All Entries Tagged With: "article content"

Article and Website Content Cheapskates

I see this everywhere and still cannot believe that people do not get it. Content is still king on the web.

Website Content

The most important thing you will ever do for your website is to put in good content. Great content will get you links and your position in the search engine results will be because of the content you put into your website.

Hundreds of back links will not get you ranked well with poor content. Great content will get you good keyword positioning with or without back links, therefore, content is still the most important aspect of your website. Great design, flash, graphics, and a cool banner will not get you ranked well for your keywords and phrases. Great content will!

Let’s first look at your website content. Images are great with alt tags. That helps. But it is the text on the pages that, when done correctly, will help your search engine results. This text is also what will convert your customers into sales.

This text is what your customers will read or not read based on it’s quality. This same text is what the search engines will analyze when they decide how relevant your WebPages are to the search phrase you wish them to send you visitors from.

Article Content

Now, let us talk about article marketing.  If you know about article marketing at all, you know you will be submitting articles all over the web. The links in the author bio at the bottom return visitors to your website if they read and like the articles, you write or have written for you.

Just having your articles in thousands of article directories is not the goal of article marketing, although there are article-marketing gurus out there who think it is. The goal is for webmasters to find those articles and place them in their blogs and websites. If they use your article, their website or blog is likely related to the same topic as your website.

You are looking for these quality links. The links for just being in the article directories do not hurt you, but they do not help nearly as much as those from related websites do.

Your other hope is that thousands of people read your articles. Do you really want people to read poorly written articles and associate that poor quality with your website? Well-written articles get people to read them all the way to the bottom where your links are located. Well-written articles reflect well on your website and your reputation.

If the articles are of great quality then likely your products and services must be great as well. The reverse is also true in the reader’s minds. If the articles are written poorly, then likely your products and services are of little or no value as well. It is not only about the number of keywords and phrases placed into the article folks.

With all of that being said, I still find all over the web, especially at freelancer websites, people going in and saying things like; “I need 400 articles written for SEO and I’m willing to pay $1.50 per article.” Or they say something like; “I need someone to write content for my website and I’m only willing to pay $10 per page.”

I really try to refrain from telling people they are, well . . . stupid, but I am finding it harder and harder each day when I read this stuff.

They will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have their website designed so it looks really pretty, but the text, the stuff that will actually get good search engine results and sales, they go after cheap content.

Writers that know how to write text that not only is appealing to the reader, but that is also written with the keywords and phrases in mind, are worth being paid well. The moment you start hiring better writers and paying for text that converts sales, you will begin to be successful on the web. That cheap content is not going to make you any money.

A website that is beautiful but gets no traffic and sales may as well be an ugly website. An ugly website that ranks well in the search engine and that makes sales gets more beautiful by the dollar.

Article Marketing Secret: Who Is Your Target Market?

Many people question as to what topic they should choose to write their articles… Fortunately, the short answer is simple… Write articles that appeal to your target market. But what does that mean exactly?

I always pose this set of three questions, when I am talking to clients about what they should write about:

1. What do you sell?
2. Who is most likely to buy what you are selling?
3. How can you “answer a question” or “solve a problem” to help those people who are likely to buy what you are selling?

What Do You Sell?

Maybe you sell widgets, cell phones, car parts, or marketing services… It does not matter what you sell… There will always be a topic that you can write your articles about.

Do keep in mind that the point of article marketing is not to directly sell your products, but rather to educate, inform, or entertain your reading audience. So long as you stick to the idea of educating, informing, or entertaining your readers, you will never have a shortage of people who want to read the articles you write.

However, if you keep your focus on trying to overtly sell your products or services in your “article” copy, then it will be difficult to find publishers who WANT to publish what you have written.

This is important to note, in that publishers NEED content, but publishers tend to be very picky about the content that they want to share with their readers. In order for a publisher to become or remain profitable, he or she must always serve the desires of his or her readers. And readers do not want to be sold to, preached to, or criticized. Instead, readers want to improve their lot in this life and solve the problems that they face.

If you keep the needs of the publisher foremost in your mind, and the wants of the reader, then article marketing is a great tool that can help you to earn thousands of dollars.

