In this post you will find the following Article Marketing Tips (for newbies):
# What is Article Marketing
# How does Article Marketing Work
# Article Directories basics
# Article Writing 101
# The importance of unique content in Article Writing
# Using keywords in Article Marketing
# Article Creation Software
# Article Submission Services
# Buying Articles to use
# List of Article Directories you can submit to
What Is Article Marketing?
Article marketing is basically a disguised ad and this form of marketing has been used for decades. (not only since the internet came along). Before the internet it was much more difficult and more expensive to reach potential customers. What many companies realized was that they could write an article with some valuable information and it would then get published in various magazines without any cost for the company and the author would even get credited at the end of the article and the credit would include his job status and workplace. This ment that happy readers would credit the company and it would strengthen the brand awareness towards that company.
When the digital age came this format of marketing came even more important as it can also be used to influence search engines. What I mean by that is not only will the reader possible use a hyperlink (at the autors bio) to visit the company website (or product page) but the search engines will also rank the company website higher (give it more authority) when it finds so many articles online all pointing to it… in short, the more article you have out there pointing to you site of product the more change you have on getting to #1 place in google search.
How does Article Marketing Work?
When you have a product or a website that you would like people to visit you can use articles to let people know about it. Basically you write an interesting article on a subject related to your website/product, and at the end of the article you tell people where they can find more valuable information or even the solution to the problem and point them to you website. It’s really that simple and it will result in two things. First of all you hopefully will get the readers interested enough to click the link you provide. With every article you publish online you will also improve your search engine rank. (the search engine part does involve proper use of keywords explained later in this post).
Article Directories Basics
There are numerous article directories online that will accept your articles but they do not all work in the same way and some have more impact on google than others. If you are in affiliate marketing then you really do not need more directories then in the article directorie list at the bottom of this post. If you have a company and you will only be promoting specific types of products then you should be looking for product specific article directories (like ArticleGarden.com that focuses on Sustainable Living Articles).
The first thing you need to learn is patience. Article marketing takes time and usually you will also have to wait for a couple of weeks to see real results. Just keep in mind that this is a free method of marketing and it’s one of the most powerful ones if you keep at it and do it right.
When it comes to Article directories you need to learn some basic rules. First of all, the best directories don’t like it when your article body (the main text) sounds to selling. Think of these directories as magazines, if you want to place an ad you will have to pay and you can do what you want with your page but if you want an article published you have to provide valuable information to the readers and not just a sales pitch.
This does not mean that you can’t sell. This is where the author’s bio box comes in. Every article comes with some “information about the autor” but you don’t have to put credentials there, you can simply put in something like:
“Hopefully you are somewhat closer to a resolution to your problem. If you are still thirsty for knowledge here is some more information on bedwetting teenagers. If you want to stop the bed wetting righ now the visit BedwettingTeenagers.info”
Now let’s see how all that comes together in Article Writing 101 as I want all your articles to get published and not rejected!
Article Writing 101 – Learn to write articles that sell and get accepted.
A good article is put together of 3 important things: | Title | Article body | Resource box/Bio Box |
1) The Title
Let me be very clear on this: The Title Is The MOST Important Part Of Your Article!
If you are wondering why.. let me explain. You article will be listed in directories and found in search engines and if your title isn’t “sexy” enough then NO ONE will click to take a closer look at your article.. it’s as simple as that. Now there are a few ways to make it appealing and interesting. Using some “magic” words will help you but the best tool you can use is your brain. Do some google searches on a topic you like and see which titles makes you wan’t to click on them… make notes of what words are being used and how they are put together. There is now reason for you to be inventing the wheel.. learn from the success of others.
But to help you I will show you some “magic words” for your title and use a before/after to show the dramatic effect.
“warning” and “danger” are good words to use:
Before title: “Learn How To Build A Chicken Coop In Your Backyard”
After title: “WARNING: Don’t Start To Build A Chicken Coop Until You Have Read This!”
the word “secret” is also very powerful
Before title: “10 Tips That Will Help You Loose Weight Quickly!”
After title: ” 10 Powerful Weightloss Secrets Revealed To Help You Loose Weight Quickly!”
“How To..” is also a very popular and good one that needs no further explaining.
Asking questions that call for an answer is always great
Before title: “7 Good Ways To Prevent A Heart Attack!”
After title: ” Do You Know The 7 Best Ways To Prevent A Heart Attack?”
These titles should get your head on the right track. Just remember to use powerful adjectives like Powerful, Best, Great, Super, Most, Easy, Simple, Fast, Quick and of course the word FREE!
