» 2008 » July - Article Marketing Tips

Is Google Knol Adequate For Article Marketing?

By allen on July 31st, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing | 6 Comments »

We’ve been doing a little experimenting lately with Google Knol. I think it may be a useful tool for SEO. Here’s why:

Chris Knight wrote a blog post about it - OK, big deal. He’s just some guy with a website, right? Wrong. He’s the owner the most popular article directory online. For him to write an article about Google Knol is to validate it as a concept. While he downplays its significance, I think that is itself significant. You won’t be getting any link credit from EzineArticles, but you will from Google Knol, which is essentially and article directory that is owned by the world’s largest search engine.
Knols are indexed in the search engines like any other content - If you write a unique article and make it a knol, linking back to your website as a reference then you’ll have a link back from Google plus if your knol is well optimized then it could be ranked highly in the search engines for your key terms. You win two ways.
You own the content - Since you own the content in your knol you can authorize other website owners to use the content and place your own stipulations on it. Encourage other website owners to use your information precisely as you have it without making any changes. If the content links to your site then it will also link from other websites where it is published. Those links count.
It’s owned by Google - Google didn’t just come up with this idea out of a vacuum. If they did it they did it for a purpose and it’s there to help you.

Google Knol isn’t article marketing in the traditional sense, but it is article marketing. The difference is you can write articles of any length and place links in your articles. You can make your articles be about anything. You are in control and you can link anywhere you want to online. Why not link back to your website or blog?

Are Press Releases Like Articles?

By allen on July 30th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Writing, Press Release Distribution, Press Release Writing | No Comments »

Is press release writing like article writing? No. They’re really not the same thing.

The differences between article marketing and press release distribution are striking. Savvy marketers use both. Here is a comparative look at article marketing versus press release distribution:

Article Marketing

Article marketing is a long-term strategy
You submit articles to article directories so that webmasters and e-zine/newsletter publishers can find them and publish them
Article marketing is done through articles written in your own voice
Not a sales pitch
Articles work better by emplacing your self-promotional information in a bio
You do not promote yourself in the body of the article, except in special situations
Article marketing is best done as an ongoing strategy

Press Releases

Press release writing is more like news writing, not personal like article marketing
There is no bio section in a press release
The specific purpose of a press release is to promote yourself or your business
A press release is a one-time promotional event
The press release audience are members of the media within your niche
Press release distribution can include audio, video, and multimedia presentations
While press releases remain in search engine indexes long term, they are better suited for short-term promotions

I hope this highlights the difference between press release writing and article marketing and shows you how they differ and how you can benefit from each.

Give Your Articles Away For Free

By allen on July 29th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »

One strategy that some Internet marketers have found to be successful is to package their articles into an e-book or free report and to give it away on their website for free. There are several reasons why you might want to do this:

You want to encourage people to subscribe to your newsletter or e-zine
You want to capture e-mail addresses for future marketing efforts
You want to build trust and credibility for your brand
As an effort of good will and to keep your marketing in front of their eyes when they leave your site
You’re nice guy/gal and it just feels good

No matter how you look at it, giving away your articles for free is a good way to build trust, credibility, and good will. And it keeps people coming back to your website because they want more.

Article Writing Style: The Key To Success

By allen on July 28th, 2008
Posted in Article Writing | No Comments »

One of the most important, and most overlooked, aspects of article writing is writing style. Writing style is important because it helps establish you as the expert and build credibility. If people do not trust what you have to say then you likely will not get much traffic to your website. It’s important to win their trust and gain credibility.

The most important thing about a successful writing style is to write in a conversational way that brings out your personality. When people see you as a real person they will trust you more. They don’t want to be battered with incessant marketing messages online. They want to read and learn and that’s what article marketing is based on.

If you’re one of those people who doesn’t like to write or you’re not confident of your writing ability then a ghostwriter can help. We can help you achieve the right writing style for your business.

