to the topic would suffice.

Apart from the information itself, one good idea is to put in your own ideas and observations on the issue. This will give the article a unique identity and will also help the reader arrive at a better decision. However, several websites do not use original ideas. So, you will first need to check with the website owner if it is permissible.

(4) Seriousness of the Articles

Your articles must not contain any illogical nonsense. Do not, repeat, do not fill in your articles with words just to make up the word count. If you are stuck up for word count, then you should do more research and fill in one more paragraph with the results of the research.

One more important thing is not to stray from the point you are making. Keep your article in a focused direction. You must always know where the article is leading to. This can be done by thinking in advance what all points you will be writing in the article.

Never put any vague points in your article. Clearly explain what you have written.

(5) The Right Commercial Projection

Many articles are being written today for article directories, where they get backlinks to the writers' websites. If you are writing an article for this purpose, then you must cut short on the hype and hoopla that is generally associated with such articles. Give out genuine information and then one or two backlinks in the resource box, that's all. Do not cajole the reader into buying your product through your article. This will never happen. Instead, you might lose a good reader also. If the reader is interested, he or she will certainly come back to buy from you.

These are the ways the common mistakes of article writers can be avoided. Incorporate these solutions into your article writing style and watch your popularity grow as a writer.

Article writers are not perfect, just like anything else in this world. They are also prone to make mistakes. It is better if the writer learns from his or her mistakes early on and improves them, or they would be jeopardizing not just the website, but also their individual careers as writers.