Article Marketing

Did you know that marketing with articles is an extremely simple and effective way to generate long-term FREE traffic to your website. And it makes absolutely no difference what kind of website you have, article marketing can bring you a stream of visitors for many years to come.

So what is article marketing?

Article marketing is basically writing content that other website owners or web masters can use on their websites. You write a useful and informative article on a topic related to your website, and offer it for other website owners to publish on their websites, blog, or in their newsletters. There is only one requirement – that they include your author bio (a blurb about you and your website) at the end when publishing your article.

Not only do you receive links to your website each time your article is published, but other website owners begin to seriously consider you as an expert in your field and may contact you for interviews or joint ventures. Plus each time your article is read by someone visiting a website where one of your articles is featured, it increases the chances of someone clicking on your bio link and visiting your website.

And, the best part is that it is a totally free exercise if you write and submit the articles to directories yourself (or it’s cheap to out source this part of your business). Not forgetting the abundance of FREE Traffic this could bring to your website.

How do you start article marketing?

Many web masters shy away from writing articles as they often think that they can't write an article. Well that's just not the case. If you are concerned then try starting out with a list. If you have an online Baby Store for example, then maybe you could start with the Top 10 reasons how this widget can help new mums get more sleep. Once your comfortable coming up with top ten lists, you'll start to branch into adding more details into your articles. Give it a try, you'll see how easy it is. How many of your products could you write a top ten list for? If you are still saying no way, I could never do that, then you could always employ a Ghost Writer to write your articles for you.

Once you get to writing full length articles, aim for them to be between 300-700 words long.  Choose topics that are related to the theme of your website. Writing articles that appeal to your target market will ensure that you’ll receive visitors who are interested in your website before they click.

A few Article Writing Tips:

• Ensure that your article is well-written and informative (do not write an advertisement)
• Writing Top Ten Lists is a great way to start
• Proof read (and have others proof read) your article for typing mistakes and grammatical errors

Don't forget to include your author bio at the end with your URL included. Here's a few tips for what to include in your Bio (Resource) Box:

• Be sure to include the full http:// portion of your website URL to make the link active.
• Limit the resource box to only one or two links. If you get greedy, many publishers will pass on your article.

It's Time To Submit your Article

Here, you have several options. You can develop a relationship with another website owner as a columnist, and provide your articles to that publisher on a regular basis. This can be a win-win for both of you – and get you a following of readers.

Or, you can submit your article to websites like EzineArticles.com and Isnare.com and hope that other publishers will find them and publish them. If you choose this route, read the guidelines and terms of service at the article directories before submitting.

Then, do it all over again. The number one mistake made by many website owners is to write one article and obsess over it. We suggest that, once your first article is written, move on to your next. Repeat, repeat, repeat.