Finally, VERY IMPORTANT: make sure that your keyword is in the title. I explain this further in the #keyword part of this post
2) The Article Body
The lenght of your article is important for two reasons. First of all, people really don’t like to read to much on the screen, they like to scan. The other reason is simply that all the extra information would give you more power in a seperate article. You should always aim to have your articles close to 350 words (excluding the title and the bio/resource box). So do yourself a favour and split your 700-900 articles into two and you will get twice the power!
I should not have to explain to you the importance of spelling and grammar.. but I’ll do it anyway. ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR!.. now was that loud enough for you? There are plenty of applications that can spell check for you. You can even get spell checking plugins for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Bad spelling and grammar will not only give the reader a bad impression of you but can also lead to your articles getting declinded by the directories. Incorrect spelling can also effect the search engines, especially if you make mistakes spelling the keywords!
There is a proper way to build up an article to make it sell. There has been a very popular acronym used in marketing for decades, it’s AIDA and it spells Attention-Interest-Desire-Action. Always think of AIDA when writing articles. First of all, you grab the Attention using a good title. Then you use the first paragraphs to raise interest, explain a bit bit further, use examples anyone can understand and perhaps show proof using a quote or a testimonial. Finally you have to get the reader to want something (Desire), it can be more information, a solution, etc. And that is how you should end the article body.. having the reader craving more. Then the Action usually comes in the bio/resource box.
Some article directories allow you to use 1 link in the article body and some don’t allow it at all. Personally I never put a link in the body and my articles and keywords are doing really well (few in #1 position at google) so I guess it does not really matter that much. You put the links in the resource/bio box.. which we cover next.
Regarding the content of your article body it should be broken into 3 parts. (this method is very well know in sales).
1) In the first part you simply tell the reader what you are about to tell him, sort of like a very short introduction. This should be your first paragraph and try not to make longer than 2 or 3 sentences.
2) The second part conains the points or tips you are giving the reader
3) And in the third part you tell them what you told them. Give them a short sum-up of everything.
Using this method makes it very easy to write articles as you can simly write the middle part first and then the other two parts are very easy as they are simply a summary of the middle part.
3) the Resource and/or bio box
The resource box is different from one directorie to another and some don’t even have it. The Resource box is where you put your Call To Action, where you make the sale. This is where you can put the links. You should always use two links and at least one of them should be the keyword, like this: “here is my full <a href=”YourLinkHere”>Mass Article Control Review</a> if you want more information.” and then you can either use another keyword sniping link or show a domain name you want to brand like: “then chek out my website: <a href=”http://www.theclickbanknewbie.com”>www.TheClickBankNewbie.com</a>”
The volume of text you can put in the resource box also varies between the directories, EzineArticles.com for examples allows you to use up to 300 words so you can really use that to sell but others only allow a fraction of that. It is a good rule to always have two versions available to copy/paste in, a short one and a long one.
In some directories there is no resource box. In those cases you either have to put your “call to action text” in the author bio box or at the bottom of the article body. If you put it in the article bottom then always use the preview to see if the directorie will strip the html out, if they do you have to use the Author bio box. These rules are always posted on the article sites so you can just read their publish guidlines to find out how they operate.
Regarding the links, many article directories ban the use of hoplinks (if you don’t know what a hoplink is then check out my Affiliate Newbie Basics post). There are a couple of ways to deal with that. You can use a free services like tinyurl.com or Addme.com. But a more sophisticated way is to simply buy a .info domain at GoDaddy for a $1 and have it auto-forward to your hoplink. (learn how to forward your domain at GoDaddy coming soon).
Putting it all toghether
If you are thinking “Oh My God.. This is so much work..!” - just take a deep breath and relax a bit and let me calm you down. It may look like a lot of work but it really isn’t. The first two or three articles might take a bit long to write but after that you will do it in no time. For me article writing is a pain.. at least before I start. I procrastinate and try to find someting else to do so I don’t have to begin just yet. And after quite a while and painful thoughts I begin and swooosh it’s done, and I always think “wow, that was quick, why was I worried?”.
Just stay positive, think of the potential income behind every article and start with a big smile (did I mention that just one well written article can put thousands of dollars in your pocket in just a few months!)
If you would like a step-by-step guide to article and bum marketing then I highly recommend you check out my One Week Marketing review – It’s the best newbie program I’ve seen!
The importance of unique content in Article Writing
Now that you are able to write your first article and submit it there is something you need to know. You can’t submit that article to more than ONE directorie! The really good article directories want unique content, meaning that they don’t want to publish the same article you published somewhere else 2 minutes ago. If you do, you risk both directories pulling your article and that is not good. But that’s not all. If the search engines are finding the same article again and again they mark it as spam and you will not get the rank pull you hoped for.
