Introduction to Article Marketing
Thousands of Internet marketers are taking advantage of article writing as a free way to drive traffic to their websites and to the merchant websites they are affiliated with. Article writing is one of the best techniques to use to obtain free search listings within Google, Yahoo and other search engines.
This is how the process flows. You write an article about a topic or subject that you are either interested in or are interested in getting listed under, submit it to an article website (usually free), and then wait for it to get listed. By submitting the article to these sites you are adopting their search engine ranking, meaning that you can get listed on the first page of the results in a matter of days. This is something that could take months if you tried to optimize a website for search engines. Article marketing is 100% free and is something that anyone could (and should be doing)!
Free traffic = Free advertising = No overhead
So how does article marketing actually work? Well, generally it takes months or even years to get a site naturally listed in the main search engines like Google, Yahoo, or MSN. This is generally because a new website is not very "Popular". Popular means different things for Google, Yahoo, and MSN as they all have different search ranking algorithms, but they all have a similar ranking model. If you write an article and submit it to a "Popular" website such as "ezinearticles.com", your article will live on this domain and inherit the popularity of that entire site. This will give your article a head start by being listed in the top rank site, thus getting spidered frequently by the search engines.
Search Engine Optimization is something that marketers have been perfecting for years, but it can take a VERY long time to get your own website displayed at all under the keywords that you want. With article marketing, you leverage the power of these large sites (ezinearticles.com, squidoo.com, usfreeads.com, etc.) to get top natural listings for your articles in a fraction of the time.
We're going tell you exactly how to find the right keywords to use in article marketing, how to obtain a top listing in the search engines under these keywords, and how you can create profitable article marketing campaignsResearch Before You Start
Before you write an article, you should determine whether or not there is potential to receive traffic, how much competition you are up against, and which keywords to optimize to get maximum results. There are several ways you can search for keyword niches.
Analyzing Competition With Google
In order to determine whether or not a keyword is competitive or not, you should go to Google and check out how many search results come up under any particular keyword. You do this by typing in your search using "….." (quotes) as this will grab the results for the EXACT search phrase.
Here is an example search:
"wealthy affiliate university"
At the time when we wrote this, there were 689 results retrieved from this search in Google. A good rule of thumb is to aim for keywords where the results are less than 5000. This will make it easier to get your keywords listed as you will have much less competition to deal with. A keyword like "make money" has over 39,000,000 results. What do you think your chances are of getting your "make money" optimized article listed under this search term? Not very good! So, focus on lower competition keywords.
The next thing you will want to do is take a look at the top ranked natural listings under the search term. If the sites on the first page of natural listings have a lower page rank than the article site you are going to submit to, you have a very good chance of getting listed on the first page. To determine page rank you can either download the Google Toolbar at:
Or you can use this tool:
Analyzing traffic with the WA Keyword Research Tool
If you want to perform some keyword research, you should take advantage of the Keyword Research tool that we offer right here at Wealthy Affiliate. You can access this tool from the icon at the top of your Wealthy Affiliate dashboard. The keyword tool grabs search results from Google and will outline the competition and the keyword traffic volume, as well as allowing you to dig down and find more targeted, less competitive keywords.
Some keywords like "make money" are way too broad to create an article around. This is because it’s an extremely popular keyword and thousands of sites are already listed under it. Instead, you should focus on writing articles for more relevant keywords that are not as competitive. For example, you will be able to achieve top rankings if you promote under the term "how to make money as an affiliate" as there are just over 800 results!
Without having to do a TON of research, you can find terms that are high volume but have limited competition if you look for keywords that pertain to brand new products.
For instance, when we have launched any of our products in the past (Who Loves Money, Beating Adwords, etc) it has been very easy for members here at WA to get their articles naturally listed pre- and post- launch because there was limited competition within the search engines. With a new product, you can literally get an article listed in a number of days under the product keywords.
This is VERY powerful information and can lead to a flurry of sales for a new product. This is explained in further detail on the next pageJumping on New Products
Writing articles about new affiliate programs or brand new product releases is a great way to get listed fast within search engines because the competition is limited.
Commission Junction and LinkShare send out notifications of new merchants quite regularly and you can take full advantage of these by writing an article or two about the new products/services that are offered. In order to do this, you will need to be an active affiliate of these networks. You can sign up here:
http://www.cj.com
http://www.linkshare.com
A great tool for finding new products is available right here at WA. Our Clickbank Research Tool will not only give you access to the hottest products within Clickbank, it will also alert you about brand new products that are in the marketplace. You can find the Clickbank tool within the WA homepage menu.
TIP: When a new product comes out you can write an article for it using the product keywords. Doing this will get you a listing under that keyword very quickly. Use the following tool to find new products on Clickbank:
Where else can you find information about new products or services? Magazines, commercials, television, focus groups and news websites are all great places to find out about current trends, new products, and release dates.
Taking advantage of new products and services will allow you to get listed within the results before a lot of the competition catches up.
Alright, now that you know what kind of keywords are the most effective to use with article marketing, we're going to tell you exactly how to write an article that will be "fine tuned" for the search engines. In the next section we are going to outline how to go about "Writing Your Article"Writing Your Article
Your articles should range anywhere from 300-500 words in length. This is the ideal size to get listed within engines, and allows you enough text to promote or provide adequate information on the particular topic. If you have an article that is longer than this you may want to break it down into smaller topics that make sense and submit them separately.
