If you are just getting started, you might be wondering what’s different about writing online compared to the offline world. First of all, the most important thing to realize is that the main goal for writing an article online is usually not the same as when you write one for print in newspapers or magazines. The most basic difference is that the article in the magazine or newspaper is used to entertain and inform the reader so that they stick with the magazine, where the advertising is. With online writing, you’re goal is typically to get your readers to leave the article and link to another area or website in order to see your advertising (affiliate promotion).

In this case, the resource box at the end of your article is just as crucial as the article body itself. Often, you will see a poorly written article with a great call to action in the resource box get way more traffic than a perfectly written article with a bad resource box.

An important point to remember is that the attention span of an online reader is much shorter than those offline. You need to hook your reader in fewer words to get them to stay.

For the same reason, online articles are also usually much shorter than the average print article. Online articles range somewhere between 350-700 words on average.

Online writing is usually based on keywords. What this means is that the article is based on keyword phrases that are searched often in the search engines. So, unlike print articles, there are techniques and guidelines to follow in order to have your article picked up and ranked highly in Google and other search engines. For instance, a keyword phrase is to be used in the title, as well as approximately 2-5% of the time throughout the article to maximize your search engine ranking results.

Another important difference in online writing, and one you’ll love, is that it your articles can produce residual income. Writing one article on the right topic and keywords can often pick up enough traffic to generate a small amount monthly income. If  you write articles daily, you can quickly build up a passive income that keeps coming in for a long time to come.

Becoming and online writer and making money using article marketing techniques can be overwhelming for the beginner who is trying to find a niche before the writing and marketing even begins. It’s very common for new marketers to give up before they even find a niche because they either over-think it, or get confused by the plethora of conflicting information that exists online.

Luckily, there are basic guidelines that you can use to choose a niche market that will work every time if you choose to follow them.

1. What are your interests?
It’s best to begin with researching topics of interest and seeing if there is anything you can actively write about and promote as an affiliate that you are passionate about. It’s extremely common for people to burn out quickly when they try to write about and promote a topic, product or service that they have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. There is a lot of work involved in the initial stages of creating successful affiliate campaigns and you don’t want to make it extra hard on yourself from the beginning by choosing a topic that you find boring and puts you to sleep every time you try to write about it.

2. Big problems and obsessions
How often do the people in this niche think about their problem, obsession, hobby, or interest? Obviously, the more it affects their life, the better. For instance, someone with extreme financial problems will think of their situation on a daily basis, whereas someone who might want to improve their typing skills may only think of it occasionally.

3. Emotion
How emotional are the people in this niche? As with number 2 above, the more emotional they are about their niche, the better. You can tap into those emotions with your online writing.

4. Forums
Are there many forums online that have tons of active users talking about the niche? This is often a good indicator that it is a good one, especially if there are a lot of how-to and problem solving questions.

5. Popularity and cost
What does it cost to get started in this niche and is it one that demands more cost on a regular basis? For instance, a guitar player will have to continually buy new strings, picks, and will often want other gear, accessories, lessons, etc.

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