Showing posts with label article marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label article marketing. Show all posts

Monday, March 8, 2010

Article Writing: Can It Help My Online Store?

Question: My online store can’t make money unless I get traffic, but I can’t afford to keep buying advertising. What can I do? I feel so discouraged.
Signed, Lonely in my Store

Dear Lonely in my Store,
First of all, you are NOT doing anything wrong. Online businesses take time and can get frustrating, especially in the first year.

If your online store is lonely, and you’re watching the dust balls collect, waiting for traffic to come and buy, it’s easy to get discouraged. As soon as the advertising ends, so does your traffic – if you’re even getting any results from your advertising at all.

What if you could get visitors to your website – free? And, not only that, but the visitors keep coming for years? One of the best methods of generating traffic to your website is by writing and sharing articles. This is not ‘get rich quick’ and it’s not a scam. It’s just plain old fashioned marketing with a twist.

Now, even if you aren’t a writer, you can use this method of getting traffic. It doesn’t take a degree in Literature to succeed in article marketing. All it takes is a little time and energy. If you have that – you can get traffic to your website.

So, how does it work? Well, it’s working right now. Look at the bottom of this article and you’ll see … me. I didn’t pay for this advertising, but you’ll see a link to my website right there, plain as day, just for writing and sharing this article with website publishers.

It’s actually quite simple, and it is underused, especially in work at home mom businesses.

All you need to do is write a short, simple, helpful article about something related to your online store. If you sell makeup, then write an article about how to choose a foundation color, or how to care for your skin during the winter. Then, after you’ve written your article, you submit it to the article directories.

Article directories are libraries of free articles. They are collections of articles that website and blog owners can use on their sites for free. The only stipulation is that everyone who publishes your article must include your author bio at the end which is where you include your website URL and some fascinating information about your wonderful online store.

So, now that you see how simple this free method of generating traffic is, I hope you give it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose and much to gain.

Article Math: A Multiplying Effect!

Writing for the internet requires that you create a large number of articles in order to get yourself noticed. You may think, "who has the time?" Well, you do if you follow a few of the simple rules I have outlined here.

1. Divide and conquer. Chances are you have a few excellent articles in your portfolio which, by themselves, are worthy reads. Still, take a second look at these articles as they may have much more "to speak" to readers than what you currently have to say.

Exactly what am saying to you? Here is an example: One of my favorite and most read articles discusses the premium topic of business aviation. The article describes five leading private jet aircraft and compares and contrasts these particular makes and models. My readers say that the article is very informative and engaging, but I know that there are another five articles contained within that one article. How so? Each aircraft can and should be a story in and of itself.

I plan on taking the original article and dividing out the various aircraft and writing stories on each one. Where I previously had one solid article, of just over 1200 words, I will have an additional five articles of approximately 500-600 words each. Basically, I am "fleshing out" some of the verbiage previously written by expounding on several key points. In essence, the one article will be divided up to become six articles in total.

2. Point/Counterpoint. In the earlier days of the news show, 60 Minutes, the show featured a segment called Point/Counterpoint whereby two members of the staff argued back and forth about a certain topic. Each person took the view diametrically opposed to the other's viewpoint and the fireworks began.

I am not suggesting you have an argument with yourself, but I would guess that you have already written a highly slanted opinion piece in the past. If so, why not counterpoint your previous point? Gasp! Isn't that odd? No, as it shows that you can objectively look at two sides of an issue, even if you don't agree with one side. Debaters do this all the time as they learn what their opponents view is and immerse themselves accordingly. The benefit to you is that your initial article serves as a terrific springboard for the second article.

3. One in a series. Newspapers often spread top stories out over 3 or 4 days. Usually beginning with the Sunday paper and running through the following Tuesday or Wednesday a feature story grabs readers attention one day and brings them back the ensuing days. Call this for what it is -- a smart marketing ploy -- as it is a way for newspapers to boost their circulation.

How can you apply this formula to writing articles? Well, much like the newspapers do you can do the same: the four days of feature stories is, in fact, one story. Because of article length and the desire to bring readers back, the editors take the one story and divide it up. The reporters create the single big story, the editors turn it into four, and the publishers love it as they can hit up the advertisers for more money.

Guess what? If you apply this same methodology to your one colossal article -- which few people will take the time to read because of its length -- you will now possess four manageable articles that stand a better chance of capturing readership.

