By
allen on June 30th, 2009
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »
Yes! In fact, I recommend it.
There are two generally accepted methods of marketing through articles: Mass distribution and direct submission. With the mass distribution method you write an article and submit it through multiple article directories, hoping that publishers will find it and use it. With the direct submission method you identify publishers that you hope will publish your article and submit it directly to them for their acceptance or rejection.
The best way to go about finding publishers to submit your articles to directly is to search for blogs and websites within your niche. When you find one that you like, add it to your list. Maintain your list in a text document or Excel spreadsheet. I prefer spreadsheets because you can list the dates you submit your articles and if they are rejected then you can just send the article out to another publisher immediately. Keeping your spreadsheet updated with acceptance and rejection dates per article is essential so that you can track how your articles are received and how effective they are in your marketing.
This method works well when you have a good list of potential websites that might publish your articles. You can theoretically have an article published at each website or blog on any given day. For instance, if you have 20 publishers on your list and you’ve written 20 articles that you’d like placed, you can send a different article to a different publisher on the same day. If they all are accepted then you’ve got 20 inbound links coming from high quality, relevant sites within your niche, not to mention the traffic that can come from those articles.
Direct submissions is a very useful and effective method of article marketing. We highly recommend it.
By
allen on June 29th, 2009
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »
Let’s break it down. Articles build links in one very simple way. But in exponentially powerful directions.
You develop your authority with article marketing by writing great content. When you write great content that is highly optimized for search engine traffic, you develop your own authority and build credibility. But you drive traffic to your website by including a link at the end of the article where your readers can go to get more information on the topic.
That link is very important. For two reasons:
- It attracts traffic to your website
- And it builds quality, relevant links back to your website
Both are important.
Links, with the right anchor text and from the right domain, can help increase your search engine rankings. Traffic, too, can do the same thing. It’s more than just a way to get people to your site so you can sell them something. When you add value to your site visitors’ experience, they stay on your site longer and you get increase search engine rankings due to the increased exposure.
So how does article marketing benefit you? With link building and traffic. Good SEO never comes in one flavor.
By
allen on June 25th, 2009
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »
Link diversity is one of the most important concepts to consider as a webmaster. But what is it?
Here’s a quick, down and dirty definition of link diversity -
The acquisition of links from a variety of sources including directories, social bookmarking sites, social networking, blogs, and static websites both from within and outside of your niche and at varying levels of authority.
Essentially what this means is that all of your inbound links do not come from the same source. Rather, they come from a variety of sources.
Articles can help you achieve link diversity by putting your high quality content in front of the eyes of publishers who are looking for articles like yours to publish. The more articles you have to choose from and the higher the quality of those articles the more likely you are to have them published by other Web publishers. Ideally, you want those articles to be published by as many publishers who will select them.
Some webmasters look only to sites with a high PageRank for their inbound links. That’s fine if you realize that you’ll get fewer inbound links by doing that. Having links at low PR sites is not hurtful and some of those links over time could turn into links fronm highly authoritative sites. Since they will be aged links they will be of higher value. So don’t discount those low PR sites. They can be valuable.
If you are in real estate and you use article marketing you can submit an article to a site like Realty and Real Estate Information and get a back link to your website. If you are a publisher of real estate articles you can use those types of mass distribution articles on your website or in your newsletter. For more information about article marketing, contact Article Content Provider.
By
allen on June 23rd, 2009
Posted in Article Content Provider | No Comments »
Are you an article marketer? Do you have an expertise that you’d like to share? Looking for more exposure for your article marketing business? Be a guest blogger.
Article Content Provider is looking for guest bloggers. Sign up as a user of the blog then send an e-mail to allen [at] articlecontentprovider dot com and tell me your user name. Be sure to tell me you are applying to be a guest blogger. I’ll change your status to contributor and you can start writing.
Be a guest blogger at Article Content Provider’s Article Marketing Blog today.
By
allen on June 22nd, 2009
Posted in Author Resource Box | 1 Comment »
Your resource box is the small paragraph at the bottom of your articles that lead visitors back to your website. The point of article marketing, after all, is to drive traffic to your website by being a useful resource and providing useful information to your article readers. The author resource box is your chance to ask for something in return for the value you’ve given in the article.
So what you should go into your author resource box? It is essential that you get the following information in your resource box in as few words as possible:
- At least one reader benefit for clicking the link and visiting your website. It could be a free download, a discount on your service, or anything that tells the reader what he or she will get out of clicking your link.
- A link back to your website. At least one, but no more than three. Many article directories will not allow more than three links in your resource box. Some won’t allow more than two. I personally believe that one is often better. But it should lead to a landing page that will earn you some income.
