Is Article Marketing Still Effective?
Saturday, July 31st, 2010Article marketing has always been a bone of contention amongst internet marketers and search engine optimizers. Does it really work, and if so, how?
Article marketing is, at its core, the process of writing relatively short (usually 400 - 600 words) articles on a specific niche topic, and then submitting them to as many article directories as possible. This in itself presents us with two possible outcomes:
1. The publishing of your articles could potentially drive large amounts of natural traffic to our website via the “author resource box” as many of the popular article directories have a good readership.
2. The publishing of your articles could result in purely generating backlinks to our website through the resource box.
Therefore, the very first call that you need to make when starting out with article marketing is which route you wish to go - if you just want to build backlinks to your website, you don’t really need to create articles that generate interest from readers. They just need to be good enough to be accepted by the article directories (whose standards are usually not particularly high) and include your desired keywords.
If, on the other hand, you want to actually get people to read your articles (from start to end), and thus get them to click through to your website, it would be wise to invest some more time and energy in actually writing high quality, readable and enjoyable articles. Apart from receiving the natural traffic, you will obviously also enjoy the SEO benefit of generating backlinks.
Whichever route you decide to go, the fundementals remain the same.
Outsource the Writing
You need to focus on what you’re good at, and apply yourself wherever you are most productive. Unless you find yourself with a lot of time and nothing else to do, you would probably be better off outsourcing the writing of your articles to an article writer. Remember that if you are aiming to gain actual readership and click-through, you should look for an article writer who is experienced in your niche and writes quality, enjoyable articles. A poorly written article, no matter how interesting it is, will not encourage click through. Outsourcing the article writing function will ensure a consistent growth of backlinks and natural traffic to your website, regardless of your personal schedule. Consistency, after all, is key.
Distribute Smart, Not Hard
Whilst there are hundreds upon hundreds of article directories available on the internet (and hundreds of tools that submit to them “automatically”, most of these directories either have no readership or poor Google PR, or both. Rather spend your time wisely submitting to five or ten popular article directories that have earned respect from their visitors for their level of editorial quality. If you are going to use a distribution service, look for one that distributes to a quality database of directories. It’s better to have your article featured in five good directories than five hundred shoddy ones.
Pay Attention to the Resource Box
What you wish to achieve using article marketing will dictate which route you need to follow for this point:
If you want to build backlinks purely for SEO purposes, be sure to switch and swap your anchor text in your resource box when submitting. If your backlink anchor text is exactly the same in a hundred different directories, you can be sure that the search engines are going to give you an odd look.
If, on the other hand, you wish to generate click-through from readers, it would be a good idea to split-test your resource box copy. You may want to use two or three variations and test which of them results in the best click-through rate (CTR). Continuous split testing will ensure that you enjoy the best possible CTR over time.
To recap on all of this, you need to ensure that you follow these three article marketing fundamentals:
1. Outsource the task of writing to a professional (unless you are particularly skilled at this).
2. Distribute your articles to a select few quality article directories.
3. Manage your resource box effectively.
Keep this in mind when approaching article marketing and you’re sure to reap the rewards. Article marketing certainly does work, and can work for you, provided that you get the basics right.
About the Author
By Derek Jansen, professional article writer. For a professional, effcient and reliable article writing service, visit http://www.seobasicscourse.com/article-writing-services.html
Article Source: Content for Reprint
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