In summation, by incorporating these rules into your article development plan, you will soon be writing more articles than you had written previously. More articles equals more attention for what you do which should mean more demand for your services and, hopefully, more money in your pocket. This is simply Article Math at its finest.

Article Marketing is a Digital Cash Cow

One of the newest ways to draw traffic to a website is by an internet marketing technique known as Article Marketing.

There are three things that assist a website in being successful, popularity, navigation, and content. Navigation is in the hands of the Webmaster. Whereas popularity and content is the responsibility of the website owner. Article marketing helps these last to two to excel. The internet is controlled by search engines and they are information junkies. And like any junkie they are forever in pursuit of a new fix. Knowing how to take an article and distribute it to your advantage is a present day necessity. Because when a search engine gets high on some content it rewards its owner by promoting a site's ranking which generates the ever welcome organic (free) traffic. And traffic is the life supporting blood of internet prosperity.


Article marketing needs obviously articles to operate. Unlike articles one might find in newsstands and magazines internet content has specific requirements to have any real value. Since search engines locate information requests from internet users by using a system utilizing keywords internet articles must incorporate keywords into the body of written content.

Understanding how to create articles with the proper amount of keyword density is not accidental. If one has not taken the time to research this needed article marketing requirement they should seriously consider hiring professional writers to accumulate needed content. Placing articles void of this keyword density necessity on their websites or to Article directory's do so in vain.

One key components of article marketing is the submitting of content to Article Directories. There are hundreds if not thousands of these type of directories on the internet. These directories act as a source for website owners to find fresh content for their own websites or newsletter. The more directories one submits there articles to the more exposure a website gets. Search engines favor large sites when indexing. By having an article in directories the search engines will visit your website more frequently. And if the content pleases the expectations of the search engines it will improve where you rank with other websites promoting the same services or products.


When submitting to Article Directory's each article is usually allowed to include an author’s resource box. This resource box is another important area to understand to make article marketing meaningful. The resource box allows the reader to know who wrote the article and how to find them if so desired. Because of copy write laws it must be included anywhere the article is placed on the internet. In this resource box an anchor texted URL is placed in it which not only makes it easy for the reader to click to your site but when placed on another website creates a back link. As the article is used more and more on the internet these back links start to increase the popularity of a website. At least thats how the search engines will register these numerous locations. When submitting articles to directories be sure to use different formats.

Experiment to see which type of format is generating clicks. Good article marketing requires intelligent labor. To run a successful article marketing campaign one must be consistent and quality conscious. When you first start a campaign consider submitting at least one article a day. This will quickly increase back links. After the first month you can slow down a bit but never stop. Article marketing succeeds because of its creating a viral effect. It behaves like the well known pyramid game. An article once it spreads starts to create back links in an ongoing exponential fashion. However, the more it appears the less value it has with the search engines. Nevertheless even though its value for improving search engine ranking diminishes it still grows in value for generating traffic. Another thing to be sure to do is proof read the articles before submitting them. Good article marketing needs good grammar too. The better your article appears the more credibility it will get. And the more credible the more readers will trust the source.


Article marketing can be very time consuming because you will want to spread your articles to as many article directories as possible this will suck up a lot of time. This dilemma can be resolved a couple of ways. One way is to engage the services of businesses that specialize in doing this for you. This will save you time but many of these services ,the better ones, can be pricey. Another way is to purchase software that is designed to submit articles. Normally they have hundreds of directories catalogued in there application. Many directories have automated receiving plug-ins that will automatically except submissions. However, many don't allow automatic submission from software devices. So mix it up. Submit your articles to the major directories personally then use the software to contact the rest. Regardless of how you decide to run your article marketing efforts be sure you do it. Article marketing is a time proven benefit to engage in if you wish to increase traffic to a website. And we all know another word for traffic is Money. The more traffic your article marketing generates is the more money you'll be stuffing in your virtual pockets.

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.

Article Marketing: Head Start Your Business

It is easy to win a race and be on top but the same saying does not go with keeping yourself at the top. Having a head start in the business of Article Marketing would require dedication and skill. Aside from persevering in the market, you must be in the know of what makes other article marketers fail and devise of ways to avoid it.

Failure in article marketing is not new. Many have tried and many were beat. Where did they go wrong? Perhaps, they had the wrong audiences targeted. Maybe they didn’t make articles that were good enough. There are a lot of reasons. However, when businesses fail in Article Marketing, several crucial factors can be pinpointed.