How To Promote Affiliate Products With Articles

By allen on July 26th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Writing, Website Content | No Comments »

Did you know you can promote other people’s products with articles? You can do this even if you don’t have a website.

First, pick a product. Learn everything you can about that product. I mean, everything. Buy the product and use it so that you can talk intelligently about it. After your product knowledge is at a comfortable level then you can start marketing the product through articles.

Next, decide if you want a website. I recommend using a website for a number of reasons:

You can also use SEO to rank in the search engines for keywords related to your product
You can use the website to take opt-ins for a newsletter that you use to market your affiliate products
You can add a blog to your website for better and more effective marketing
Your articles can be used to build links to your website to increase its SEO benefits
A website establishes you as an authority and increases your credibility with your target audience
You can include contact information on your website

There are numerous benefits to owning a website, but even if you don’t own a website you can use articles to market affiliate products.

Make a list of topics related to your product. Brainstorm as many topics as you can. You should compile a list of at least 100 topics, 200 or more is even better. Make sure these topics are distinctive and easily defined. Also, try to make your topics related to keywords associated with your product, but I’m talking about general industry-related keywords, not product branding keywords.

Next, write an article for each topic, using your primary and secondary keywords several times throughout the article.

Write an author resource box that includes a link to your website if you are using a website. If you are not using a website then include a link to your affiliate product’s sales page using your affiliate ID. Note that some article directories don’t allow this, but some do so focus only on those.

After you’ve written your articles, begin to distribute them to article directories, but don’t do it all at once. In other words, don’t distribute 100 articles to 25 directories in one day. Instead, distribute one article per day for 100 straight days. That will do you a lot better in the long run.

Find out more about making the best use of article marketing for your affiliate products sales.

Audio Articles: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

By allen on July 25th, 2008
Posted in Audio Articles | No Comments »

Audio articles have not really caught on yet, but I expect them to soon. You can call them podcasts, but there is one major distinction between a podcast and an audio article. An audio article is when you take a written article and read it into a digital recorder, creating an audio presentation of the article. A podcast need not start as an article. Many podcasts are simply people talking off the cuff or conducting interviews or presenting a particular message, maybe even a speech at a banquet, or such. An audio article requires more planning.

But like podcasts, you can distribute your audio articles through directories. I suspect that we’ll soon start seeing article directories that will allow you to upload digital recordings of your articles. You could still distribute them to various podcast directories, but many podcast directories now want you to submit your podcasts into channels or as ongoing RSS feeds. With audio articles you should be able to submit your audio versions of articles to article directories one at a time. I see that day coming.

Another thing you can - and should - do with your audio articles is post them on your website. By putting your audio articles online, you can appeal to the visually challenged who may not be able to read, or who may have difficulty reading online. Your audio articles will be well received by them and you could create an entirely different new and different target audience for your product or service.

Can Home Businesses Do Article Marketing?

By allen on July 24th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing | 1 Comment »

Any business can do article marketing - even home businesses. After you read this article by home business operator Francina Smit, you’ll see how article marketing can benefit your home business:

Article Marketing For Businesses From Home - How it Works

By Francina Smit

Article marketing, pay per click advertising, banner ads, email marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimization and blog marketing are some of the methods used in the process of Internet marketing. Article marketing is just one tool you should have in your website promotion toolbox for your Business from home. It is a long-term strategy and would prove to be your most powerful traffic-building technique.

Article marketing refers to a traffic generation method that depends on submitting informative articles to sites called article directories such as EzineArticles, GoArticles & Article Alley. Article marketing can be an effective and inexpensive marketing tool for increasing traffic to your website. It is the practice of posting keyword-focused articles on article sites that then syndicate your content. Article syndication sites also typically allow readers to conditionally include your article on their site.

Article marketing is effective as long as you modify the content and write many articles and, if done correctly, can help you develop links to your website and generate a huge flow of steady traffic, generating a steady stream of qualified prospects to your site and your products. Article marketing will boost your cash flow, expand visitor counts, and allow you the luxury of reallocating limited funds to special projects. Article marketing is a great way to get your company name out there by offering tips, tutorials and commentary on the state of your industry.

