Monday, March 2, 2009

Article Marketing For Online Success

By Michael Fleischner

Article marketing is pretty popular these days. The concept of article marketing been around for a couple of years but is finally main stream. This is because it happens to be one of the best methods for developing in bound links to your website and improving search engine rankings.

For anyone who is not yet using article marketing I suggest that you start today. It costs nothing to begin and can pay huge dividends. Article marketing is here for the long term. Many people I speak to about article marketing are concerned that the space is too crowded and they are late to the game. The truth is that you don't have to be concerned that others are using article marketing because it works no matter how many people use it.

The reason that article marketing is effective is because you provide search engines and websites with quality content that references your website. In essence, you are producing keyword focused content that can drive browsers to your site or blog. If the article is created properly, you include links back to your website which serve as a powerful way to boost search engine rankings.

When you post your article on article directory websites, your content receives additional exposure and is added to related content. As your article ages you benefit from the Google page rank assigned to your article. If you included article back to your website, the value is passed back to your website.

A common mistake that is made when website owners start their article marketing campaign, is they forget to link back to their own website. Sometimes new marketers remember to insert a link to their website but the link is designed in the wrong manner. The right way to develop in bound links is by using keyword rich link text.

For those who are not sure of how to produce a link in the right way, find a tutorial on creating an html link. There are dozens of websites that provide specific instructions on creating links that display your keywords in the link text. Linking in the right way is essential if you want full benefit from article marketing.

After writing your articles and including links using the proper format, the next step is to distribute them on sites that have a high Google PR and are popular for article aggregation and or distribution. I used to believe that the benefit of these article distribution sites were that they served as a resource for webmasters seeking content. The truth however is that it is the sites Google PR itself that provides the value.

Many of these online article sites do not distribute content at all. In fact, the percentage of individuals copying content and pasting it on their site correctly is fairly limited. That said, if you focus on the top sites you derive most of your value from getting your articles posted on their website.

Create your articles and design them properly. Include links to your website in the author box. You can also try including links in the flow of text but this is sometimes not allowed by article websites. Keep in mind that your links should use keywords in the anchor text. Before you submit your articles, test all of your links to make sure they work properly. Then, you are off and running.

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