Insert a title, keywords, and description within the meta tags on the webpage. You may also want to include a headline (or
tag) with your keyword phrases you are trying to obtain positioning on. The higher up on the page you have a relevant headline, the greater your chances of getting listed.When it comes to actually writing the text, you need to use basic grammar. Your article must also contain some sort of personality. If you bore your audience, they will not read what you've written, limiting your success. Ways to captivate your audience include telling a story, giving a testimonial, or reviewing a product or service. You must also provide enough information to make them feel they have gained from reading your article.
Forget the fact that you are writing an article. Pretend that you are writing an email, letter, or instructions to a friend. Make it easy to read, give step-by-step instructions, and add a personal touch. It is much easier to connect with a visitor on an emotional level if you show a personal side, rather than appearing as some automated webpage.
In terms of keyword density, or how many times your main keyword phrases should appear on any page, you should have between 3-7 occurrences (or between 3-5%). Any more than this will appear as content "spam" to the search engines, and any less will not be enough to get listed under those search terms. There are tools available that allow you to quickly analyze your pages and determine the keyword density:
Here's a quick checklist of guidelines to use when writing an article:
| Use the keywords you want to be listed under in the title of your article | |
Use the keywords in a heading tag at the top of your page Keywords | |
| Use the keywords in your opening paragraph | |
| Use the keywords in your closing paragraph | |
| Have between 300 and 500 words in your article | |
| Try to use your main keyword phrases 3-7 times per article |
Submitting Your Articles
Now it is time to submit your articles. We suggest that you only submit the same article to one place, or Google and other search engines will remove your listings because there will be exact replicates of the same content (not good). We suggest that, if you want to submit the same article to several article directories, you should change the content around so that each article you submit is slightly different.
Here is a list of the top article submission directories:
EzineArticles.com
Squidoo.com
USFreeAds.com
Hubpages.com
GoArticles.com
Wetpaint.com
ArticleDashboard.com
ArticleCity.com
EasyArticles.com
Amazines.com
ValuableContent.com
ArticlesBase.com
Search Engines
It is a good idea to submit your articles to search engines after you have obtained a URL of your page from an article site. This exercise can be redundant at times as it will not expedite the listing process too much, but it does let the search engines know that your article is there.
Getting someone to write articles for you
Since unique content is rewarded within search engines, it is important to write unique articles. This can be very time consuming, and time is one of those things that an Internet marketer cannot get enough of. For this reason, many article marketers outsource to people that do this for a living.
The great thing about this is that you will likely be able to get the work done for you right here at Wealthy Affiliate. The average article will run you about $5-$7, depending on who writes it for you. What you can do is post a job within the "WA Jobs" section and wait for the bids to roll in. You can also use other outsourcing agencies. These include:
Freelancer.com
Elance.com
Scriptlance.com
Say you wanted 10 articles on Internet Marketing basics that are 500 words each. You would specify this in your ad and independent copywriters will bid on the job. Often times this can be a very inexpensive way to get work done for you.
Note: We recommend that when you are starting out you should write all your articles yourself. This will not only give you good copywriting experience, it will save you money and allow you to learn some of the most important fundamentals of Internet marketing
Profiting with Your Article
Now we are going to answer the big question – “How do I make money article marketing?” Some of you may already have article marketing experience and will know the answer. But for those who are new to the process we are going to suggest four different methods of generating value from an article:
- Promote affiliate product directly
Sending your traffic directly to an affiliate URL is one of the most commonly used techniques associated with article marketing. You simply write a review, testimonial, or story about a product and link to the affiliate URL within or at the bottom of the article. How well your article converts to sales will depend on how captivating it is. Note that not all article engines will let you "direct link" to the merchant pages. In situations where a direct link is not allowed, you will need to create a webpage to send your traffic to. - Send them to your own product website
If you own your own product you will obviously want to create articles to drive additional traffic to your website. You could write an unbiased review, an article full of useful information, or an article on a particular subject relevant to your product. If you have a product that shows people how to make money on eBay, you may want to write an article outlining the steps that someone should take to become successful on eBay, or some tips on how to set up an eBay account. - Send them to a squeeze page
If you have a squeeze page, you may want to drive your article traffic to it. You can do this by writing articles that would attract visitors who would be interested in your mailing list, and then redirect them to your squeeze page. Make sure your offer is worthwhile or people will not subscribe to your list. Magazines, newsletters, reports, guides, and books are great giveaways. - Send them to a review site
In the same way as you promote an affiliate product, you can write articles about particular products that you are comparing on your website and then send the visitors to your review website. By the time they get to your website they will be interested in one or several of the products and will be more likely to buy. If you have five products on your review site, you could write an article about each of them
Conclusion
Article marketing does take a lot of work, and in order to succeed at it you need to set goals. Set aside enough time during the day to write 1-2 articles and by the end of the month you will potentially have 20-40 articles bringing you in traffic (and hopefully sales). The advantages of article marketing are that you do not have to be a professional to write an article, and it is FREE!
If you are new to Internet marketing and have a limited budget, article marketing is one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with important marketing fundamentals such as research, copywriting, and building pages. It will allow you to generate income that you can use to fund your advertising campaigns (PPC or otherwise). We must point out that article marketing is not "guaranteed", especially with all the changes that Google and other search engines make to their ranking algorithms. Don't rely on just one article to bring you all your sales. Keep consistent with your article marketing and you will be much more likely to be successful with it
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