Publication

When you publish your article on a directory you are providing it to the world free of charge. Because of this, anybody can republish your content. If the article is republished on a site that isn’t even ranked, your backlink within the article can actually hurt your ranking. Furthermore, some article directories don’t even have a PR ranking of 2 and this can give you a bad backlink to your website also. Run a PR check of the directories that you are publishing your articles to before you submit your piece. If you are going to use article marketing, you need to be savvy. Publish your articles on a directory that has a PR ranking of at least 5.

Duplicated Content

Duplicated content is a big no-no to Google. By now, you should know this. In the early days of the Internet, you could publish the same article on thousands of websites and have a great rank. Now, duplicated content can even lead to your website being banned. The problem with duplicated content is the fact that even phrases used within the article could be seen as duplication. Never mind actually cutting and copying the full version of an article, using the same keywords over and over again can be seen as duplicated content. If you are worried about getting your website banned by the search engines, never write an article on the same topic using the same keywords.

Anchor Text

So you have a bunch of different articles and you want to use the same anchor text for your backlink. Don’t even think about it! Anchor text is seen the same as copy and keywords. If your anchor text is “sliced bread” and it’s attached to your backlink, Google will recognize this and negatively affect your website ranking. Mix up your anchor text if you’re going to use article marketing to get your website some backlinks. One of the best ways to get backlinks is through blog comments and forum posts relevant to your site. Search the web for good posts related to your niche and post your link on their comments section to start getting some authority for your site.

Can Article Marketing Still Be Effective?

Article marketing can still be effective, but not exactly for Google rankings. There are a lot of people that keep article directories as bookmarks in their browsers. Article directories allow people to find a wealth of information very quickly. Is there a lot of junk on article directories? Yes. Does this mean that you will not be able to get a lot of readers from them? No. Article directories should be treated as another resource. Depending on the information and the quality of your content, you can still gain a lot from them. The thing about article directories is that they give people a great way to find you. This is much different than trying to gain backlinks and rank in the search engines. Article directories should be used to bring readers to your blog so they can subscribe to your RSS feeds. Other tactics can be used to rank in the search engines.

The Bottom Line

Article marketing was a trend that brought in a lot of traffic, but as all trends come to an end, it is officially dead. This doesn’t mean that you won’t benefit from article this. It just means that you need to weigh the time and effort of marketing your site through articles over building your ranks in the search engines. Article marketing is not nearly as effective as writing original content or using forums to market your site. If your primary means of getting your site ranked was through article marketing, you’ve probably already experienced a drop in your rank. Rebuild your ranking through other means to stay in good standing with Google.

Audio and video have become popular among a number of Internet marketers because they are easy and inexpensive to make. Yet article marketing is still the force that drives search engines. That’s because articles contain content that the search engines can actively find, log, and rank.

Whatever kind of products or services you are marketing, using articles is one of the most effective ways to generate interest and build one of the most important foundations of any relationship: trust. When a consumer trusts a business, they are much more inclined to purchase from them. A well-written article, full of valuable content, will build trust, and it will generate leads.

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Step 1: Writing The Article

Writing an article requires a specific purpose. For those that will be published on the web, there are two kinds. The first is keyword-stuffed and the second is content driven articles.

Keyword-stuffed articles were once the driving force of all content on the web. These articles, more commonly referred to as ‘fluff,’ were created with the sole purpose of a achieving the highest ranking within search engines. Content wasn’t very important; it was all about ranking and driving traffic to a specific website or page.

Content rich articles are the driving force of Internet marketing today because search engines have changed the way they rank web pages. Also, as more people are using the Internet to find products and services, they are demanding more information. Content driven articles are, for the most part, well-written, have useful and action-able information within them, and answer a specific question.

When you set out to write an article to promote a product or service, focus on one or two main ideas that relate to the product or service. It could be about the uses for the item or how it can help people. Stay on topic and don’t inject too many opinions.

Step 2: Watch Your Article Length!

The length of the article is important. In fact, gauging how long an article should be is a balancing act. On one end of the spectrum, short articles or overly long ones will be penalized or ignored by the search engines, and you have to contend with the attention span of your readers.

If the article takes too long to get to the point, then the reader is likely to stop move on. Getting your article into the hands (or in front of) readers is a challenge and you don’t want to waste those opportunities because of length. The best articles have a word count between 400 and 1,000 words.

Step 3: Creating Links And Backlinks

Every effective article for marketing purposes will have back links that lead the reader to the main page or sales page. Inserting these links is a delicate balancing act if you use article submission sites such as Squidoo.com or EzineArticles.com, for instance. These submission sites do not permit direct selling and only allow links to informative pages, not to sales pages.

In most of these article submission sites, you will have a resource box that is used for giving information about you, the author. It is here where you can give a brief overview of you and your blog. If you’ve written a quality article, your readers will want to know more about you.

Step 4: Make Sure You Offer Useful, Actionable Advice

The best articles use strong opening lines. In the first sentence of any article, a question that the reader has must be addressed. This narrows the focus of the article and lets the reader know that they have found the right content to read.

Once you have set the tone of the article, the main body is where you offer instruction, advice, opinions, or other pertinent information. If the writing moves off on a tangent or becomes cluttered, then there is an opportunity for the reader to stop reading. Common sense information may be useful only if it is designed to set the stage for something greater, or as an example.

Many writers fail with their blog posts because they use them as a long sales pitch, making promises that are never delivered. The writer must conduct enough research in order to compose a targeted and specific article rich with useful, actionable information and advice. Anything short of that and it becomes nothing more than fluff.

Step 5: Publishing On The Web

Articles that are never found by the search engines are about as useful as one sitting on your home computer. Marketing is about getting content in front of the public. Article submission sites, such as those mentioned, are one of the most powerful tools that businesses can use.

Most of these article submission sites offer free services, but you have to wait longer for approval. Paid services offer faster turnaround times as well as some other benefits, such as increased exposure to the search engines, advanced keyword strategies, and assistance creating better content. If you are serious about marketing and prefer top quality results, paying for memberships to article submission sites will offer a greater return on your investment of time and other resources.

You can also publish on blogs and if you know how to start a blog, then you are already in great shape. The main focus here is to get as much exposure as you can to the search engines. That will, in turn, give you the most exposure to potential clients.

Step 6: Using The Right Keywords

Not only does the author need to concentrate on content, but he also needs to incorporate keywords or keyword phrases appropriately so that the major search engines can rank it appropriately. Keywords are the driving force of search engines and the way they rank websites. Keyword phrases refine any search and when you have content rich articles and a keyword density between 2-3%, then your article marketing campaign will be a powerful tool for your business.

When you’re ready to break into the world of article marketing, knowing the ins and outs is the first step. The entire process takes time to master, from web hosting to blogging, writing the articles, and fine-tuning them to target your ideal consumer. The more you market with articles, the more exposure you will receive.