Article Marketing

Article marketing is growing increasingly important as more and more internet marketers see the benefits of an article marketing strategy.

Many new internet marketers think of article marketing as a way to get backlinks to their websites. They assume they can pump out a bunch of low-quality articles and submit them to article directories and get catapulted to the top of the search rankings. Unfortunately, anyone who thinks this will work hasn’t been keeping up with the new Google ranking algorithm. These types of article marketing now mean nothing, and may even drop your ranking scores.

In writing poor quality articles they completely forget that through the articles that they distribute they are building their reputation. This is not only with readers but also with the article distribution sites. The fact is that poor quality articles with your name attached will build you a reputation, just not the one you want.

The reputation you build is what is going to determine whether you eventually turn readers into visitors to your site who could turn into paying customers. Offering quality articles to readers and other sites through your article marketing is a great way to build a positive reputation as someone who knows what they are talking about. Once you become a respected expert through quality content your positive reputation will only grow.

When writing articles you should always remember:

1- Your prospects are getting to know you through your articles. If you are writing for the sake of getting backlinks the readers, as well as the search engines, will realize your intentions easily. Readers will never finish reading your article, so they will never click on your link. It is just like a sales call. If your prospect feels that you are pushing for the sale he/she will never buy. But if they feel that you are sincerely trying to help them your chances are much better for closing the deal. Offer information which helps them solve a problem, then offer one or more solutions to the problem they need to be solved.

2- What you write and distribute today will come back to haunt you tomorrow. Learning the hard way on the internet can be extremely costly. If you post something on the internet it can come back to bite you years later. Posting only quality articles in your article marketing efforts will assure that you don’t have regrets months or years from now. Always double check the sources of your research and only post quality articles that you won’t mind someone reading years from now.

3- Encourage your readers to click on your resource box by making sure to give them useful information that helps them learn something they need to know or solves a problem they are having. Every article you write should get the same research and attention to detail that you want to see when you read an article. As a matter of fact, a good way to learn how to write quality articles is to read quality articles. Find your own writing style but follow a similar template as other successful writers.

Writing articles poses two major obstacles to article marketing:

1- You need the ability to actually write articles.
2- You need to learn where to post your articles for maximum return.

Writing Articles

If you have difficulty writing or can’t seem to find something to write about, there are resources on the internet to help you. You can research topics of interest by doing a search on the keywords related to your subject. If you just don’t feel like you can write well enough and you need some training:

1- For the first couple of months you could hire a copywriter who will write articles specifically for you on the subject that you ask for. Remember this is not buying a copy of an article that is sold to many other people including you. This has to be written exclusively for you. This is the only way your article will not contain the same content as multiple other submissions. If you are in need of an SEO copywriter I am available for you to use while you are training to write your own articles. Contact me or send me an email.

2- During the second month, while you are still using the copywriting services, get one article per week and re-write it in your own words. Find an article on the internet and use the subject to write a completely original article in your own words. Try to add additional information or additional solutions to the problem-related in the article.

3- If you still need ideas for articles in your chosen niche you could join a service that distributes articles with private label rights. These so-called PLR sites have tons of articles on a wide range of topics. Many of the articles are of poor quality. Not a problem since you are going to rewrite the article anyway. When I say re-write, I mean really re-write. Don’t change a few words here and there or change paragraphs and then submit because your article will be rejected. You need to make a completely new article out of the same core subject. You can get those articles in one of the following ways:

a. You can buy such articles
b. You can search for articles related to a certain subject and choose a combination of ideas presented in those different articles. This is a free option.
c. You can visit article directories and search for articles that suit you. This is also a free option.

Remember you will need to re-write the whole article, do not use someone else’s article and put your name on it. This is:

1- Not Ethical
2- Will be rejected by article directories.
3- If repeated you might get blacklisted in some directories.

Distributing Your Articles

There are basically two ways to submit and distribute your articles. You can use an automatic system such as software, or you can manually submit the articles.

You should probably never to attempt to use the manual option. This is extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming.

The automatic approach is a must to submit your article to as many directories as possible. Don’t limit yourself to one or the other of an article distribution service or article submission software. Try both options and see which works better for you.

Don’t jump right in and purchase the first submission software you find either. There are a number of options and you need to do your research to be sure you are purchasing a software package that will fit the needs of your article marketing program.

Submitting articles can be a great way to increase the traffic to your website through article marketing. Get writing and let me know your thoughts below.