fInstructions

Open a writer’s article for checking.
The formatting & writing checklist will be in each article’s doc.
Each writer should check it & tick off the boxes prior to submitting the article for review.
If a requirement hasn’t been met, untick it & tag the writer in a side comment so they can fix it.

Edits only: Copy-paste the relevant sentence/instruction from the list below in a side comment.

Make a snippet & paste it in the writer’s personal doc. So that when you review their article for the 2nd time you can quickly see what their task was.

Formatting requirements

Use this style formatting guide for the temperature.
Put the sources on a different page than the one you finish the article on (watch a 48 sec. video).
Use exclamation marks sparingly. Don’t put them often throughout the whole article.
Reason: We should convey what we want to say through our words.
Don’t put any words in CAPS LOCK.
Leave exactly one row of space between paragraphs (no more or less).
Keep paragraphs short: Ideally, no more than 2 rows of sentences.
Reason: enough white space so the text is easy on the reader’s eyes (both on PC & mobile).
Reduce/shorten wordy sentences.
Use the singular “they”, not “he/she/it” when talking about a dog breed or dogs in general (unless it’s “he” or “she” in the title).
Use contractions throughout the whole article. E.g: “it’s”, not “it is”; “they’re”, not “they are”.
A kind reminder to substitute any instances where you haven’t used contractions. For your ease, just run a quick Ctrl + F search and type: “they are”; “it is”, “is not”, “that is”, etc.

P.S: I know this request can be a bit annoying. However, I’m asking you to do it, so you can get into the habit of it. Soon enough it will be an automated process & you won’t even have to think about it. 🙂

Number the subheadings H3s like this: #1: Not like: 1.
Capitalize just the first letter of the first word from the H3s.
E.g: “#1: Expressing Happiness” – NO; “#1: Expressing happiness” – YES.
Capitalize just the first letter of the first word from the bullet points.
Don’t put periods behind the H3s.
Put clear-titled subheadings (H3s). So it’s evident what you’re saying at a glance.
If the text under an H2 is more than 300 words, put a text breaker (in H3 – the next subheading): a sentence or a phrase somewhere in the middle that draws the reader’s attention.
If the text under an H3 is more than 300 words, put a text breaker (in H4): a sentence or a phrase somewhere in the middle that draws the reader’s attention.
If the text under an H4 is more than 300 words, put a text breaker (in H5): a sentence or a phrase somewhere in the middle that draws the reader’s attention.
Important: Never use a subheading further than H5 (So no H6, etc.)
The intro bullet points must be teasing & contain odd numbers (from the H3s such as reasons/tips).
Each intro bullet point should be tied to the main topic. In other words, when a reader sees it, they should be able to tell how is this related to them/the main title.
Rephrase the word order in the sentences of the intro bullet points. To make it sound like a statement and not a question.

Reason: The readers have questions & we have answers. 🙂

Using the formula “Continue reading to find out/discover/learn…” & “And so much more…”
AP = answer paragraph: keep it under 300 characters (not words).
Don’t start with a “yes” or a “no”. The first sentence in the AP has to mirror the question but be restated as an answer (use the exact same phrase). Give a concise answer. The most common reason should be first. List all (or most) of the others next.
Make sure everything listed in the H3 titles is in the AP & vice versa.
Don’t hyperlink to any sources in the AP or the People also ask/Common situations/Common scenarios sections.
Don’t put ellipsis (…) in answer paragraphs. APs should be dry, concise & sound like a Wikipedia extract – in a serious tone of voice.
Italicize the thoughts/words of someone else when you put them in quotation marks.
Italicize commands you put in quotation marks.
Don’t italicize random phrases. We only italicize weird/technical/new terms or the thoughts of s.o., or messages they get.
When you introduce certain scientific/technical terms, italicize the word/phrase & explain them simply.
Use numerals instead of words when talking about numbers. E.g: “six” – NO; “6”- YES
Metrics: put the US first & the European one in brackets. E.g: 0.04 oz (2 g); Do so everywhere in the article. Run a quick Ctrl + F.
Capitalize the breed everywhere in the article. Run a quick Ctrl + F.
ONLY 1 YouTube video.
(Preferably) With over a few K views per article.
Insert the YouTube video like this, so it starts from the beginning for the reader:
Step 1: Copy-paste the URL.
Step 2: Click on ‘Share’ in the right bottom corner of the video.