If you lose focus of what publishers and readers want, then all you can hope for is a few links from your articles, from a few websites that very few people visit or read.

Who Is Most Likely To Buy What You Are Selling?

Just because you sell cars does not mean that anyone who has a drivers’ license is in your target market. Let us put this statement in perspective.

• If you sell $2000 cars, most of the people in your target market are the poor – including those in poverty and students.
• If you sell $10,000 cars, your market is mostly families in middle-class America. Occasionally, you will find the college kid coming to your store to buy a car for college, and sometimes you will see a bunch of tire kickers who can only pray to get financed.
• If you sell brand new cars, your target market will again differ by what kinds of vehicles you sell. A Cadillac-buyer is different from the SUV-buyer and the economy-car buyer.

There is not a car dealership anywhere in the world that tries to target its advertising to everybody with a pulse and a drivers’ license. It just does not happen. Either the dealership talks about its available cars and the benefits of owning a specific car, or the dealership points out that they can finance anyone.

Once you understand who is most likely to buy what you are selling, then figuring out what to write about has been made much easier.

Help Your Readers Solve A Problem

Before you start writing your article, you should try to get into the heads of the people most likely to buy what are selling. Those people as a general rule have common problems for which they seek solutions.

One way to get a handle on what those problems might be is to review the email correspondence and phone calls you have taken from your clients. If you read that email all at the same time, certain questions will be asked over and again. In fact, you might even have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website that you can reference at this point in the brainstorming session.

Your email and phone correspondence and the FAQ page on your website can lead you to a better understanding of the kinds of questions your customers are always needing to be answered for them.

Once you have achieved the understanding of what problems your customers seek to have solved for them, then you have to come to the magic formula for writing articles that find wide publication and a large readership.

In your article, present your readers with the questions that people have, and then present answers to the questions and show people how to solve their problems.

In doing so, publishers who have heard the same questions you have heard will be strongly inclined to publish your articles. And when publishers agree to publish your articles, you will be able to reach the publishers’ readers and a huge network of already targeted people who are very likely to buy what you are selling.

Understanding The Mechanics Of Article Marketing

When you write your articles, it is important to remember a few key points while writing the articles. Those key points are:

• The title serves to get your article opened, so it needs to be good.
• The body of the article answers questions and sells readers on your credibility in the marketplace.
• The article should be easy to read, and it should easily carry the reader to your About The Author information at the end of the article.
• Once at your Resource Box (About the Author information), the role of the Resource Box is not to sell your products or services, but to get the reader to visit your website, where the real selling will take place.

Using the formula that I have outlined here, you are sure to find success with your article marketing endeavors.

Sure, I know some people might be thinking that the only reason for article marketing is building links, so all this extra effort would be unnecessary. But let me tell you something that I learn from time-to-time…

Did you know that if you write an article that gets published in a large newsletter that you can in fact earn $10,000 plus in sales from that single article? This is a lesson that I have learned more times than I can count. And to be honest, it is a lesson I like to learn.

Consider this… You can spend a few dollars and very little time to create an article that will generate a few back links, hopefully helping you to rank in the search engines for your target keywords. Or, you can spend a few more dollars and a little more time and create an article that could generate back links for the search engines AND find a wider audience for your article in newsletters – newsletters that could potentially deliver thousands of visitors to your website and generate thousands of dollars in sales in the next couple weeks. Which strategy makes more sense to you?

If you are wondering if I practice what I preach, then read this article again and then see my resource box below. I provide article distribution services to my customers, and my customers frequently ask me what they should write about in their articles and how to best construct those articles to reach a wider audience, and more specifically, their target audience. If I have answered these questions to your satisfaction, then visit my website and let me help you to promote your articles too.

About The Author

Bill Platt has been writing about article marketing and SEO for a number of years. If you have written an article that you feel is good enough to get publication in a major newsletter or website, then you owe it to yourself to use Bill’s article distribution service at http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ If you are interested in learning about coop article marketing, then visit Bill’s newest website: http://www.sponsorarticles.com/

Articles: Secret Weapons, Special Sauce, And Mumbo-Jumbo

I read article after article online about how article marketing is some kind of secret weapon or a special sauce in your Internet marketing spaghetti. Crazy! It’s neither of those.

