What is Article Marketing?

The act of writing one 300-400 word article and submitting it to various sites–is the surprise online marketing medium of the past year. For a couple years, new marketers have been advised to promote their businesses by writing and distributing articles.

This worked so well that recently article marketing has hit the mainstream. Sites like ArticlesBase.com have helped to create perfect conditions for article marketing. Far from being an underground or little noticed way of marketing, article marketing has come into its own as a leading form of marketing on the web.

What’s best about this marketing form is that by far and large it’s free to use. Simply write an article, visit a resource site that holds a list of directories such as .Articles-Blog.com and go ahead submit your article.

What are the benefits of Article Marketing?

Free Backlinks - A link from a site that you’re not linked back to has more value than one where you may be required to link back to, simply because changes in the way search engines rank sites now include an adjustment for exchanged links.

Increased Traffic - Your article gets published on multiple web sites that pull free content from the major article directories. People then read these articles and visit the website you are promoting.

Expert Status - After writing many articles on a certain subject you will be recognized as an expert in the matter, you will be surprised how many people will be contacting you with questions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, article marketing online represents one of the most essential ways many internet home business owners use to market their internet business programs online.

I like to surf around different internet forums that deal with internet marketing, link building, traffic building, and search engine optimization. Lately, I have seen a lot of questions about using articles as a marketing tool. The question has been this:

“How much traffic can I get from submitting articles to article directories?”

I would honesty love to tell you that you get loads of traffic. On the other hand, I would love to be able to tell you that you wouldn’t get a lot of traffic. However, I cannot tell you either way because it really just depends.

It depends on these things:

• How many articles you submit




• How many directories you submit your articles to
• Where you submitted your article





• Quality of your article





• Usefulness of your article





• Value of your article

So if article writing appears so iffy, why do it? One thing I will say is that article marketing is not something you will usually see results from overnight. Article marketing is a great long term investment for promoting your website, building links, and generating more traffic. Article marketing is only iffy if you are looking for a short term or fast, quick way to generate traffic.

My best advice is to avoid writing garbage content. Provide useful information in your article. Keep a constant mindset that you are writing for people and not to see the traffic stats go up through the roof. You are not writing for numbers! You are writing for people. If you are writing for numbers, you may begin to feel discouraged because your traffic will not usually jump overnight. Quite simply, it takes time to realize the positive effects from article writing.

I know that I am guilty of taking short cuts and forgetting about the reader in my articles. Sometimes I am feeling lazy and think, “Well I’m writing this article. My link will be on my article, so therefore, people will click my link and all will be well.” That is wishful thinking on my part! The truth and reality about that statement is that nobody will care to click to my website if my article is not worth reading. They won’t even make it through the article to see my link! That’s a shame.

If your article fails to meet the reader, you also miss out on another important aspect. You miss out on the chance that the reader will take the article and distribute it to other people with your link attached to the article. That’s even more possible traffic you are missing out on!

Quality is so essential to article marketing. The other factors of article marketing have no match for a quality article. You could submit to few article directories and many would read your quality article because it is an article worth reading.

To summarize, write quality articles that meet the reader. Give the reader exactly what they want. Do not take shortcuts because there are no shortcuts in article marketing. Article marketing can be a time consuming process, but if done right, it will really, and I mean really, pay off in the long run.

I like to surf around different internet forums that deal with internet marketing, link building, traffic building, and search engine optimization. Lately, I have seen a lot of questions about using articles as a marketing tool. The question has been this:

“How much traffic can I get from submitting articles to article directories?”

I would honesty love to tell you that you get loads of traffic. On the other hand, I would love to be able to tell you that you wouldn’t get a lot of traffic. However, I cannot tell you either way because it really just depends.

It depends on these things:

• How many articles you submit




• How many directories you submit your articles to
• Where you submitted your article





• Quality of your article





• Usefulness of your article





• Value of your article

So if article writing appears so iffy, why do it? One thing I will say is that article marketing is not something you will usually see results from overnight. Article marketing is a great long term investment for promoting your website, building links, and generating more traffic. Article marketing is only iffy if you are looking for a short term or fast, quick way to generate traffic.

