Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Buzzle.com Guidelines and Writing Tips

Buzzle is an excellent article website for finding intelligent content in fact I found this sports betting system article incredibly beneficial and would like everybody to know their guidelines and advice if you wish to contribute quality content over there one day:

Editorial Guidelines
All editorial guidelines should be followed when submitting articles. Be sure to refer to these guidelines before submitting each article to ensure conformance. The guidelines will help to streamline the editorial review process.

Content Quality
Buzzle.com strongly recommends that you submit original, high quality content.

Duplicate Content Not Allowed
Articles that are already published online will not be accepted. Please understand that it is important for us to ensure we do not publish any plagiarized articles.
At the time of editing a pending article, editors will search the Web to check if article already exists on any other website. If it does, or if it is wholly or partially plagiarized, editors will delete the article submitted on Buzzle.com, and mark the author account for possible termination if duplicate content gets repeatedly submitted from the account.

You retain copyright of your articles.
As you own the copyright of the article, you can publish it on other sites later if you like. But if the article is already published on any other website, please do not submit it here. It will not get published here, and moreover such submissions will not be allowed too many times from your account. Please understand that it's only the initial verification we do, at the time of approving an article.

It is important to understand that this does not mean anyone can copy any Buzzle authors' articles from Buzzle.com. Most of the articles on Buzzle.com are from our own staff members/agencies. In most cases they are published by the name of individual authors (so no specific mention that it is a staff article); but Buzzle.com, Inc. owns copyright of these articles, and our articles cannot be copied by anyone. We take appropriate actions against anyone who copies our copyrighted articles.

We do not distribute any articles published on Buzzle.com to any websites. If you had submitted articles only on Buzzle.com and later find the same article on some other site, it means that the website has copied your articles, without your permission and without asking us. Please do post new message to inform us about any such instance(s).

You can have your articles and/or author account on Buzzle.com deleted at any time. For this you'll need to post new message and tell us if you wish to delete your entire author account or any specific article(s) only. Please allow us 7 business days to take the action.

Overall, Buzzle.com is about getting your articles read. We do not take away copyright of your article. You own copyright of your articles. If you notice the layout of articles on Buzzle.com you'll find that the article content is given maximum possible area above the fold such that there is less hindrance to reader until the article ends and author name is displayed.

External Link
Maximum 1 link to any external website allowed in one article. The link can be added using one of the following two methods:

1. using the Links feature (recommended for those who are new to HTML). This option will automatically activate the link, and also allows us to include the link in Buzzle.com advanced search. Location of the link has now been shifted to under the article and above the author name.
2. embedded within content of the article (only for those with HTML experience). To ensure you get traffic to your blog/site from your articles on Buzzle, you must make sure link is properly activated. For this you'll have to use the correct HTML. See HTML help below. An article once approved is locked. Any requests to edit for activating link will not be taken up by Buzzle staff. We do NOT recommend this second option, and we had never recommended it before. It is your responsibility to do the right HTML.

If you add external link using Links feature, please do not include any type of link within content, not even an internal link. Otherwise your external link will not get displayed.

Link HTML Help: If you choose to include external link within your article, you must use appropriate HTML. For example:
Link Title

Important:

* External link should not be in the first sentence of the article. We believe it is good practice is to include link towards the end of article.
* Link without/wrong HTML will not be corrected by Buzzle.com editorial staff.
* Do not use any other extra HTML (e.g. target or bold or color), or we'll have to reject the article.

Count: Any active external link (linked using HTML) as well as inactive external link (non-linked URL of a website) will be counted, and if their total is more than 1, the article will not get published.

If the 1 allowed external link is linking to a bad/unsafe website (e.g. porn site), the entire author account will be deleted.

Email addresses are not allowed in articles.

Resource Text/ Article Footer
Resource text allowed at end of article, but articles with reprint and/or copyright information will not be accepted.

No SPAM Please!

* Please do NOT submit same article more than once.
* Do NOT edit or change text/title of same article and try to submit again.

If we find this or any other kind of spamming attempt, the entire author account will get deleted. Moreover the external link will be checked and if found related to author account, the link may get blacklisted permanently on entire Buzzle network.

Author Profile

* Please do not add any links and/or any unnecessary HTML within the personal information fields.
* For link, use the "Homepage" field only.
* If you wish to use pen-name instead of your real name, you can update your firstname and lastname fields appropriately
* Do not use business names in firstname and lastname fields.
* Any kind of reprint and/or copyright information is not allowed in author profile content.

View your Author Profile and see if you need to do any changes. Remember your profile page plays an important role in getting your articles approved on Buzzle.

Article Formatting
Buzzle.com requires specific formatting guidelines for prompt publishing of your articles. When these article formatting guidelines are not followed, the publishing of your article gets delayed. Buzzle.com editorial staff has provided instructions for each section on the article submission form to help you with the formatting. Please refer to these instructions each time you submit an article, as our guidelines may change without notice.