Step 3: Click on ‘Copy’ when you see the URL & paste it into the article.

Don’t put a Youtube video at the end of an article. Reason: We want readers to stay on our website after they finish reading an article. And not to divert their attention to something else.

Put a “Note” when you want the reader to remember something.
Put a “Warning” in more serious cases. For example, when talking about tips that are a matter of health, life & death, etc.
Put a “Fun fact” when you include less-known info. Especially if it’s topic-related & something competitors haven’t said in their articles.
When giving warnings, notes, fun facts it’s good to group 2-3 sentences that go well together.

Reason: To give more context to the reader. Plus to indicate where what we’re saying starts & ends.

Bold “Note“, “Warning“, “Fun fact” when you insert one.
Link to credible sources: user manuals; product manufacturers’ websites, etc.
Avoid: Websites that don’t back up what they say with research or specialists’ opinions Don’t link to competitors’ websites:
– Websites on dog topics that are not medical.
– Articles that write on the same topic as us.
Examples of such websites include: pethelpful.com; wagwalking.com; thesprucepets.com; petdogowner.com;
Relevant studies with %.
Minimum 2 research papers (such as ncbi, www.merckvetmanual.com, www.mayoclinicproceedings.org, www.researchgate.net, etc.) in a 2000-word article.
Minimum 2 different credible vet sources (E.g: PetMD, VCA Hospitals, www.vsecto.com etc.) in a 2000-word article.
Hyperlink to research papers or articles from one word. Choose the most relevant part of a phrase and hyperlink there.
E.g: If we mention the word ‘study’/’research’, etc., we should hyperlink to it.
Reason: If we hyperlink from long phrases that lead to other websites, we’re prompting the reader to leave our article. So they’ll spend a shorter time on it. The longer they spend on our website, the more we earn with ads.
Link to the actual research, not an article about it. See examples for ‘research’ or ‘study’ on our website. Run a quick Ctrl + F.
Don’t link to one & the same URL (vet website/research paper/Amazon product) twice in an article.
Important: Please, double-check the Amazon links you insert in the article. And don’t link to any URL that’s not Amazon.com
Reason: We’re writing for the US market. If you link to the UK or Singapore, for example, the product you link to won’t be available in the US. The result? Our article won’t be helpful. So we’ll lose readers on the current article. But what’s worse is that they most probably won’t return to the site. This will result in losing potential recurring readers as the content we have could be considered deceptive.
Fix: If you’ve linked to a product that’s not available in the US, you’ll have to substitute the product. And rewrite the paragraph so it serves the US market.
Hyperlink to well-known services (such as the App Store; Google Play Store; Spotify; etc.) to add extra credibility to our article.
Avoid hyperlinking to one & the same URL (research) from multiple articles.
Don’t redirect readers to other websites. Rather, present shortly the essence of the source. If you already have done that, just say “According to PetMD/NCBI/etc.,…” & link to the name of the website.
Link to relevant Amazon products with a lot of views & a high rating.
When hyperlinking to an Amazon product, include the name & function in the phrase.
When hyperlinking to an Amazon product, remove the “ref” from the URL:
When hyperlinking to Amazon, choose a specific product to hyperlink to. This is better than hyperlinking to many products (because you might overwhelm the reader otherwise).
When answering the People also ask/Common situations/ Common scenarios questions:
– Don’t answer with a “yes” or a “no”. Instead, rephrase the question as an answer and give an exact answer in the first 2-3 sentences (like in an AP). No need to bold.
– Then elaborate and give examples as you would do in a normal paragraph – a lot of white space, etc.
Don’t bold random phrases or words from the article.
Delete the instructions you get under the H2s. Once you start writing, remove them. Otherwise, it messes with the word count when we’re checking it in our tools.
Accept my editing suggestions when I give some. Don’t leave crossed-off parts when submitting for 2nd review.
Update the reasons & tips everywhere once you finish the article. Don’t leave it like this (in the title; intro bullet points; H2s):
Don’t capitalize certain conditions. If you use the abbreviation, then you can capitalize that.
E.g. #1: Don’t write “Canine Compulsive Disorder”. Instead, it should be “canine compulsive disorder”.
E.g. #2: CCD – correct.
Don’t put bullet points in tables because they don’t appear in WPE.
Bold the sections of the tables.
Reason: So the reader can tell at a glance what the info is going to be about.
Factual information required: Dogs don’t actually feel guilty. They only look that way. What people interpret as guilt, are signs of fear. Such as an eye gaze avoiding yours. Or ears lowered down. Or licking the lips. When dogs exhibit this behavior, all they’re trying to do is avoid conflict. So please tweak this part of the article for accuracy.