My best advice is to avoid writing garbage content. Provide useful information in your article. Keep a constant mindset that you are writing for people and not to see the traffic stats go up through the roof. You are not writing for numbers! You are writing for people. If you are writing for numbers, you may begin to feel discouraged because your traffic will not usually jump overnight. Quite simply, it takes time to realize the positive effects from article writing.

I know that I am guilty of taking short cuts and forgetting about the reader in my articles. Sometimes I am feeling lazy and think, “Well I’m writing this article. My link will be on my article, so therefore, people will click my link and all will be well.” That is wishful thinking on my part! The truth and reality about that statement is that nobody will care to click to my website if my article is not worth reading. They won’t even make it through the article to see my link! That’s a shame.

If your article fails to meet the reader, you also miss out on another important aspect. You miss out on the chance that the reader will take the article and distribute it to other people with your link attached to the article. That’s even more possible traffic you are missing out on!

Quality is so essential to article marketing. The other factors of article marketing have no match for a quality article. You could submit to few article directories and many would read your quality article because it is an article worth reading.

To summarize, write quality articles that meet the reader. Give the reader exactly what they want. Do not take shortcuts because there are no shortcuts in article marketing. Article marketing can be a time consuming process, but if done right, it will really, and I mean really, pay off in the long run.

Writing “net friendly” articles does not mean we can automatically leave out any mention of our sources. There is a tendency for many writers to simply write their material and not cite their sources, particularly when it is obvious that a source has been quoted somewhere within the body of the article.

Generally, what I do when it comes time to mentioning sources for an internet article, I attempt to first find that information on the internet and, if it is there, I simply provide anchor links in my article back to that source. In addition, I try to link directly to the page where the information is listed instead of pointing someone to the site’s index page. Why make it difficult for your readers to find out exactly where you obtained your information? Take them directly to the source, of course!

Other than that, I add the customary and appropriate resource information in my footers [or endnotes as some would call them] at the end of the article. Some may disagree with my methodology particularly with my anchor link citations, but it appears to be the best way to cite sources in this information age.

Remember: flexibility is the key when writing for the internet, but not at the point of failing to cite the appropriate sources when it is necessary to do so.

Writing “net friendly” articles does not mean we can automatically leave out any mention of our sources. There is a tendency for many writers to simply write their material and not cite their sources, particularly when it is obvious that a source has been quoted somewhere within the body of the article.

Generally, what I do when it comes time to mentioning sources for an internet article, I attempt to first find that information on the internet and, if it is there, I simply provide anchor links in my article back to that source. In addition, I try to link directly to the page where the information is listed instead of pointing someone to the site’s index page. Why make it difficult for your readers to find out exactly where you obtained your information? Take them directly to the source, of course!

Other than that, I add the customary and appropriate resource information in my footers [or endnotes as some would call them] at the end of the article. Some may disagree with my methodology particularly with my anchor link citations, but it appears to be the best way to cite sources in this information age.

Remember: flexibility is the key when writing for the internet, but not at the point of failing to cite the appropriate sources when it is necessary to do so.

Writing articles related to your business is a great way to build your link popularity and also to provide more content for your site and other sites. Not too mention it’s always nice when someone finds your site and uses it within their newsletter. The only problem is, what if people dont tell you that they were using your articles???

How would you know who to reward?

I say reward because of another article I wrote, “reward those who publish your articles”. It briefly outlines how to boost your articles popularity by boosting the other sites it’s listed on.

Let’s say for now, you just want to track your articles properly.

#1 Creating appropriate folders within your “favorites”.

Every browser allows you to create a folder in order to hold your favorite web sites. Organizing your favorites folder is key when you plan to market your business 24/7. In this case, we’ll create a new folder called “Articles Listed”.