Failure to abide by Buzzle.com editorial guidelines may result in your article not getting published or the closure of your author account.
Article Submission Form
Chapter:
Select the best Category for your article. If you are unfamiliar with the content within Buzzle’s Categories, take a moment to familiarize yourself. If you feel that your article may fit into more than one Category, view the content within those Categories and determine one category where it fits BEST.

Title:
The title is very important to search engine optimization. Be sure to follow these rules when writing your title:
Limits:

* Keep the title length between 4 to 7 words and less than 65 characters including spaces
* Choose a 2- or 3-word keyword phrase that a reader may enter into a search engine to find your article - e.g. "Dog Breeding" or "Breeding Dogs". (Note that the order of the words in your keyword phrase is also critical.) Therefore, your title may be: "Dog Breeding – A Guide to Breeding Dogs".

Do:

* Write a title that is relevant to your article. If you are writing about dogs, be sure to include the word "dog" or "dogs" in your title.
* When choosing a keyword phrase, ask yourself, "Would someone actually search for that?"
* Search for your keyword phrase in a search engine to see what comes up
* Avoid using a highly competitive keyword phrase. The keyword phrase you choose here should be the same keyword phrase used within the article description and throughout the article content.
* Although you should NOT use the keyword phrase more than once in the title, you should try to use the same key words or derivatives of the keywords, just arranged differently. For instance, "Closet Organization – How to Organize Your Closet".
* Use original titles for each article, even for articles having several parts (part 1, part 2, etc.)
* Use plural keyword phrases, when appropriate (e.g. "dogs" instead of "dog")
* Use words instead of special characters; e.g. use "and" instead of "&"

Don't:

* Don't use business names or website names in title
* Don't use the same keyword phrase more than once in the title
* Don't use snappy titles
* Don't use punctuation (except hyphens)
* Don't use HTML
* Don't use single or double quotes (single quote is fine if it part of the word)
* Don't use ALL CAPS
* Don't include a date
* Don't name an article with the same title as another, even when there are several parts to it.
Incorrect:
Dog Breeding – A Guide to Breeding Dogs Part 1
Dog Breeding – A Guide to Breeding Dogs Part 2
Correct:
Dog Breeding – An Introduction
Dog Breeding – A Guide to Breeding Dogs

Description:
This is your marketing message to readers! Here’s where you need to entice your readers to "click through" to read your article. This text is sometimes displayed on a search engine results page. Search engine users will want to see their search phrase (keyword phrase) in the descriptive blurb.
Limits:

* Keep your description to 2 or 3 sentences, and 200 – 400 characters
* Use your keyword phrase at least once in your sentences

Do:

* Write a description relevant to your article
* Write a brief, yet informative description that entices readers to read more
* Write complete sentences, using proper punctuation
* Use "and" instead of "&"
* Use a hyphen to join two phrases

Don't:

* Don't use any HTML in description, not even bold or italics
* Don't use the first paragraph of your article for your description
* Don't use business names, domains or links in description
* Don't include personal information, such as your name or your business name
* Don't use title of your article as description
* Don't list words instead of using complete sentences
* Don't use dates, with the exception of historical references or time sensitive articles (i.e. upcoming event that will expire)
* Don't use ALL CAPS
* Don't use special characters, such as "&" – use letters and numbers only

Article Body:
The body of your article is important to search engines, and especially important to your readers. Therefore, be sure your article has a purpose.
Limits:

* Keep article length between 600 to 2500 words
* Break an article into two articles if greater than 2500 words
* Use short paragraphs. Avoid too big paragraphs
* Include your keyword phrase atleast 2 to 3 times in the article. Use your keyword phrase as often as possible throughout your article but without keyword spamming and without disrupting the flow of your article.

Do:

* Use original content, created and owned by you – Plagiarized articles will be deleted / not published
* Each paragraph should address only one idea.
* Break article content into subsections using sub headings, and use "bold" tags for the title of the subsection
* Format your article as you would like it to appear on your page. Remember that carriage return inserts
(line break) within your HTML.
* Use HTML "bold" tags: bold to emphasize key words or phrases that need additional attention
Correct: dog breeding
* Use HTML "list" tags:
  • list
  • when using a list of items (without carriage return between tags)
    Example:
    • item 1
    • item 2
    • item 3

    o item 1
    o item 2
    o item 3
    * Use 2 carriage returns between paragraphs
    * Use one space after the end of a sentence

    Don't:

    * Don't add any reprint or copyright information within or at the end of your article.
    * Don't add any email addresses in your article.
    * Don't Include personal information, such as your name or your business name. Your profile page is already linked from article.
    * Don't Plagiarize by using content written or owned by someone other than yourself. Editors will search the Web to check if article already exists on any other website. If entire article or paragraph(s) match, article will not be approved, rather it will be deleted without notice.
    * Don't Overuse your keyword phrase – your article should flow smoothly
    * Don't Use the "break" HTML tag


    Using Subheadings

    * Use the bold tags to make subheadings for paragraph(s)
    * Place subheadings on a single line by itself (i.e. press Enter after each subheading)
    * Subheadings should be used to make your article easily scannable
    * Use your keywords / keyword phrase in your subheadings
    * Your subheadings should be descriptive of the content of the paragraph(s) for which it is heading
    * Subheadings should be representative of the main ideas / points of your article
    * Once you’ve finished adding subheadings to your article, read each subheading in order. If the subheadings as a whole "tells the story" of your article, you’ve done a good job of dividing your article by creating subheadings.