Writing requirements

Tweak this part to avoid plagiarism.
Avoid repetition:
1. of saying the same statement again but with different words.
2. of one & the same word/phrase in a sentence (or 2 consecutive sentences).
3. Don’t begin or end sentences from bullet point lists with one & the same word multiple times.

Contacting the support should always be a last resort.
Provide a link as to where the reader can contact the support.
Grammar mistake: Talking about something in Plural, then referring to the same in Singular with “it”/”has” instead of “they”/”have”.
Be careful with the prepositions. The one you should use is (sometimes) indicated in the question(s) given in the article.
Use “you “when talking to the reader. That way it feels more natural. As if you’re talking to a peer or friend.
A grammar mistake that occurs often in your articles: mentioning something in plural & then referring to this with “it”. If you refer to something in Plural/Singular, keep referring to it in Plural/Singular, please.
If we know the gender of the dog(s), it’s better to use the pronouns “he” & “she” to avoid confusion. 🙂
Write from 1st person singular (as if I’m the one writing the article).
Be mindful of your wording.
But most importantly: Save the answer to the big question (the question around which the article revolves) for the AP. Don’t put the answer in the intro. The intro must be teasing & the AP concise.

Make the intros relatable to a wider audience:
– specific enough to relate to the main topic
– broad enough so they don’t exclude anyone who is a target
– look in dog forums at what kind of words people use when they ask the question: Copy-paste the question in an Incognito window & add “forums” at the end.
Don’t give the answer to the main question of an article (the one before the AP) in the intro. The intros must be teasing the readers to prompt them to read more. So they don’t get their answers there and be out of the article asap.
Also, if you give the answer immediately in the intro, we’re wasting the intro bullet points which should tease further.
Use active voice vs. passive.
Reason: Sounds more personal.
Don’t link to pet forums. We can take info from there but keep it vague. No usernames, names of forums, etc.
We should be careful when saying dogs may get aggressive. Instead, we can say they can get hyperactive if they have pent-up energy.
Give additional signs of certain behavior in a bullet point list, so the reader can be sure what’s going on.
If you mention a certain medical condition/behavior, make sure to give examples of signs in a bullet point list.
Bullet point/numbered lists should be:
– short & snappy (no long sentences or short paragraphs)

– without space between the rows
– arranged in a cut-in-half Christmas tree structure: shortest one at the top; longest one at the bottom.
– with periods at the end of each bullet point

– in Present Continuous Tense if they contain verbs (E.g: Eating less; Limping)

This should be H4. (The next subheading after H3).

The text under it should be normal. Please do this for each one of the bullet points below.

Reason: To avoid text looking clustered on mobile (since most of the readers visit the website from their mobile devices).

Avoid using the word “pet”. We use synonyms for “dog”. Such as canine; furry friend’ four-legged friend’; “fluffy buddy”; etc. Use Ctrl + F to find all the instances where you’ve put “pet” & substitute.

Substitute “dog owner” with “dog parent” everywhere in the article, please. Just run a Ctrl + F 🙂
Substitute “pet parent” with “dog parent” everywhere in the article, please. Just run a Ctrl + F 🙂
Original content.

Grade 3.
Use power words/phrases so that intro bullet points sound more appealing to the reader.
Short & snappy sentences.
Lower the readability grade:
– Avoid wordiness – break up long sentences into several shorter ones.
– Use the simplest words possible.
– Eliminate (very) hard-to-read sentences.

A conversational friendly and playful tone of voice.
No need to say “Please”. You won’t talk like that if you give advice to a friend, right? You’ll just say it casual instead.
Funny jokes/analogies/similes.
Keeping readers engaged with questions.

Telling personal stories & how problems got resolved.
Telling stories of dog parents.

Making the reader imagine a situation by describing some important details – that’s powerful.
Reassuring the reader you have the solution to their problems. 🙂

Avoid filler.
Avoid stating the obvious. If you do, ensure we present it from an angle that doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence.