- A call to action. Don’t just assume readers will click your link. Provide a call to action and a reason for clicking.
If you give a clear benefit and an incentive for clicking your link and ensure that you provide real value on the other side of it, article marketing can pay off for you. It all boils down to how effectively you use your resource box.
By
allen on June 19th, 2009
Posted in Article SEO | 4 Comments »
In the old days of article marketing, if you wrote a halfway decent article that was full to the hilt with the keyword you wanted it optimized for then you were almost assured of getting good traffic to your website. Not so much today.
I’m still convinced that article marketing is a powerful vehicle, but it has changed somewhat. How you manage your keywords is one aspect of that change.
It isn’t enough to just throw a bunch of keywords into an article and expect the traffic to come in droves. You’ve got to capture the imaginations of your readers and that means writing content that engages them. It is best to write a really engaging article then moderately pepper it with the right keywords. If you can do that on a consistent basis then you can get some good traffic to your website. But it’s not all about keywords. It’s about your reputation and keywords are your assistants.
By
allen on June 18th, 2009
Posted in Article SEO | No Comments »
Article marketing is still one of the most important tools in an Internet marketer’s arsenal. All you need is one really good article to land one authoritative, high traffic website and it can boost your rankings in the search engines for a long time.
An article is a keyword-optimized instrument that markets your website long term from a perch upon which it sits in an article directory. When a publisher reads your article and uses it for its own website or e-zine your article becomes an active agent. Traffic from that article is very important. If you’ve done your job as an article writer and the publisher that publishes it on his site has done his job well then your traffic should be well targeted traffic. If not then you’ll see a high bounce rate from that article.
A high bounce rate is not a good thing. It can actually lower your search rankings for a particular keyword. But a lower bounce rate, characterized by well targeted traffic, can increase your rankings for the right keywords. And you can influence that by writing a good article in the first place. A good article is one that is highly optimized for one key phrase, is a great read, and answers reader questions about your topic. Write those kinds of articles on a consistent basis and you’ll be doing yourself and your website a great service.
By
allen on June 17th, 2009
Posted in Article Writing | No Comments »
What is the difference between rewriting and article spinning? Not much really, but when I think about article spinning I think about one of those software programs that take your article and rearrange the sentences so that they don’t really make any sense any more. It’s a terrible way to rewrite an article because a part of the writing process involves making each sentence contribute to the meaning of a paragraph and making each paragraph flow into the next so that you have a cohesive article about one topic that addresses a specific question in the reader’s mind. If you simply rearrange the sentences then you end up with a jumbled mess.
Rewriting an article means taking the basic concept and rewriting toward the same goal from scratch. It’s like writing a completely different article except the two articles are about the same thing and use the same keywords. See the difference?
Whether you call it rewriting or article spinning, the main thing to consider when you take an existing article and repurpose it with different language is how much of your article contains duplicate content with the first. Ideally you don’t want a single sentence to be duplicated. If you rewrite your article well then you can avoid that pitfall. If you simply “spin” it you might leave something out - or in, I should say.
What about you? Do you spin your articles or rewrite them?
By
allen on June 16th, 2009
Posted in Article Submissions | No Comments »
I’m not a big fan of automated software. Sure, it has its uses. Autoresponders are nice to have. WordPress plugins are cool. But for article submissions, I’d rather do it myself.
I may use a service like iSnare, but generally not automated submission software. That’s because the submission software just doesn’t do as good a job as manual submitters. You are much better off submitting your articles yourself or paying someone to do it for you.
The reason why automated article submitters aren’t as good as manual submitters is because you end up losing a good number of your article submissions because many article directories reject those articles outright. Every directory has its own list of categories and if you submit to the wrong category then your article will be rejected. The article submitter won’t submit to the right category for you. Generally, the submitters use a one-size-fits-all submission process and many of them are geared toward submitting to Article Dashboard sites.
Since every article directory is different, submitting with automated submission software causes a lot of problems. You’ll get more mileage with an article submission service.
By
allen on June 12th, 2009
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »
One of the most important aspects of search engine marketing is building inbound links. Many SEOs teach that this is the most important aspect of SEO. I still think there is no substitute for on-page SEO. But link building is important.
Articles are a great way to build links long term. It’s not a short term fix. You don’t write the article today then get thousands of links tomorrow. The key is to get your article out there so that it is published and linking back to your site. By submitting your articles to article directories you are offering your articles to other webmasters to use over and over again. Every time another webmaster uses your article you get a link back to your website. Those are valuable links.
The links are good SEO, but they can also drive traffic to your website. That’s the real beauty of article marketing. Dual benefit over the long haul, where it really counts.
