Web Design Discussion

If you have an online business you need to constantly market it to attract web traffic. Article marketing is one of the best strategies for creating content that produces a constant stream of traffic. For example if one article achieves a top ranking in the search engines it will keep driving traffic to your site as long as it maintains its rankings.

If you’ve been blogging for a while you probably have blog posts (articles) written years ago that can be submitted to article directories. Look through your blog archives and select articles that contain valuable content for your readers.

Benefits of submitting blog posts to article directories

1. Reach a larger audience

Content on your blog gets read by people finding your blog through your newsletter, RSS feed, search engines or social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. The top article directories such as ezinearticles receive over one million visitors a day. Submitting your blog article to them enables you to receive some of that traffic. If an ezine publisher selects your article from the directory and publishes it in an ezine with 1000s of subscribers you’ll receive an instant boost in web traffic.

2. Build backlinks to your web site

Receiving quality backlinks boosts your search engine rankings. Including a link back to your web site in the resource box at the end of your article redirects visitors from the directory to your site.

3. Increase presence of low ranking blog articles

If you check your web site statistics you’ll find certain keywords attain high rankings and get lots of traffic whereas many of them don’t rank at all. This is because blog posts generally have little or no links pointing to them. To help them get better traction in the search engines link to those articles within your article resource box using anchor text (hyperlinked keyword). This will improve the traffic to your blog.

Action step
Find 10 blog articles, submit them to ezinearticles and link back to your blog in the resource box then monitor your statistics for a month.

You will be pleasantly surprised.

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Learn how to attract a continuous stream of NEW visitors
to your website by picking up a copy of Article Writing & Marketing Strategies

Herman Drost is the CEO of http://www.iSiteBuild.com
Web Design, Hosting, SEO.

Have you ever been captivated by an article in the newspaper because it began with a story?
It immediately draws you into the content making you want to read more. You can do the same when writing your own article. It makes you stand out from the competing articles in your niche and provides a great template for writing articles on any subject.

Here’s an example of writing an article based on a story:

How to build your article writing muscles so you can write faster and easier

Last year I was playing soccer several times a week on a local community team and was hoping to complete the season without injuries. Well, half way through the season I developed a severe case of tendonitis in my right ankle. It became painful to walk and was unable to run or play soccer anymore. I even had to hobble to the bathroom when getting up in the morning.

Several weeks passed but the pain wouldn’t subside so I called my doctor and he gave me some stretching and muscle strengthening exercises to try out. I diligently and consistently followed them for several months (plus switched to bicycling). After 6 months my ankle tendonitis had disappeared.

What I learnt
To prevent muscle or ligament injuries strengthen and stretch the muscles (and surrounding ones) specific to your sport. Keep in mind it will take a lot of perseverance and patience.

This story applies to article writing as well. It my be very difficult to write your first article. You’ll try to find all kinds of excuses to procrastinate. You may suffer from anxiety and frustration because you know all the powerful benefits of article marketiing but you can’t get your article finished.

You develop your article muscles by practicing every day (even though it initially may be painful) until you can quickly and easily write several articles in one sitting or churn out a 300-500 word article in 30 minutes or less.

Use this article template to write or rewrite articles based on telling a story. It helps illustrate the main point you wish to make and keeps the attention of your readers.
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Learn how to quickly and easily write an article a day
by getting a copy of my ebook:
Article Marketing Strategies

Web site owners spend big money to achieve top rankings in the search engines so customers will find them easily to purchase their products or services. A web site that appears after the first page on Google won’t get any traffic unless they employ other methods of marketing.

Google maps changes all this. Now local businesses can attain first page listings without paying anything. When a customer enters a keyword to find a local business Google will automatically display businesses that are closest to you. Local results are displayed above the regular listings.

Example
If a customer enters “web site design bowie maryland” they will see your company information listed at the top of the search results.

How to get listed in Google Maps

Open an account at Google’s local business center then submit your web site and company information. You can create multiple listings if you have more than one local business.

