If you're just starting out learning all the various methods of marketing online, then you might be forgiven for thinking that Article Marketing is one of the hardest methods to opt for. However, let me put your mind at rest. In this article, we'll focus on just exactly it is you have to do in order to get the most out of article marketing.
Writing Articles
Actually, you don't have to write articles. What you're really writing is content. Information related to the particular niche you're trying to promote.
The reason it's called 'article marketing' instead of content marketing is because content comes in all shapes and sizes. Articles tend to be very similar in their structure and layout.
For instance, a typical blog post might be only a couple of hundred words; an e-book will most likely be several thousand. But they are both content. Articles typically range anywhere from 400 - 1200 words, depending on where you hope to have them published.
In order to write good quality articles which will provide you with the best ROI for the time and effort you spend writing, you will need to be able to achieve a few things:
• Write with a good grasp of the English language, spelling, grammar, context, etc.
• Write with authority on whichever niche/product/service you are promoting
• Write articles that are not only informative, but also keep the attention of the reader.
• Create an effective 'author resource' bio which encourages readers to click through to your website after they have read your article.
If you cannot do this, (for instance if English is not your first language), then you will be better off hiring someone else to write your articles for you.
Before you start writing any article, decide in advance where you want to have it published. This will influence the type and length of article you write.
Submitting Articles
The vast majority of articles are submitted directly to article directories. Places like EzineArticles.com; GoArticles.com; ArticleBase.com... there are literally hundreds of article directories just waiting for article submissions from webmasters like yourself.
If this is where you plan on submitting your articles, then be sure to read each directory's Terms of Service and editorial guidelines. What is considered acceptable varies from one to the other.
In general however, they will all be looking for articles which:
• Deliver on the article title
• Contain useful, legible information
• Are of a minimum word count (this varies from directory to directory so you cannot count on being able to submit the exact same article to different directories)
• Do not contain self-promotional links within the body of the article
• Are not exact copies of other articles available on the Internet
If your article is good it stands a better chance of being picked up by other webmasters for publication on their sites. This not only gives you more backlinks, but also brings in additional traffic directly from those sites.
If you intend to submit your articles directly to other webmasters and / or Ezine publishers, your articles will need ot be of a much greater length and quality. At a minimum your article will need to:
• Be well researched
• Contain at least 750 words and preferably 1000 or more
• Include links to other authority sites/articles which confirm the information you are providing or provide more information to the reader.
Leveraging Articles
Unless you want to spend all of your time writing and submitting articles, you will need to learn how to make the most out of each article you write. This can be very worthwhile and for taking a few minutes extra you can do so much more with your articles.
• If you have written a series of articles on a particular subject, you can easily combine them into a short report. This can be used to give away to readers as an incentive for them to subscribe to your list.
• Convert your articles into PDFs and upload them to document sharing sites such as Scribd.com and Docstoc.com for additional traffic and backlinks.
• Narrate your articles and convert them into an audio file for sharing as a Podcast
Rinse and Repeat
The life of an Article Marketer is extremely busy. It is not enough to publish a few articles if you want to see any success with this method of marketing. Although each article you write can continue to bring you traffic for many years to come, their effectiveness will diminish over time as fresher content overtakes yours. This is especially true if the subject you have written about changes over time. For instance, an article written today about computer technology will be out-dated by this time next year.
It’s important therefore to continue writing and submitting articles in order to keep up a constant flow of traffic to your site.