    External Link:
    Clearly, you cannot provide all the information every reader is looking for, and your article may stimulate a reader’s need for more. This is the reason we allow link to external website. But you have to be very careful when adding any such link and make sure our editors do not end up considering your article an attempt to spam. If you choose to include link within your article, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

    Maximum 1 external link allowed in one article. Follow the guidelines given in "External Link" section above.

    To add external link using Links feature, select "1" in the "How many links will you be including?" option box. Once you fill all fields and click "Submit Article" button, on next page you'll notice form for adding Link. Enter appropriate title, URL and description in that form and submit it.

    Ensure the URL is not broken. Tip: To avoid broken link, open a new browser window and go to the site you want to link to. Select the URL from the "Address" box in the browser, right-click on the link and select "Copy". Go to the URL field within your article, right-click, and select "Paste".

    Limits:

    * For each link, a title, URL and description are required.
    * Link title and description must be correctly mentioned; it is important to correctly let your readers know where you are directing them.
    * Do NOT use any HTML in title, URL or description fields

    Do:

    * Do NOT use words like "click here" to link. Choose appropriate relevant word(s) to link making it clear what the reader will find at the page.
    * Follow linking rules of internet sites, when specified on that particular site
    * We recommend link to only website relevant to the subject the article is on. When link is related to your article, your readers will like to go to for additional information on the subject.

    Polls:
    Polls can generate a huge response when used correctly. Readers love to give their opinion on a topic. When deciding on the question for your poll, ask yourself the following questions:

    * Does this incite a reaction?
    * Is it controversial?
    * Does it evoke an emotional response?

    If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you have a good question for your poll. Just be sure that your question is relevant to your article. For instance, if your article is about dog breeding, it would not be appropriate to have a poll about dog collar styles. A good poll question may be:
    "Which dog breeds do you think should be banned from breeding?"
    1) Pit bulls
    2) Rottweilers
    3) German Shepherds
    4) None of the above
    5) No dog breeds should be banned from breeding
    6) All the above

    NOTE: The poll question also incorporated the keywords "dog, breeds, breeding" in the question and answer choices.

    Limits:

    * One poll question per article, and 10 answer choices per poll question

    Do:

    * Put thought into your poll question and answer choices
    * Use statements for the answer choices, not questions
    * Provide at least two answer choices, maximum 10

    Don't:

    * Don't add any HTML in question or answer fields
    * Don't Use questions for answer choices

    Images:
    Images can liven up an article and grab a reader’s attention and/or give further explanation. Whenever appropriate, include an image with your article.

    *Buzzle.com has been adding, and will continue to add, their licensed images to articles during editing, where appropriate, to enhance your article. These images are licensed to Buzzle.com and cannot be re-licensed to others. Therefore, copying these images for use elsewhere is strictly prohibited.

    Limits:

    * Width: Between 100 to 400 pixels recommended
    * Height: Between 100 to 500 pixels recommended
    * Optimal file size of 15K, maximum 500K
    * In jpeg format (.jpg extension)

    Do:

    * Choose images relevant to your article
    * Choose images that provide a better understanding of your article content

    Don't:

    * Don't Use third party copyrighted images
    * Don't Add an image just because you can – images should enhance your article
    * Don't Add any image that is NOT relevant to your article
    * Don't Add personal photo, business logo, or commercial image

    Before submitting your article...
    Proofread Your Work
    ALWAYS proofread your work.

    This is one mistake many authors make. If there’s one way of turning your readers away, it’s publishing an article with grammar, spelling, and/or style errors. When articles have errors, it makes them seem less credible.

    * Proofread your article, including title and description, and use your word processor’s spell checker.
    o Tip: Writers tend to get too close to their work, making it difficult to have a "fresh eye" for looking over the entire piece for "holes" and grammar / spelling / style errors. Therefore, proofreading sometimes works best if you leave the article sit for an hour or more before reading over it. It gives you some time to "distance" yourself from its contents. Better yet, have someone else proofread your work.
    * Copy and paste into the Article Submission Form, then begin formatting with HTML.

    Write & Save Your Article
    It is highly recommended that you write and save your complete article, including title and description, in a text file before using the Article Submission Form.

    This serves three purposes:

    * Prevents you from losing your work if the Site Administration times out or if something goes wrong with your computer or internet connection
    * Allows you to use the Word Count and Character Count functions to verify word and character requirements (described below)
    * Allows you to use the Spell Checker

    NOTE: Do not add HTML until you have pasted your article into the Article Submission Form. Microsoft Word and other word processor applications add hidden formatting which will distort your article’s structure.

    Note about word count:Do NOT include HTML code as part of your word and character limits. Only words your readers will see should be considered in the word and character counts. Ex. Dog Breeding is two words, 12 characters (with spaces).

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