All Entries Tagged With: "directories"

The New Article Marketing

Is the new article marketing any better than the old article marketing?

First, let’s define what old article marketing is. I think Carl Ocab does a pretty good job on that definition, but I’ll rehash it. You write a search engine optimized article and send it out to several hundred article directories hoping to get back links. The problem: The search engines aren’t valuing all those duplicated links as much any more. Do they still have value? Yes, but the value isn’t what it used to be. This is still a valid form of article marketing, but you shouldn’t rely on it entirely.

The new article marketing is where you write a unique article to send directly to a blogger in your niche. The value to the blogger is that he gets unique content for his blog. You get a link back to your website and some additional traffic. But that’s all you do. You search and find the best place to publish your article and you send that article that publication only. You send another article somewhere else.

I like Carl Ocab’s idea. Evidently, someone else liked it too because it was blogged about today at Search Engine Optimization Journal. Personally, I think the idea has merit and I’d encourage you to pursue the new article marketing with a passion.

Article Submissions The Easy Way

You frequently hear about article submission software and how easy it is to distribute your articles using them. That’s fine, but I recommend a service like iSnare.

iSnare is a service where you submit your articles and they in turn submit your articles to thousands of other sites and directories. It’s convenient and you can have your articles distributed widely just by submitting them one time. They have a free service, but I recommend spending the $2 per article to have them sent through the priority service.

The priority service is a bit of a misnomer. You still have to wait for iSnare to distribute your articles. The $2 ensures that your articles are placed in the priority cue. If you don’t pay the $2, you’ll wait longer. Still, you have to wait on iSnare to approve your articles even with the $2 fee. They don’t do it instantaneously. But when iSnare does get around to distributing your articles, they’ll distribute widely and your articles will get picked up by the right websites and directories. It saves more time even than the popular article submission softwares.

An Article Distribution Tip I Highly Recommend

For every article you distribute I recommend having a list of your favorite article directories on hand and target those directories first. For instance, if your niche is gardening then try to find an article directory that focusing on gardening articles. You can also add a general and popular directory like EzineArticles to your list. Choose 5 or 10 good directories that are perfect for your kind of article and distribute your article to those directories first.

After that, send your article through iSnare for a wider distribution. iSnare will send your article out to thousands of websites and directories at once. Of course, many of those sites will reject your article because it won’t fit into their niche. That’s OK. There will be some that will take your article and that just gives you more coverage online and distribute your article in places you might not have thought of.

The reason you want to send your article to your favorite directories first is because if iSnare sends your article first and your favorite directories accept it then the directories will place your article in a file categorized for all iSnare articles. It won’t go into your own profile. While it will have your name and author resource box attached, you won’t be able to track any results from the article whereas if you submit the article yourself to the directories then you can log into your account and view how many people have clicked the links in your resource box, how many publishers have published the article, etc. You have greater visibility on your article that way.

By distributing your article in two waves this way you can take advantage of tracking capabilities and see your article get a wider distribution. You have the best of both worlds.

Audio Articles: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

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.

Should You Break Your Articles Up Into Parts?

I’ve browsed the article directories and have seen articles titles, Part 1 and Part 2. Is this a good practice?

I think, on the whole, no. Article marketing is not a good match for articles broken into parts because they typically need each other to be successful, but e-zine publishers and webmasters will rarely use both articles. They may only find one of them and not realize that it needs the other to work. If they do notice a two- or three-part article series they will likely pass it by and not publish it.

To be most effective in article marketing, write each article as a standalone article. You can write articles that are related to each other without requiring that they be used as a series. The longer your series the less likely your articles will be used by other publishers. I would stay away from the practice altogether.