Promote! Promote! Promote! Anyone who has been in business for more than 5 minutes realizes that few companies survive without some form of online marketing. Article marketing is one online tactic that should be in every business pro’s tool kit. Here are the basics as well as article marketing tips for a traffic-driving campaign:
What is article marketing?
Before you can start implementing article marketing tips, it’s helpful to understand what this online tactic is all about. Quite simply, it’s a process where a business uses third-party websites to publish and distribute articles that share relevant information aimed at a target consumer or buyer. Embedded in the article, often in what’s called the bio box, there are backlinks that take the reader directly to the business’s blog or website.
How are articles published?
The key to generating backlinks is to distribute content through respected directories, like EZine Articles or SubmitEdge. Also consider industry specific sites, such as SiteProNews for online professionals. These and other article directories work by publishing an article on their website. Webmasters find the article and syndicate it on their own site.
A word of warning: some article marketing directories will not accept content that’s already been published online. If you’re submitting to more than one directory, be sure the articles are unique enough (in both content and title) to pass duplicate checks.
How can I make sure my articles are read?
- Pick relevant keywords. Audiences cannot read article marketing content if they cannot find it. Make a list of the keywords your audience might use to search for info about a problem, solution, product, or service. Free tools like Google Keyword will help determine how popular a keyword might be and how much competition there may be for that word/phrase. The more specific the keywords are, the more likely you’ll be able to attract people ready to buy.
- Write like a professional. “Bad writing shure is heard to read, isnt’ it?” Would you buy from an expert who published an article packed with misspellings and grammar glitches galore? Probably not. First, reading the content would be a long, hard slog. Then if you managed to read the whole painful piece, you might not want to spend money with someone who can’t be bothered to write a readable article. Take a few moments to proof any article marketing piece and run a spell check.
- Get to the point. This is one of the article marketing tips you’ll need to drive traffic. Remember those college papers that provided paragraphs or pages of introductory information? Writing for the web is very different; it’s critical to get to the point, and get to it quickly. Ditch the long intros; instead use just one paragraph to let readers know what they’re going to get out of the article.
When it’s time to promote your business, it’s time to look into article marketing. By sharing useful, informative content, you’ll generate more traffic to your business website or blog—giving you more profit potential.
Dianne Shaddock is a self proclaimed HR nerd who loves all things relating to Social Media and the Internet. That’s why she created Tools for Social Media, your source for free articles on all things related to social media, the Internet, Web 2.0 and WordPress for the newbie.
