Monday, March 8, 2010

Article Marketing: How To Write Great Articles

All the hype nowadays in web-based industries is the pioneering concept called article marketing. Article marketing is one type of Internet advertising that has proven to be both instructive and effective, because Internet users are being given useful information on their related searches, through short but helpful articles with an accompanying link to the author's site at the bottom part of the article. Website owners are now given a new way to market their goods and services, where they can post their articles in a number of directories in exchange for potential views and increased website traffic.

So how do you write such articles? Article writing encompasses initially mass print media like magazines, newspapers, and the like. The articles written in these media are usually long winded and detailed, and very often command longer attention spans from the readers. Newspapers and magazines pay their writers to write such long articles because their readership depend on how wide range the topics are, and how up to trend the issues are. But the articles employed in Internet article marketing should not be in parallel with the articles written in print. The web is a never-ending source of research material and if the readers do not get what they want instantly by reading the articles published in directories, they could turn to other sources because the choices are endless. Therefore the articles have to be written in such a way that the attentions of the Internet users are utilized to the fullest degree.

Short articles of about 600-800 words are most ideal. This way, all the important elements of a subject matter is tightly woven into the article, thus creating less risk of boring the readers with unnecessary matters. Imagine an article that has too much introduction, an incoherent body, and a hanging conclusion- no one would take the effort to have to analyze what is written, because people want straight up facts. They want to read and to understand each sentence, and ideally to be more informed about the given issue, period.

For example, an article that deals with the benefits of water therapy would want to consider including highlights on how the consumption of water could help in eradicating toxins built up by faulty eating. And then this could be explained further by noting specific studies that have dealt with natural remedies alongside the use of conventional commercial medicine. The advantages of utilizing natural therapies would be that there are less possibilities of side effects and a less overworked liver, as this essential body organ is primarily responsible in the flushing out of unwanted toxins from overeating, unnatural diets, and of course modern pills and medicines.

The article has to be persuasive, too. Persuasive, yes, but not in the obvious way of trying to sell something, credible in the sense that straight facts, and not just mere opinions, are being presented. Statistical studies that can be verified are helpful tools in persuasive delivery because there are quite a number of surveys over the Internet that provides clear facts. A persuasive article would also want to consider using quotes from reliable personalities on the subject matter. This adds credibility to the written article and considerably increases general interest. Anyone who would read something that was verified by an expert, and can be traced back to historical truths would most likely begin to form certain positive beliefs.

Then there is the issue about the target market. And in this case, since the articles can be read by many, it would be more appropriate to say target audience. Of course, not everyone is interested with the things that are written in the articles. There would be people who would not care less what the topics are about simply because not every topic can elicit a favorable response from everyone. The reason why businesses have to target a market niche is because certain demographics will veer away from what the popular trends are. Age, gender, cultural differences, and the like are just some of the demographics to be considered. If a certain article topic for example is targeted to people with age over 40, perhaps the use of modern slang and the online chat lexicons should be discouraged. The audiences are the judges on the written articles, and if they are disappointed with what they have read, they would most very likely switch to other websites, or to choose the articles that are in tune with what they are searching for.

Asking questions on the topics too would help very largely. This allows for review on the article that will be published. Will the target audience care to hear this? Will this information drive be helpful? Will these people be propelled to read further and to click on the site located at the resource box? Or will they just end up getting bored on mid-page and abandon the site altogether? These are just some of the crucial questions that need to be dealt with in creating well-written contents in article marketing.

A well-written article too, is one that appears not be blatantly selling anything, but one that disguises merely as simple information drive. People usually have adverse reactions to annoying salesmen knocking on doors in the rush of morning hours, that when they are usually presented anything that merits a sale, the mechanical response would almost always be in the negative. Article marketing seeks to build up a wide readership over an extended period of time by publishing relevant and up-to-date articles, and not to drive would-be clients away because of the obvious want of easy profit. The wide source of information, and the relatively easy access to it have made our audiences more intelligent buyers, and their knowledge compels them to make choices that they can benefit from even in the long term.

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