That article marketing is a very beneficial practice is true, but it is not something you can just jump into without doing any research first. Article marketing is most effective when you can create articles that are of value to a wide audience or targeted niche market. Articles are a key factor to your site’s success and is by far the most effective way to drive FREE Targeted Traffic to your website or blog. The objective with article marketing is to pre-sell and build a relationship with your readers but you do not want to hurry the process.

The benefits of on-line article marketing are:

* Increased site traffic
* Improved search engine rank
* Lead generation
* It is free

I can never stress enough how important Article Marketing is when it comes to driving traffic to your network marketing website. Affiliate and article marketing are very powerful and they are proven to work, but you must also understand that these moneymaking methods do have a high learning curve.

Home Business owners who use article marketing are able to publish articles online, offering tangible information to people who are actually interested< in what they have to say. Building your own website and advertising it through article marketing are the two things that you can do to pave your road to success. The benefits of article marketing are many and it's not too difficult to make it a part of your Internet marketing strategy.

The aims of article marketing are to attract Internet visitors to a web site, and to encourage incoming links from other web sites and thereby improve search engine rankings. Many companies that provide article marketing are affordable and will be able to give you quality content that makes sense, is informative, and can bring in the traffic.

Francina Smit is the owner of InHouseDollars.com and writes articles on various subjects regarding Christian Businesses From Home. If you're thinking about starting your own Business From Home visit her here for more Free information and ideas: http://www.inhousedollars.com//newsletter-signup.html

Christian Businesses From Home

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francina_Smit

I’d just like to comment on a couple of things in this article and expand on those. First, article marketing is a long-term strategy. Nothing could be truer. Too many business owners and managers will write or order from their favorite ghostwriter a short order of articles (maybe 5 or 10) and “try it on for size” to see if it works only to never add another article to an article directory. You can’t do it that way.

Article marketing is best done on a consistent basis. That doesn’t mean you have to write and submit 10 articles a day every day your whole lifelong. It does mean developing a strategy that you stick to. Many article marketers make it work by writing and distributing one article a day. Others do one article a week. Whatever you can handle, do it and stick to it. The more you write and distribute the more likely you are to make a success of it.

It doesn’t matter what kind of home business you run, article marketing can help you market your website and drive traffic to it while building link that increase your search engine standing. Aren’t those benefits enough?

Learn more about article marketing now.

Where You Can Get Article Ideas From

By allen on July 23rd, 2008
Posted in Article Writing | 1 Comment »

Here’s a good article on how you can generate ideas for articles. I’ll add more after the article, but read this first:

7 Tips For Producing Ideas For Articles

By Janet Simpson

I am a firm believer in writing and submitting articles. Articles work. They bring in traffic and they entice readers to visit your website in search of more information. Sometimes, however, it can be a challenge to continuously generate new ideas.

Here are some tips that will help you in the process of creating ideas for your articles.

#1 - Join discussion groups and chat rooms that focus on your particular niche. You can find discussion groups at Yahoo! and Google. Once there, look for the common threads. What questions are being asked consistently? Answering these questions is an excellent idea for the topic of your next article. You know beforehand that there are readers searching the internet for the answers you provide in your articles.

#2 - Search engines are a very good place to find out what people are talking about. Look through Google, Google Trends, Yahoo! Buzz, Dogpile, SearchSpy and MSN. You will find the hot topics of the day listed in these search engines, and hot topics are good themes to focus your article.

#3 - Dig out your old articles. Articles that you have produced in the past are excellent fodder for new articles. It is easy to edit your old copy, add a fresh slant and give up-to-date information.

#4 - Article directories. If you visit the most popular article directories, you will find a gold mine of information. What are other authors writing about? What are the common threads? Read other authors’ articles and come up with your own new and fresh ideas.

