ABCs of Article Marketing for Newbies

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Copyright © 2009-2010 Paul Marshall


So, you're new to article marketing and you're not sure where to start?

You need to understand why you're writing and submitting articles for distribution. If you don't get the WHY, your plan won't work.

Why Writing And Distributing Articles Works

Articles work for 3 main reasons:

1. They can generate qualified traffic directly from the blogs and article directories your articles reside on, right to your website. With persuasive copywriting and website conversion optimization, you can convert these site visitors and get them to buy what you're selling.

2. If you use your resource box correctly, writing and distributing articles will help your SEO results (particularly with Google) and help you rank better in the search engines for your chosen keyword search phrases.

3. Writing articles can position you as an "expert" on your subject matter. For some businesses, that can be very important...and profitable.

About that second point above: I had a prospective client call me this week, who had been submitting articles. The trouble is she wasn't using her resource box correctly and so she wasn't having any SEO effect to her articles.

Get the training you need, so your efforts will pay off. You probably won't get this from visiting forums.

One option is to hire a good online marketing consultant or marketing coach, to insure you'll receive the results you want.

Another option is to pay for a quality Internet marketing | SEO course(s), offered by a reputable company with proven results.

Done correctly, writing articles is a win-win proposal.

You win because you have more exposure for your business at minimal cost of time and money. You can get direct traffic. You can improve your SEO results. You can be seen as an expert on your subject.

The blog or article directly posting your articles wins, too. They get free content for their site. And they have more pages to host contextual advertising on, usually Google AdSense.

Evaluate Your Competition

Remember, the main point of article marketing is to increase your rankings in Google. This requires a quantity of quality links.

So, how many links do you need? Can the number needed help you choose your keyword search phrases you wish to optimize for?

Yes, it can!

To know the number of links you will need for your SEO results to succeed, you must reverse engineer what your competition has done. How many links do competing sites have? What anchor text keyword phrases do their links contain?

Without evaluating your competition, you're shooting blind.

With proper SEO coaching and training, you should be able to determine a rough number of links you will need to rank well on Google for your keyword search phrases.

Write About A Topic Related To Your Business

What do you write about?

One idea is to take a topic already on your website and use that as a basis for your article. Don't use it word-for-word, but use it as an article idea, as a beginning.

Since your goal is about 600 to 900 words, you may want to provide a brief overview of a particular subject.

On the other hand, if you choose to go into more detail, you may need to limit the number of points you make in an article to 2 to 4, depending on the length and detail you go into.

Write in short sentences and short paragraphs. The white space this will create makes following change of subject, as you change paragraphs much easier for readers.

The number of articles you will need is determined by the number of keyword search phrases you are optimizing for, combined with the competition level for each of the phrases.

This is where working with an online marketing consultant, someone who has experience with link building and SEO, can really pay off for you.

What If You're Not A Good Writer?

If writing just isn't your thing, consider hiring a ghost writer to write (or at least edit) your articles. You could start with an idea, a few points and maybe a conclusion.

Make sure when hiring someone they have good English and grammar skills and they are trustworthy. You don't want to begin submitting articles only to find out that someone you've hired has "borrowed" the work from another author and that you're violating copyright laws!

Articles selling for $10 or so...well, you might want to be careful. If the offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Article directories and blogs want original content. Articles that you have reprint rights for usually won't be accepted. (Again, if it sounds really easy or too good to be true, it usually won't work.)

Online marketing consulting professionals who specialize in start up businesses and helping solo professionals often can write your articles for you or edit them. Then, those are your articles and are distributed under your name, so you're the author, you're the expert!

Wrapping It Up

First, please...you MUST be realistic. You need a budget to market. You need training or coaching. Consider hiring online marketing consultants.

Article marketing really isn't difficult. But it isn't as easy as some want you to believe (those who want to prey on newbies and separate them from their money).

Learn to detect language that falls into the "too good to be true" area and that will help protect you...your time and your money.

Follow the tips in this article and you can have a number of top positions in Google for your chosen keyword search phrases (and the income that comes with them)!


About the Author:
Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market on a budget. He's an Online Marketing Consultant offering marketing services (and d-i-y Coaching). He also offers Affordable SEO services. You can learn more about Paul at Strategic Web Marketing.net.


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