Within that folder, you’ll want to start creating other “sub” categories for EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE that you market.

For instance, let’s say you have about 10 articles that you always promote, you’ll want to add 10 folders within your new “Articles Listed folder”. Make sure to give them a short but recognizable name that you would be able to distinguish which article it is for.

Ex. (I will use 3 of my title’s)

1 Tracking your articles properly (Folder: Tracking Articles)

2 Writing Articles To Boost Your Traffic (Folder: Writing Articles)

3 Reward Those Who Publish Your Articles (Folder: Reward Publishers)

#2 Always keep the same headline for your article:

I’ve visited many sites who consistently change the headline of the article simply to make it seem like a different article. Don’t be shy, I’m sure we’ve all thought about it, in fact, I am also guilty.

Starting now, let’s all keep the same headline…

The reason for keeping the same headline is for 1 keeping a strong consistency with your marketing and 2 making it easier to find your articles online.

#3 - Finding All Of Your Articles:

Now let’s find them for you… (Hoping that you already created your folders within your favorites menu?)

I prefer using Goggles Toolbar for this but it is not required. Let’s all go to: .google.com and start looking.

Why google? Simply the best…

Take your 1st article and cut and paste the EXACT title within the google search. Now add “” at the beginning and the end of your title

Adding “” at the beginning and the end will narrow your search to exactly what’s in between.

For ex. “Tracking Your Articles Properly” would give me better results than if I were to search: tracking your articles properly. Actually I do recommend you try both methods just in case.

Now once you have found a site that has listed your article, add the exact page your article is listed within the proper folder you created within your “favorites menu”.

Once you have completed this task for all of your articles, it will be very easy to keep up with your new articles. Another thing is, if you plan to reward those sites, you now have them all separated into proper categories.

I hope this helps you out even a little like it did for me…

Read more of Martins articles online here:

.smartads.info/newsletter

Writing articles related to your business is a great way to build your link popularity and also to provide more content for your site and other sites. Not too mention it’s always nice when someone finds your site and uses it within their newsletter. The only problem is, what if people dont tell you that they were using your articles???

How would you know who to reward?

I say reward because of another article I wrote, “reward those who publish your articles”. It briefly outlines how to boost your articles popularity by boosting the other sites it’s listed on.

Let’s say for now, you just want to track your articles properly.

#1 Creating appropriate folders within your “favorites”.

Every browser allows you to create a folder in order to hold your favorite web sites. Organizing your favorites folder is key when you plan to market your business 24/7. In this case, we’ll create a new folder called “Articles Listed”.

Within that folder, you’ll want to start creating other “sub” categories for EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE that you market.

For instance, let’s say you have about 10 articles that you always promote, you’ll want to add 10 folders within your new “Articles Listed folder”. Make sure to give them a short but recognizable name that you would be able to distinguish which article it is for.

Ex. (I will use 3 of my title’s)

1 Tracking your articles properly (Folder: Tracking Articles)

2 Writing Articles To Boost Your Traffic (Folder: Writing Articles)

3 Reward Those Who Publish Your Articles (Folder: Reward Publishers)

#2 Always keep the same headline for your article:

I’ve visited many sites who consistently change the headline of the article simply to make it seem like a different article. Don’t be shy, I’m sure we’ve all thought about it, in fact, I am also guilty.

Starting now, let’s all keep the same headline…

The reason for keeping the same headline is for 1 keeping a strong consistency with your marketing and 2 making it easier to find your articles online.

#3 - Finding All Of Your Articles:

Now let’s find them for you… (Hoping that you already created your folders within your favorites menu?)

I prefer using Goggles Toolbar for this but it is not required. Let’s all go to: .google.com and start looking.

Why google? Simply the best…

Take your 1st article and cut and paste the EXACT title within the google search. Now add “” at the beginning and the end of your title

Adding “” at the beginning and the end will narrow your search to exactly what’s in between.

