Writing eHow articles that pay well

Myself, and every other writer on Ehow tries to figure out why some articles make so much money and why others don't.  In your head you try to create an algorithm for how to write a perfect article every time.  What is the magical formula to optimize keywords perfectly, and get the reader super pumped on your article at the same time?  I have heard of people even starting spreadsheets and studying them all day long.  

As you write with ehow, you will find that some random articles make awesome money every day, and some you thought you were going to retire on have 5 views and $0.00 in earnings a month later.  There is no real way to write perfect articles every time, but if you follow some guidelines, you can optimize your earnings.  Here's my 2 cents on the subject:

*Use Wordtracker to see what people are searching for.  Wordtracker allows you to see what people are searching for and the volume.  It is like ad-sense but it uses more complete sentences. 

*Ad-sense.  I use this with every article.  You can use google's free tool to see the volume and cost per click of searches.  Google is going to be your best friend because this is where your traffic will come from.  Sprinkle in the higher keywords in your articles to draw higher paying ads on your page.  Also, look at the competition, use lower competition for your titles and higher competition for your keywords, because this is what google bot uses to put ads on your pages.

* Be aware of the higher searched categories.  These tend to be personal finance and health.  Right now the fads are getting in shape, eating healthy and saving your tail during the recession.  

*Don't overdo the keywords.  Google's bot has been developed for over ten years and is more sophisticated than I want to know and it will throw your butt to the curb if it thinks your writing just for SEO.  Also, ehow will throw your article out if they think the same.  Write good, naturally flowing informative articles with some nice keywords every other step or so.  

*Try the long tail, but try the middle as well.  People will tell you that their highest paying articles are random ones.  This is true, but I have also seen good results with insurance and foreclosure articles.  The competition is enormous but if people get to your article, the average cost per click is as high as $30!

*Don't waste you time telling people to rate and comment on your articles.  This is kinda spammy and in bad taste.  Let people rate your articles as they deserved to be rated.  If you get a bad rating, maybe your article sucked and you need to revise it or add more content.

*Stay involved in the forums to stay up on the news of the site and what people are saying, it pays to stay informed!