Article Marketing - The Newbies Guide

  Written by susan coils on Oct 25, 2008 4:29 pm

Read More: Article Marketing  |  Marketing

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Well, the poll says that Article Marketing is where you all want to start so here goes for "The  Newbies Guide to Article Marketing". I figured it would be easier to start out with the 'why', as this will ultimately help with the 'how to'.

Why You Should Be Writing Articles.

In truth there are a zillion reasons 'why' you should be using articles in your marketing efforts. But for the sake of this article we'll just list a few of the main benefits to you and your business.

1. Branding - by providing valuable, informative content to others you are automatically also branding yourself as an 'expert' in your chosen field. This of course, is very much dependant upon the quality of the articles you write. A couple of paragraphs loaded with links (mainly back to your own opportunity page) doesn't promote you as an expert, and very probably won't even be accepted at the leading article directories!
2. Traffic - not just any traffic, but targeted prospects who are interested in what you have written and are looking for more of the same. Those visitors don't just come from the article directories, but also from the sites of those who have gone on to 'publish' your articles because they were relevant to their own readers. Once again, the higher the quality of your articles, the higher the quality of the visitors you will recieve.
3. Free Advertising - when you submit an article you are given the opportunity to include an 'author resource box'. This is your 'advertising and branding' goldmine. Everyone who reads your article gets to see your author resource box at the end. Everyone who goes on to publish one of your articles has to include your author resource box or at the very least a link back to your original article. (note - you may want to set up a 'Google Alert' to track your articles as not everyone abides by the rules!)
4. Links - who doesn't want them? The more links back to your site, the more the search engines are going to love you, and the easier it will be for them to find you. The easier the search engines can find you, the easier it is for others to find you. I'ts amazing what a few, well written, keyword optimised, articles can do for your search engine visibility.

How To Write Articles.

The 'how to' of article writing isn't that difficult. There are so many available resources out there. EzineArticles.com even lay it all wide open for you in their Editorial Guidelines so I don't need to go into too much detail here.

As long as you stick to the basic rules of writing, you can't go too far wrong.

1. You want a beginning, a middle and an end.
2. You must take care with your presentation. Visual presentation is vital to making sure your article is easy to read. If it isn't properly structured with paragraphs and sub headlines where necessary, readers will find it hard to follow, and there is less likelihood of it being picked up and published by other sites.
3. Keep your article to between 350 - 500 words. If this isn't enough to get in everything you want to say, then consider where you can split the article and use what's left as the basis for a further article.
4. Check and doublecheck before submitting. Spellcheck, grammar, facts, links, etc.

Article Research

I am going to assume that even the newest of newbies knows that you can only write what you know. If you don't know it yet, then go out and do the research! Don't write articles that are rubbish simply because you are too lazy to check out your information and your facts. Rubbish articles will bring rubbish results.

Ideally, you will be writing articles that are related to your niche, so you should know about it anyway. I don't really see any point in writing articles on gardening if you're trying to postion yourself and get qualified prospects to a site on fishing.

Keyword Research

This is one of the most difficult aspects for newbies to get their heads round. What are they, how do I use them, what do they do...and on it goes. Unfortunately, keywords are a whole other topic, so we'll get into that at some other time. For now all you really need is a basic overview.

Keywords are what people type in when they are looking on the search engines. And if you're writing and trying to attract the right visitors to your site, then you need to focus on the right keywords. This helps the search engines bring up your content when those keywords are typed in.

Google's keyword tool should be your first point of call. It not only tells you how many people are searching for your keywords, so you can know whether those keywords are worth optimising your article for, it also gives you other related keywords that you can use.

Your title MUST contain your main keyword. If not, you are fighting an uphill battle.

In fact, your title will probably be harder to write than the rest of your article. (or is that just me?) It's not just about making sure your keywords are in there. It's also about making sure the reader will want to read the article. Consider it your sales page, your capture page. Headlines need to grab the reader's attention if the articles are to be read.

The body of your article must also contain your keywords.  Do not try to go after too many and simply stuff all your keywords into your article. Aim for 3 or 4 well placed keywords throughout the body of the article. Be sure your main keyword is also included toward the end of your article.  Write another article for different keywords!

One point to note, is that it's best to simply write your article and you will probably find that your keywords appear naturally. The article will flow better if it's written for a human than a search engine. While it's search engines that reward you for your article marketing efforts by sending you visitors, if those visitors don't like what they read, they'll leave. And that will send another message to those same search engines.

Article Submission

There are hundreds of article submission directories out there. By far the most popular (and if you're only ever going to submit to a single article directory, then this should be it) is EzineArticles.com 

The reason they're so popular is because it's tough to be accepted there. Their terms of service are quite strict. If your links don't work, your article will be rejected. If your article is rubbish, it will be rejected. Too many links - rejection.

But of course, they're not the only article directory out there. So don't leave out the others.

One point to note is that it's worth spending some time on your 'author resource box' before you submit your first article. I was caught short when I submitted my first article and so my resource box wasn't as great as it could have been. The linking text wasn't optimised, I didn't brand myself as well as I could have done, it was a perfect example of 'how not to do it'.

Finally, one article isn't going to cut it. Article Marketing is an ongoing strategy. The more articles you write and submit, the more chances you have to reach out and attract prospects to you.

Hope this helps you to realise that writing and submitting articles is a terrific strategy. And a great marketing tool that continues to bring in traffic, long after you've done the doing!

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