#5 - Calendars. Journalists use calendars to remind them of special occasions, annual events and holidays. You could do the same. For instance, there’s a host of ideas you can come up with around Thanksgiving. Conjure up new titles that fit in with your niche.

#6 - Surveys. What conclusions have been deduced from other people’s surveys? Use these conclusions for titles of your articles or create your own survey. Ask your subscribers exactly what information they need and answer their needs with your articles.

#7 - Generate a list. Make a list of the most popular or the easiest ways to… or the top 10… or the seven steps to whatever. Generating a list is one of the easiest ways to creating an article.

To download my new free ebook click here: Up & Running In 14 Days

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janet_Simpson

Your Lead Paragraph: What Should You Say?

By allen on July 22nd, 2008
Posted in Article Writing | 1 Comment »

The most important paragraph of your article is the first paragraph. In newspaper lingo, it’s called the lead paragraph. Why is it so important?

The lead paragraph is important because this is where you capture your reader’s interest. Your article will rise or fall on that lead paragraph, and particularly on that lead sentence. Let’s examine what you need to do to establish credibility in that lead paragraph and get your readers to keep on reading:

The first sentence - You need a killer first sentence that does two things: Snags the reader into reading the next sentence and that uses your keyword effectively. SEO is an important aspect of article marketing. You want the search engines to discover your most important keywords and phrases and to rank your article for them. That first sentence goes a long way to helping you do that. Put your keyword in there one time. You do not need your keyword in the rest of the paragraph, but it does need to be in that first sentence. And make sure that you engage the reader from the very first word.
The rest of the paragraph - You need to get people to read every sentence. If you lose your reader’s interest at any point in the article then they will leave and you will lose the sale. Every sentence must lead the reader to the next sentence - all the way through your article. That means, to get them through that first paragraph there must be a logical flow to the sentences and they’ve got to be interesting enough to keep them reading.
Prepare the reader - I learned early in public speaking that when you have an audience you need to follow the three-point plan: Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. This works in article marketing too. Use that first paragraph to set the stage for your article. Give a good summary of what the article will detail then subsequent paragraphs will give the “rubber meets the road” gritty details. You should not use phrases like “I’m going to tell you” or “This article is about.” Those are filler phrases that will lose your audience. Instead, simply give an overview of your subject before getting into the details.
Paragraph structure - Another element I borrow from newspaper writing is the 5 W paragraph structure. In newspaper writing, it is customary to tell your readers what the article they are about to read is about by including the 5 basic pieces of information all readers look for: Who, What, When, Where, Why. And sometimes newspaper people include How. With informational writing in particular, which article marketing is, this information is essential to establishing what your article is about. Answer these questions in your lead paragraph and you’ve established in your readers’ minds just why they should read your article. You’ll also establish yourself as a credible authority on the subject.

Article writing is not newspaper writing, but there are some similarities. Establish yourself as a credible authority and attract your readers’ attentions by writing a dynamic lead paragraph. If you do that, they’ll keep reading.

Cover Your Ass - Double Check Your Work Before Submitting Articles

By Bill Platt on July 21st, 2008
Posted in Article Directories, Article Marketing, Article Submissions, Website Content | No Comments »

I spent most of this weekend updating one of my side-project websites. To be frank, it is a site I built with HyperVRE. While the HyperVRE product is pretty good, it is not ideal for big websites. So long as you are sticking to 10-page websites, this is a good product. But the site I have working on is a 500-page website.

The problem with the HyperVRE comes to light when you are working sites in excess of 20-pages. It takes a long time to compile large sites, and updates and template changes can be very painful and time-consuming.

This is where I have been with my 500-page website, that I built in just a couple of days using the HyperVRE package. It simply takes too long to update with minor changes. What I did was to decide to hand-repair the site and convert it to my own operating system platform, so that future repairs and tweaks could be implemented easily. (If you are wondering, I believe that this may someday become a stand-alone product, but I am a bit too busy to aim for that just yet.)