The greatest evil in Article Marketing is plagiarism. The issue has long been addressed but hasn’t been avoided as well as it should have been. Let it be known that plagiarism is illegal worldwide and several technologies have been created to quickly identify plagiarized work. Subsequently, if your article is found to be plagiarized, search engines would give you a low rank, hence traffic to your site will be minimized. To some extent, your articles and other entries may be deleted and you will not benefit as much from your endeavor, or worse, not benefit at all.

There are surefire ways to avoid plagiarism. If you want to write an article about a certain topic, you start of by researching for common contents. The most favored site for research is of course, through the Internet. Once you have found the articles you want to use, instead of copying and pasting them on your empty document right away, take time to read the article first. Make sure you understand what the articles say, highlight point s you agree with and want to address in your own article. You may also want to bullet or summarize the article you have read. In this way, it is ensured that you won’t have a plagiarized product. The next step would be to write in your own words, what you have understood from the research you’ve done. Do incorporate the important facts you’ve discovered in the articles that you’ve read but make sure that they are still written in your own words.

In Article Marketing, originality may just very well lead you to success. This is because search engines that analyze your work and find no discrepancies with regards to plagiarism or duplication then the rank they will give you would be higher. What is the advantage of a higher rank? Not only will it generate traffic, it would also lower the cost of the pay-per-click of your article or website.

Another factor that usually leads to failure in the domain of Article Marketing is the failure to write enough articles of interest. Many of those who start out in Article Marketing usually begin with just a few articles and think that that is it. But it is not it, because a few articles would not accomplish a name or even a reputation for your business. You have to write as many articles as you can. Though tiring, it is very well worth it.

The job of having to write articles may be made easy by writing topics of your own interest. Choose products to advertise whose interests are similar to your own and who you know so much about. The greater the interest and the greater the body of knowledge you hold for one particular topic, and then there will be no limit to what you can write.

Failure of your articles to be exposed would also result to the failure of your business. If you do not expose your articles to as many consumers as possible, your bank account would not change a cent. The lesser consumers you have, the lesser your rank will be and you will be lost among other business in line for Article Marketing. You will have to work hard for your articles to be circulated. This can be done through article directories, link partners, forum sites, newsletters, the approaches are not at all limited, what with the capacity of the Web to reach different audiences. If the means are not limited, then you should not limit yourself as well. Explore what other ways can ensure the distribution of your articles, this just has to be done in order to survive in the business.

Frankly the most important factor of all that lead to most business fading out in the area of Article Marketing is the failure to stay long in the race. Many have succeeded, so why should followers fail? Longevity is one factor that will contribute to the success you will experience in Article Marketing. Let’s face the facts, traffic is generated for a period of time and may even go as long as years to wait. Profits would depend on the traffic you generate, as your traffic steadily increases, your profit would also steadily increase.

Like any other business, whether online or outside the World Wide Web, much has to be invested in order for it to succeed. If you are willing to work hard and have faith in what you do, then you have a greater chance of avoiding these pitfalls in Article Marketing.

Article Marketing - A Powerful Tool

Article marketing has many benefits which may include establishing yourself as an Author, lead generation, more traffic to your web site, improved search engine position and is becoming a necessary tool for doing business on the World Wide Web. Article marketing has become a proven strategy for raising your link popularity. It can also be a cheap way to compete with larger companies in your field.

It's best to write on topics that are closely related to your business type, while making sure that the article provides good content for the reader, no one wants to read a sales page. Every article that you write will need a resource box section that will contain your sales info including an (anchor text) link or two pointing to your Web site. You could have a terrific product and a wonderful sales strategy, but without the targeted traffic your online business could be going no-where.

You can take advantage of a ton of free article submission sites on the internet, where you can submit your articles for free, some also offer software and services to help in the process. Once approved, the sites will make your articles available for distribution and publication to ezines, webmasters etc... Now there is no more need to beg for reciprocal link exchanges, pay for text links, or spend hours posting free ads to link farms that no one will read anyway. Articles, written yourself, are becoming the fastest and cheapest way to see results from your efforts.

When done properly, article marketing can be a very powerful tool to drive loads of targeted traffic to your web site. Whether your business is brand new or you have been in business for a while, you can gain new customers from marketing your own articles. To be the most effective, article marketing should just be part of a larger, more comprehensive SEO strategy. Remember, the goal of successful marketing is increased business and most importantly profit and this can be achieved with the help of article marketing.