These are all excellent ideas and they all work quite well but one of the things that helps me is to really keep your articles interesting, by interesting I mean write so that your reader is intrigued.
The best way I've found to do that is to write the article like you are writing a letter to a friend, get personal, tell a story, cite a personal event. Make it something your reader can get caught up in.
There are so many articles out there on topics that offer the same information over and over. Giving the same information is ok, just put a different spin on it, say it in a different way so that your reader won't find it redundant from other articles they've read.
I often use ghostwriters for writing articles and they hardly ever return me an article that is interesting. so I look for writers that use a conversatinal style and then I add a few of my own personal touches to give it some pizzazz.
It takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it, it will be second nature for you. Just keep at.