So, my adapting of the website has been made much easier with my php knowledge. But, I am still having to edit each article display page and put it into my new template system. I have cleared about 100-pages in the last 12 hours, so progress is good. I only have 400 pages to go….

So here is my point.

I have been looking at each of the individual articles, as I am morphing them to the new system. Far too many of these articles from a wide variety of article directories have lots of problems. I am going to document for you here the major problems I have seen, so that you can prevent yourself from getting caught like a lot of these writers have been caught - fluttering in the wind, with their article marketing campaign in ruins.

Resource Box - General Notes - The whole point of putting articles into circulation is to get your link out on the web, in newsletters and on websites and blogs. Don’t forget to put your links in the authors’ resource box!

Resource Box - Link Specific - Make sure your links work! Far too many of these articles have inoperable links, because the HTML for the HREF tags are seriously hosed. Noted Tips: 1) Put a space between the A and the HREF, between the HREF and TARGET tags, etc.; 2) Make sure there are quotes on each end of the URL or not. The HREF tags will work, with or without quotes around the URL, but putting only one quote around the URL breaks the link; 3) Make sure to include a http:// version of your link in addition to your embedded keyword links; 4) Don’t put punctuation at the end of your URL, unless you are including just the domain name, with no deep links (links to pages within your website). Even if you are linking just your domain name, I solidly recommend that you do not follow the URL with any punctuation.

Use The ENTER Key Sparingly - You should only use your ENTER key to break paragraphs, and then use it twice, to put a blank line between paragraphs. DO NOT hit ENTER after every type-written line. It will hose the proper display of your articles — and it is really hard to fix at the webmaster end. (I actually did just delete some articles, because they were so full of mistakes that I did not want to invest the time to fix them.) If you absolutely have to… hit ENTER at the end of each type-written line (strongly recommended against), make darn sure that you hit the SPACE key before hitting the ENTER key. Some directory sites will strip your extra ENTER keys out of the text, but those same sites will fail to put a space in there for you at the end of the line. The result is wordsthatrunintoeachother. This is damn annoying to the webmaster who has to choose whether to delete your article, OR fix your mistakes.

Sub Headings

When you are including a sub-heading in your text, you should make sure that you do two things: put a blank line between the subhead and the next paragraph, and always cap the first letter of every word in your subheading. Extra Note: If the directory will let you include BOLD html, then be sure to bold your sub headings.

If you are going to put a numbered list in your article, please put a space between your number and the first word that follows it. It looks like crap if you don’t.

If you are putting an unordered list in your article, please separate list items with a blank line between them, unless you are going to include the LIST ITEM html coding.

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If you are using an article distribution service to get your articles out onto the Internet, then you generally have three kinds of choices:

Do-It-Yourself Software;
Low-cost and mostly Do-It-Yourself distribution service;
The Phantom Writers Article Distribution Service - full service.

Why do I mention this? For one, I own The Phantom Writers. But, I am not mentioning this to brag. The reason I mention this is because with my distribution service, we actually provide a full-service operation. We will put your articles together for distribution, and our team of experienced people will ensure that everything is working as it needs to work. We make sure all of your links are formatted properly and working. We also make sure that all of your T’s are crossed and your I’s are dotted.

My point, if the people whose articles were in my automotive website were distributed by us, instead of someone else, the multitude of problems I saw today would never have been, because my staff would have made certain that your article distribution went off without a hitch.

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If you are struggling with high fuel prices and trying to figure out how you will be able to pay for your online advertising endeavors, please consider getting a copy of my ebook, “How To Increase the Fuel Mileage of Any Vehicle.” By utilizing the gas-saving tips and gas-saving strategies I recommend, you should easily be able to improve your fuel efficiency by at least 30%! In these days of $4 per gallon gasoline, 30% will add a whole wad of change back into your monthly budget… just enough to enable you to build your income streams, so that maybe you won’t have to worry about conservation next time around.

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Bill Platt 405-780-7745 - 9am to 6pm CST