Article marketing is just one way to market yourself online. It’s ONE way. But it’s an important way. And here at Article Content Provider we don’t recommend just one way to do anything. We give people options, but the options are smart options that make sense for their business. We prefer to use different strategies in tandem to produce a multi-layered result that drives traffic to our clients’ websites while helping them improve their reputations and marketing moxie.

We don’t need to call it a secret weapon. We’re not James Bond. Nor does Emeril work on our staff. No spaghetti. No secret sauce. Just old-fashioned marketing with a newfangled twist.

Get the real scoop on article marketing.

Is Article Marketing A Secret Sauce?

Here’s a good article from someone who knows article marketing:

Writing Articles – A Secret Marketing Tool!

By Jessica Swanson

Writing and distributing articles is one of the most effective ways to build your business on a shoestring budget.

The idea behind article marketing is simple. You write an original article and submit your article to various article distribution sites. This will help bring exposure to you and your business.

Here are 7 Guidelines To Keep In Mind When Writing Articles:

1. Use Original Content. There are software programs, article wizards and PLR articles (private label rights) websites that have content already written. However, what I have found with these services is that their content is overused, unoriginal and, most often, poorly written. You are much better off writing your own content with your own voice and unique perspectives.
2. Use Article Distribution Sites. There are several website directories that are popular resources for webmasters and ezine publishers seeking quality articles to republish. When your articles begin to be republished on other sites and ezines, this creates a viral effect and can bring quite a bit of traffic to your own website!
3. Publish Your Articles On Your Own Website. Every time you write an article, you should also post it on your own website. Google loves websites that add content often to their websites. So, give Google a reason to love you!
4. Use Keywords and Keyword Phrases In Your Articles. When you write an article, make sure to include at least 3-5 of the important keywords throughout the body and title of your article. This will help the search engines index and optimize your article effectively. In essence, it will help people searching for advice on your topic, find your article.
5. Write 500-600 Word Articles. Webmasters and ezine publishers often stay away from articles that contain less than 500 words. In order to increase the chance that publishers will republish your work, increase your articles to 600 – 800 words.
6. Include An Author Resource Box. At the conclusion of your article, make sure that you publish an author’s resource box. Your box should contain your name, your area of expertise and a link to your website. Stay away from selling yourself and instead, offer your visitors more valuable information if they visit your website.
7. Be Persistent and Consistent. Article marketing takes time. However, if you are persistent in your efforts and publish at least ten quality articles, you will see the fruits of your labor. You will notice a surge in traffic and many more visitors to your website. So don’t give up too soon!

Article marketing is a wonderful way to establish yourself as an expert, give valuable tips and strategies to your targeted audience and eventually gain new business! If you implement these 7 tips, you will find article marketing to be one of the best forms of publicity for your business.

Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely FREE marketing strategies. To download your FREE Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of small business owners, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit:

http://www.ShoestringMarketingKit.com

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

Is article marketing some kind of secret ingredient? Is it a secret sauce for success? Not really. The principles are as time-honored as any tradition.

Article marketing works on the principle that you are an expert and you wish to share your expert knowledge. By giving your knowledge away you prove that you are someone in your niche worthy of doing business with. Don’t disappoint your readers. You can have well-written, well-researched articles that represent you on the Internet. Find out how now.

Eco-Friendly Ghostwriting

We live in an eco-conscious world. Everything is going green. There are green automobiles, green homes, eco-friendly clothing, organic gardening, organic mattresses, and green tea. OK, that last one’s been around awhile, but you know what I mean.

Why can’t their be green ghostwriting services? Well, there is. It’s called online content and that’s Article Content Provider specializes in. Doh!

Simply put, eco-friendly ghostwriting is all about paperless content products. The Internet makes almost any type of business an environmentally friendly enterprise. No paper means saving the trees. Saving the trees means cleaner, and more, breathable air. We all live happily ever ever. So if you are thinking about going green, why not add paperless ghostwriting, or online article writing, to your list of products and services to try?