For ex. “Tracking Your Articles Properly” would give me better results than if I were to search: tracking your articles properly. Actually I do recommend you try both methods just in case.

Now once you have found a site that has listed your article, add the exact page your article is listed within the proper folder you created within your “favorites menu”.

Once you have completed this task for all of your articles, it will be very easy to keep up with your new articles. Another thing is, if you plan to reward those sites, you now have them all separated into proper categories.

I hope this helps you out even a little like it did for me…

Read more of Martins articles online here:

.smartads.info/newsletter

We should all know the importance of articles to internet based companies as a method of website promotion. They contribute in driving traffic to your website and ultimately determine the success of the site. A good website owner needs to understand the benefits and undertake a constant article promotion strategy. The results can be very beneficial in relation to the amount of work involved. Link popularity, an increase in search engine results, and surge in traffic are the more well-known benefits. Becoming an authority in your niche is another major benefit that can be obtained if article marketing is carried out correctly.

Articles can have a great effect in giving a site high rankings in search engine results. The likelihood then is greater website exposure resulting in greater traffic and sales/profit.

However, there are important factors to remember when writing articles to obtain the maximum benefits that an article can provide for your site. So what are the main criteria that all articles should include? We will go through a few of them here.

Good Quality Content:

The most obvious requirement is for well-written, informative articles that will benefit the reader in some way, and help them further understand the topic that you are discussing. There is little point in just filling your article with keywords, but instead must provide good reading material. Whilst being informative, try and make your article entertaining, and one which will stick in the readers mind, rather than something that a reader may read a paragraph or two of and then disregard.

If possible, provide figures, facts and statistics on your topic. People like to see accurate stats, and will begin to trust you more as an expert in your niche should your content and stats be helpful to them.

It is important to read through your article once it is finished and also to check through for good grammar and any spelling errors.

Relevant Keywords and Phrases:

Throughout your articles, remember to center the information around the keywords and keyword phrases related to your topic. When people search the internet, they are usually searching for something specific rather than just browsing. It is highly likely that the majority of traffic being driven to your article will be from a search on google, yahoo, or any other major search engine, so ensure that you keep this is mind when writing.

Do not try to include keywords that are irrelevant to your article, merely to drive traffic to your article from search engines. If your site is about automobiles, then use keywords that are related, such as cars, car parts, truck accessories, and any other relevant terms. There are many tools on the internet that provide keyword analysis to determine what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. Use these tools to create a list of terms that you wish to target in your article.

Keyword Density:

Now that you have identified your keyword phrases and specific keywords to use, you must use them fully. It is very unlikely that a search engine will “get to grips” with what your article is about if you only use a keyword once throughout the entire article. You must have good keyword density in the article content in order for the search engines to rank your article high in the search results. Aim for between ten to fifteen percent of keyword density within the content.

For those that are unsure what keyword density is, it is the number of times that a keyword or a keyword phrase appears in an article. Although it is important to have good keyword density, it is equally important not to go too high or too low with keyword density, as it results in either the essence of the article being lost, or being too low for the search engines to pick up the terms.

Article Links:

Do not forget to include a link to your website. There is no use in writing an informative article, if the reader can not then click on a link to your site to find out more. Your website will not benefit without one!

We should all know the importance of articles to internet based companies as a method of website promotion. They contribute in driving traffic to your website and ultimately determine the success of the site. A good website owner needs to understand the benefits and undertake a constant article promotion strategy. The results can be very beneficial in relation to the amount of work involved. Link popularity, an increase in search engine results, and surge in traffic are the more well-known benefits. Becoming an authority in your niche is another major benefit that can be obtained if article marketing is carried out correctly.

Articles can have a great effect in giving a site high rankings in search engine results. The likelihood then is greater website exposure resulting in greater traffic and sales/profit.

However, there are important factors to remember when writing articles to obtain the maximum benefits that an article can provide for your site. So what are the main criteria that all articles should include? We will go through a few of them here.

