A large variety of internet marketers are promoting a link building and traffic generation scheme called article marketing. Using 6 effective strategies, you can find out how to use this method and not abuse it.
Article marketing is a method by which one generates content relative to his or her site and posts the content in article directories. The article directories then are crawled by the search engines, making the article available to the public very quickly. The viewers read the articles and may click on a link provided in a resource box (about the author section) or may even decide to add your content to their site.
This can be tricky for a beginner as there are a lot of little things that aren't apparent at first until you experiment or read up on more search engine optimization. Lucky for you, I've done the experiments and research and have brought to light some unique and important marketing strategies.
Strategy #1: Post on Your Site First.
Both Yahoo! and MSN search engines will place your site higher in a search engine if your site was the first place they found the content. Certain individuals have tested if Google cares about originality in the search engine page rankings, and the conclusions are generally a, "No." Still, a huge chunk of people still use Yahoo! and MSN searches, and thus, this strategy should not be ignored.
Strategy #2: Get an "Add This" Button & Bookmark It
The "Add This" widget from AddThis.com can be easily added in a side navigational bar or somewhere else towards the top of your page. If someone is part of a social bookmarking site such as Digg, Redit, Facebook, etc. then you give them an opportunity to sign in and add and/or review your page. When this happens, your page is then added to the directory of links in the social bookmarking database and can be searched for using their services.
If a lot of people like the article and add your article, you will get a higher rate of traffic from the sites. This is because the searches are weighted by how many people have added or liked your article. Thus, you should get your buddies and dedicated customers to add your article.
Strategy #3: Make a Catchy, Keyword Rich Headline
There are a few types of headlines that really pull people in. One is using lists - like this article's headline, "6 Strategies for the Article Marketer - The Free Article Marketing Craze". Another one is using shock titles - such as "DANGER: Making Money Online Could Become Extinct!" Lastly, instructional titles are effective such as "How to Explode Traffic With One Click".
Some keywords are good and some nobody thinks up. To get some good ideas for keywords, you should use Google AdWord's External Keyword Tool (adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal). You'll want to type in your favorite keyword phrase and the security confirmation code provided, organize the search by month, and look for keyword strings with low competition and decent search volume for the month. Pick a keyword that matches that description, write an article about it, and include a keyword or two in the catchy title somewhere.
Strategy #4: Increase Comprehensibility
Nobody wants to read a giant block of text. It is discouraging to your readers! Also, no one appreciates a ton of empty space that has to be scrolled through. Most article directories don't allow for hard line breaks or bad paragraphs anyhow, so save the hassle and write an article that is easy to read.
Shorten sentences and include bullets or lists when appropriate. Use proper grammar and spelling. Don't be afraid to write at a 3rd grade comprehensibility level. Not everyone who goes to your site is going to have a college degree and a long attention span.
The best tip I have heard to not only increase comprehensibility, but flow, is to organize the article via headlines or captions. Write out a quick outline, and turn each line of the outline into a subheading to which you write one to three paragraphs underneath. Not only does this improve your writing clarity, this also gives the reader a choice to read over parts and get to the bottom of the page faster - where your information will be.
Strategy #5: Quantity Over Originality
There has been a lot of discussion in the past as to whether or not the search engine's duplicate content filters were doing their job or not. For article marketing purposes, the answer in most cases is, "No." It takes a lot more time to rewrite portions of the same article for the same amount fo time it takes to submit a copied article to a hundred article directories or more. However, this is subject to change as the filters get more intense.
One of the reasons for this is due to the fact that some sites only provide a portion of your article and a link to the rest. Another reason is that sometimes an article is broken up by advertisements. Also, keep in mind, the more places you have it, the better variety of click-through traffic you can have. However, if you have the time and energy, do try to rewrite your articles on different article directories because you will get different keyword strings and bypass the duplicate content filters.
Strategy #6: Include Your URL
When some people use your articles, the link will be stripped. Though this borders on copyright infringement, it still happens, so you should be sure to include the website URL of your company for that very reason. If at all possible, include your web page URLs in the body of the text but only if you can use it as a resource link to help the viewer get more information on the preceding text.
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