Meaning – don’t present the info as something new. But rather acknowledge that the reader is aware. And then build upon what you’re saying by explaining why you mention it.

A smooth, clear flow.
Asking the readers to do something. And explaining why it matters.
Avoid sounding vague. When you tell the reader what to do, make sure you give specific examples.
Use more transition words/phrases in your articles to ensure smooth flow. E.g:

Now,
What’s more,
Plus,
Not to mention
Not only that, but
Also,
To be precise,
For example,
In fact,
Normally,
As a result,
So,
However,
Bear in mind that
When that happens,
If that’s the case,

Make sure it’s clear who/what “they”/“it”/”this” refers to.

Using the specific pronoun listed in the title throughout the whole text.
Using the specific pronoun listed in the question of the “People also ask” section.
Putting interesting/little-known facts/benefits if the reader makes a certain choice.
Acknowledging that you’ve previously said something. And explaining why you’re mentioning it again.
Showing empathy to the reader. And letting them know they’re not alone in what they’re experiencing.

Adding tables with valuable information.
When creating tables, make sure the information in them is suitable for a table. For example, when two things need to be compared. Don’t just put a table for the sake of having a table.
Avoid sounding vague. When you tell the reader what to do, make sure you give specific examples.
Giving specific actionable steps. Practical, so the reader can take advantage of them.

Put the most unusual reasons first & last.
We don’t want to tell people “Research your options”; “Do your research” or anything of the sort. We want to be the authority and give them advice they can lean on.
Avoid using the word “pet”.
Reason: We’re a dog website. So we’re trying to focus on dogs in any way possible.
Instead, substitute “dog” or “pet” with: furry friend; four-legged friend; pooch; furbaby; etc.
Hooking the reader’s interest with certain phrases.
Interlinking from certain phrases/the main question of an article/an article’s title.
Interlinking from certain phrases but not whole sentences (unless the sentence is a short one). Choose the most relevant keyphrase that matches the topic of the article you interlink to.
When interlinking, you should make sure you’re not interlinking only from phrases/the main question of an article/an article’s title.
There should be a balance.
E.g: If you interlink a few times from phrases, make sure there’s approximately the same number of interlinking from the main question/title of an article.
When interlinking, we should make sure that we don’t link from a general article about dogs to a breed-specific article. And vice-versa.
We shouldn’t interlink in the intro of an article. This is because we want the intro to be catchy & spot-on. And if we have an interlink, the reader’s full attention won’t be on this piece of content.
Avoid generalization. Always ask yourself: “Does this apply to all readers?”
Try to sound as confident as possible. Avoid using words & phrases such as “probably”; “I believe”, “perhaps”, “maybe”, “kinda”, “seem” etc.
Sounding confident when making certain recommendations. That’s great!
Ran the articles through Grammarly & they look great! 🙂
Could you add the Grammarly extension to Chrome?
Reason: This saves me & the VAs time if there are some edits to be made. For example, if there’s a typo and we’ve missed it. Or if there are commas needed.
I also asked others to do it for time efficiency & awareness. 🙂
Note: You don’t have to turn it on while writing because I get it can be distracting. But I ask you to activate it once done because it shows if you mistyped something or missed anything. I myself use it because I’m a fast typer & I often misplace letters.
Don’t point fingers at anyone (readers; companies). Keep it neutral.

What’s great:

Intro.
Intro bullet points.
AP.
Clear-titled subheadings (H3s).
The flow is smooth & logical.
Using enough transition words.

Note:

Grade 5 is O.K.
Grade 4 is better. 🙂
Grade 3 is best!

Note: No need to put images. We have a VA who does that.

Focus points

Formatting	Philosophy	Intro	Intro bullet points	AP	Reasons	Tips	Research	Interlinking	Flow	Readability grade	Infotainment

Reasons

Say what the reason is.
Explain it simply.
Give examples for clarity.
Go more in-depth.
Drop a cool/little-known fact (if possible).

Word count requirements:

It’s okay if you write more than the required word count as long as it’s between 200-500 words more.

3 types of quality content

summarizing the web – lowest content
the journalist – asking experts on topics (contacting small business owners)
actual expert information (from personal experience)

Original content – use the word “I” & teach something unique