Good Quality Content:

The most obvious requirement is for well-written, informative articles that will benefit the reader in some way, and help them further understand the topic that you are discussing. There is little point in just filling your article with keywords, but instead must provide good reading material. Whilst being informative, try and make your article entertaining, and one which will stick in the readers mind, rather than something that a reader may read a paragraph or two of and then disregard.

If possible, provide figures, facts and statistics on your topic. People like to see accurate stats, and will begin to trust you more as an expert in your niche should your content and stats be helpful to them.

It is important to read through your article once it is finished and also to check through for good grammar and any spelling errors.

Relevant Keywords and Phrases:

Throughout your articles, remember to center the information around the keywords and keyword phrases related to your topic. When people search the internet, they are usually searching for something specific rather than just browsing. It is highly likely that the majority of traffic being driven to your article will be from a search on google, yahoo, or any other major search engine, so ensure that you keep this is mind when writing.

Do not try to include keywords that are irrelevant to your article, merely to drive traffic to your article from search engines. If your site is about automobiles, then use keywords that are related, such as cars, car parts, truck accessories, and any other relevant terms. There are many tools on the internet that provide keyword analysis to determine what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. Use these tools to create a list of terms that you wish to target in your article.

Keyword Density:

Now that you have identified your keyword phrases and specific keywords to use, you must use them fully. It is very unlikely that a search engine will “get to grips” with what your article is about if you only use a keyword once throughout the entire article. You must have good keyword density in the article content in order for the search engines to rank your article high in the search results. Aim for between ten to fifteen percent of keyword density within the content.

For those that are unsure what keyword density is, it is the number of times that a keyword or a keyword phrase appears in an article. Although it is important to have good keyword density, it is equally important not to go too high or too low with keyword density, as it results in either the essence of the article being lost, or being too low for the search engines to pick up the terms.

Article Links:

Do not forget to include a link to your website. There is no use in writing an informative article, if the reader can not then click on a link to your site to find out more. Your website will not benefit without one!

Isn’t it funny how you’ve started to read an article about why me, and a certain select few authors write articles almost daily?

CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT!

#1 reason why people fail online is because they fail to deliver fresh content. Let’s forget search engines for a second, instead let’s concentrate on the end user who visits your web site.

Let’s say “Jim” has been to your site once before and all of a sudden he sees your web site for something else and decides to visit. But what, oh no, it’s the very same thing he saw 1 month ago. What happens to Jim? Just another statistic from your web site that will never get repeated.

On another note, let’s say Jim happened to see your link in search engines again, except this time, you’ve revised your web site template. Jim is now intrigued and excited to see what is new, but oh oh, you have the same bloody content as the last time. Jim is yet again another statistic.

NOW - Let’s say, not only have your revised your images, template, graphics, you’ve also been committed to adding 1 article on your site every single day. Jim is happier than the pope himself since you’ve played right into Jim’s hand.

We all search online, for some of us, it’s sheer boredom, for others, it’s doing what your not supposed to be doing at work and so on. The whole point is, if nothing changes on your site, how do you expect to stimulate people to come back. Getting people to your site is the easy part, getting someone to come back is very tough.

So back to the title: “Why you see the SAME AUTHORS all the time!” It’s not only a matter of adding an article everyday to bring people back but at the same time, search engines act almost like us. They see new content (they=search engines), they also get excited and browse around to see what you’ve added, not to mention that they also index all your pages for search engine listings.

Let’s go a little further and bring attention to this newly found content. Many people out there are hiding their new content within folders and sub-directories and so on. What I suggest is having a small little box on your front page that just details some daily new content. Try keeping the content you add within this box up there on your site for about a week or so, just so that new visitors have a chance to view it and search engines have a chance to index it.

So in the end, a site that doesn’t grow daily will have accomplished nothing online. A web site that caters to the needs of the many, will have more success than it can handle.

What you put into the world, will ultimately come back to you in the same amount.

Cheers!

Read more of Martins articles online here:

.smartads.info/newsletter