If you want that same article published elsewhere you need to rewrite it. You simply have to be willing to put in the work of writing at least 1 article a day, 5 articles if you really want to secceed! You can get software that will help you creating 100’s of unique articles from just 1 original, but more on that after we cover keywords.
Using keywords in Article Marketing
Using your keywords in your articles is almost the only reason why you are writing them in the first place! This is not so difficult to master.
First of all, you must put your keyword in the title. So if you keyword is ‘how to build a chicken coop’ your title could be something like “How To Build A Chicken Coop And Save Thousands!” – It’s always good to have the keyword as close to the front as possible.
Next you want to put your keyword in the first paragraph of you article and as close to the beginning as possible. Something like: “Online you can find many ebooks on how to build a chicken coop. However, many of them…”
Now as a rule of thumb, you should aim to put your keyword in at least once pr. every 100 words or so.
Finally you MUST ’snipe’ your keyword in the resource box. Sniping means that you are hyperlinking the keyword. Here is an example so there is no misunderstanding of this:
“To save both time and money learn <a href=”yourlinkhere”>how to build a chicken coop</a> using my secret method.”
These are the fundamentals of using keywords in articles. There are different rules in blogging so make sure you check out my blog marketing post (coming soon).
Article Creation Software
Writing articles is probably the part most people hate. Personally I often find it painful so I always look for the easy way out. I have tried and tested some programs and here are the ones I really like.
First of all there is the Instant Article Wizard Pro. If you are promoting a product you are not that familiar with this tool will be your best friend. It will generate the text for you using keywords you give it. Of course the text will not be perfect so you will need to rewrite but it will save your hours and even days in research. There is a very good video showing how it works in my Instant Article Pro review.
When you have written an article you like there are ways to make unique copies of it. You don’t want to send the same article all over the place as some article directories will not accept duplicate content and the search engines will not be happy with it. There are two products that I like that do that for you.
The best one in my opinion is the Unique Article Wizard. It it very easy to use, quick and it will also send out 100’s of articles for you. Using this product will cost $67 every month but if you can affort that I say go for it.. you will soon reap as you sow! For all the details on this product check out my Unique Article Wizard review.
As I mentioned there is a second choice, the Mass Article Control. It’s a product similar to UAW, meaning that it will also create unique versions of your article but it does so in a very different way. There is also a Mass Article Submitter included but it is a bit limited. But for a single 77 dollar fee I’d say that this product is a bargain! For full details, check out my Mass Article Control review.
Article Submission Services
Submitting by hand to all the article directories is time consuming but if you are willing to open up your wallet you can make this easier.
Article Marketer is by far the best and easiest way to distribute your articles. They are the larget distribution network in the industry with over 200 million article distributions. At the moment their FREE ‘lite’ service is still open but they have announced that they will be closing it soon so get in while you can! There is great value in their ‘unlimited’ paid service. They have 3.463 sites in 364 categories and you can distribute unlimited articles to those sites for only $34 pr month. There is also an offer for lifetime membership option where you pay $599 ($10 month for 5 years) and never a penny more.
Then there is the Unique Article Wizard I mentioned above. It’s also super good. I’m personally using this one.
ArticleBot from Incansoft is also good to use and has a super good price ($24.95). It’s not as good as the two above but if you don’t have much in your wallet this is a smart choice.
Finally there is the Article Submitter from Bred Callen. It’s far from being as good as the others but it is FREE!
IMPORTANT: I would recommend that you always send manually to the top 3 article directories to make absolutely sure everything goes smooth. (see article directories list below)
Buying Articles To Use
I’m still doing a little testing on this.. but as soon as I’m done with that (before the end of july) I will post my recommendations here.
List Of Article Directories You Can (and should) Submit To
Note that these directories handle articles differently, Ezine Articles for example will take at least 7 days to review your article while GoArticles will post it right away. Learn how they work, read and follow their guidlines and you will be in good shape.
Tip: Always, always, alwasy submit your articles to Ezine and Go Articles, these are the two most important as these are google’s favorite!
Ezine Articles - This is the number one directorie and if you only send to one directory make sure it’s this one. Google just loves them!
Go Articles – This is the other directorie Google loves.
iSnare Articles - If you always submit to these three directores then you are sure to have success!
Here are some other good article directories to send to:
SearchWarp
Articlesbase
Idea Marketers
Article Dashboard
Amazines
Buzzle
Article Snatch
Article Alley
Article City
It seems that in the last year people have really been discovering the enormous power of a good blog. Blog marketing is simply a term used to describe a blog that’s sole purpose is to market a product, website, company,etc.
