All Entries Tagged With: "mistakes"

Do You Make These Article Marketing Mistakes?

There are effective and ineffective ways to conduct article marketing. Many new article marketers make the same mistake over and over again. If you are considering article marketing you should at least think about these avoidable mistakes and try to steer clear of them before you start:

1. Write articles that are too long – A good article must be short enough that publishers will want to share it with their readers. How short is that? Probably no more than 800 words. Ideally, your articles should be 400-700 words and no more.
2. Write articles that are too short - Many article directories will not take your articles if they are less then 300 words or 250 words. Your articles need to be at least 300 words in length.
3. Write titles that do not draw attention - Your article title will be the first thing that readers will see in many cases. You’ve got to get their attention in the article title. Otherwise, the article may never get read.
4. Put too many links in their author bio – The purpose for your author resource box is to get readers to click a link and visit your website. The resource box needs to be focused to drive traffic to one page. Too many links can discourage the click through and this kills many would-be article marketers right off the bat.
5. Do not write enough articles – Many article marketers do not produce enough articles. They’ll write 10 articles and distribute those 10 to one directory then wait. Or they’ll write one per month and hope for a big cash pay load. To be successful in article marketing you’ve got to produce at least one article per day. Many article marketers write several articles in one day.
6. Do not properly optimize their articles – Your articles need to be properly optimized. Publishers seek well-optimized content for their newsletters and websites. If you don’t write well-optimized articles then they will not be published.

Are you making these mistakes in article marketing? If so, perhaps you should think about your goals and start writing articles that will be more effective in your marketing plan.

Four Mistakes Article Marketers Should Avoid

Jim DeSantis has some excellent tips for article marketers. His four mistakes not to make is a must read:

• Mistake 1. Writing with the wrong motives.
• Mistake 2. Failing to take advantage of article marketing as a promotional tool.
• Mistake 3. Publishing content that is mediocre or that attempts to redirect your reader to a sales page.
• Mistake 4. Submitting illiterate articles.

There’s not much I can add to that, but I’ll try.

On mistake No. 1, your motive for writing, as Jim says, should be to provide useful information. If you don’t have useful and valuable information to provide then you shouldn’t engage in article marketing.

Article marketing does have advantages for publishers, however. You aren’t just giving information away for free. You are using information to sell more information. Your links in the author resource box allow you to drive traffic to your website to sell the information or sign people up for an e-mail list. Take advantage of the tool for all it worth.

Mediocre content doesn’t sell. Outstanding content sells. Provide your target audience with the best information you can, in your articles, on your website, in your e-books, and everywhere you publish.

Finally, if you are going to engage in article marketing, do it intelligently. There is no excuse for bad grammar and oodles of misspelled words. It’s your image. Protect it and it will serve you well.