Why Article Marketing Works

If you have a new website and have started writing blog posts, you may want to look into article marketing. This content marketing strategy is one of the easiest ways to get website traffic and it is a great way to build up your loyal readers.

I am not speaking of "article spinning" when I suggest this. Article spinning is when you take content from your blog posts and automatically distribute it to hundreds of different directories on the Internet. You can use software to do this tactic or hire a company to do it for you. However, distributing your articles this way can cause you more harm than good because the search engines may ding you for duplicate content and you do not want that.

Article marketing is when you submit content from your best blog posts and distribute it manually to a selective group of article directories (I would suggest no more than ten). These directories should be reputable and of course, accept articles that are written about your niche. A few of the directories I use for myself and my clients are:

• EzineArticles.com (several topics accepted)
• GoArticles.com (several topics accepted)
• Biznik.com (business related)
• ArticlesFactory.com (several topics accepted)
• Promotio World.com (Internet marketing, SEO, etc. related)

There are additional directories I use for clients, but the 5 above receive the most article views.

If you are not familiar with how article marketing works, the following 3 steps will give you a brief overview:

Why Does Article Marketing Work?

When you distribute your content and include a link back to your website, it helps with branding, SEO and website traffic.

By including a short bio with a link in your article, you will be getting more one way backlinks to your website. This directs readers to your website, which can help increase your website traffic and it may help you rank better in the search engines.

Tip: The average length of the bio for the resource box is 250 words. I would create a couple of sentences about you and your business and then include a call to action directing the readers to your landing page.

If people see your name and/or business name in multiple places on the Internet, it will be easier to build your brand. As long as the content you are distributing is of quality material, you will be recognized as an expert in your niche and people will remember you! This is not a quick and easy process as you need to provide several quality articles to build up your reputation, but it is worth the time and effort.

Why Share My Articles With Others?

You may wonder why you want to put your articles on someone else's websites and not just your own.

If you have a new website and just started writing blog posts, you are more than likely not receiving a lot of website traffic yet. The article directories have thousands of members and receive a huge amount of website traffic daily, so there is a better chance that people will see your article. Here are some statistics from w3snoop.com:

• EzineArticles.com: 10,018,080 Daily Unique Visitors
• GoArticles.com: 1,182,099 Daily Unique Visitors
• Biznik.com: 122,611 Daily Unique Visitors
• ArticlesFactory.com: 124,087 Daily Unique Visitors
• Promotio World.com: 91,234 Daily Unique Visitors

As mentioned previously, the one way backlinks you receive by submitting your content to the article directories can help increase your website traffic and possibly your page rankings.

What Is The Process?

Here are the basic steps of article marketing:

1. Choose one of your blog posts that you believe is informative enough for article distribution
a. No self promo
b. No links (or very few since some of the directories do allow some if it's not self-serving)
c. No "general" information - should be informative enough for readers to learn something

2. The article should be at least 400 words long and no more than 1,500 words long
a. This varies. These amounts are based on an average of the article directories' guidelines I use.

3. Submit the article to the article directory
a. Use plain text or HTML - depends on what the directory allows
b. Format the content so that it looks attractive
c. Add the keywords you wish to target (of course, include those in the content)
d. Add your resource box information
e. If the directory allows it, preview the article before submitting
f. Once you submit an article, you should receive an email from the directories advising you that the article has been accepted and has been published.
g. If you do not receive an email, you can check the status on their website. I would suggest waiting at least a week to do this to give them time to review.

There are some that may discourage you to implement article marketing because of duplicate content. However, I believe as long as you are not trying to deceive and manipulate search engine results by submitting the same content to thousands of different locations on the Internet, you should be fine.

The benefits of becoming an expert in your niche and getting more website traffic from your article submissions are, in my opinion, the main goals of article marketing. That is why I suggest being picky about where you submit your articles and only submit them to a few directories.

Now that you know the basic overview of this content marketing strategy, keep it in mind when writing your blog posts. Even if you want to write short and personal blog posts, create some that can be re-purposed for article marketing. Over a period of time, you WILL see good results! And remember... most of the directories are free (Biznik.com is the only one I listed that is not free), so all it takes is your time to do this.