How to optimize your listing on Google Maps

1. Choose the correct category

Enter the category that best describes your business ie web design, dentist, photographer, etc.

2. Create a captivating description

This is what customers will read about your business. Describe it in such a way that will want to check it out. Include keywords customers would enter to find your business.

3. Make your listing stand out

Here are the things you can include in your listing:

• Description
• Payment
• Email
• Business Hours
• Categories
• Photos
• Reviews

Enter as much information as possible so it will stand out from your competitors (their business will be listed with yours).

4. Location

If your business location is in the center of the town, it is more likely that it will appear at the top of the list.

5. Get listed in other local directories

Google Maps gathers it’s results from other online directories and databases therefore submit your web site to online yellow pages and yahoo local. Find other local directories by entering keyword+location in the search box.

6. Optimize your web pages

Include the city and state names on the home page of your web site. Place them in the meta tags and web copy. This makes it easier for customers to find your business because you’ll a top listing in the search engines.

7. Encourage customers to write reviews

You can improve the your listing by getting customers to write positive reviews about your business. The more stars you acquire the higher your position becomes.

If you follow the 7 steps outlined above your web site will achieve a good listing in Google Maps and you’ll start attracting visitors from the search engines.

Also read Top Search Engine Rankings Don’t Guarantee Success

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To get your web site optimized for the search engines
please visit: Search Engine Optimzation Services

To make article marketing work you need to write lots of articles quickly. The days of just writing one article, publishing it and receiving a torrent of traffic are gone. Now there is lots of competition. Site owners realize that article marketing works so many are using that strategy to market their web sites.

In order to stand out from your competition you need to work harder and be creative. This means writing faster to produce more content, publishing it though different channels and repurposing it for audio and video distribution.

Here are the steps to write a 300 word article in 30 minutes or less

1. Pick a topic

This should be a topic you are very familiar with. A topic that requires research is not going to get completed in 30 minutes.

2. Record your time

Write down the current time on paper before you start writing. Alternatively you can use an online stop watch (Google it to find the address) or an egg timer. This helps focus your mind.

3. Eliminate distractions

It’s difficult to focus if your mind is constantly distracted by other things demanding your attention so don’t respond to emails, answer the phone or do other tasks. It will help get you into your writing zone.

4. Let your writing flow

Just start writing without worrying about correct punctuation, spelling or grammar mistakes. This allows your thoughts to flow freely from your mind. Only stop when you’ve run out of ideas. Some ideas can be used to generate their own articles so jot them down so you remember to go back to them.

5. Edit your article

Correct your article only after you’ve finished writing it. After proofreading and correcting obvious errors let it sit for a few hours then review it again. You’ll view it from a fresh prespective and improve it’s quality.

Your first few articles may take longer than 30 minutes but with practice you’ll be able to write your articles faster and easier. Those of you who are speed typists may be able to write your content under 30 minutes.

This article took exactly 30 minutes to write.
Now take action and write your own.

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Learn how to quickly and easily write an article a day
by getting a copy of my ebook:
Article Marketing Strategies

When you try to write an article a day it may seem like a huge hurdle to jump over but once you’ve accomplished that goal many opportunities open up to you.

Let me make an analogy.

The beginning of summer I could hardly swim a length before running out of breath. Every day I tried to swim a little further to build up my stamina. By the end of summer I could easily swim non-stop for 1 hour. I could even swim a whole length underwater in one breath.

The same applies to your article writing. You start by writing your first article then increase it to 3 articles per week until you can write one a day. You have to build up your article writing muscles.

7 Benefits of Writing an Article a Day

1. Create lots of content

You need content for your web site, blog, social media sites, ecourses, article directories, newsletters so you get reach more customers.

2. Build backlinks

You are allowed 2 links in the resource box of your article. The more articles you write the more backlinks you acquire.

3. Pre-sell your products

Articles place your customers in a buying mood because you help them make an informed decision. For instance if you write a review comparing different products it will help your client make the best selection.

4. Increase search engine rankings

If you write several articles about your product and include links to your product page it will boost its rankings. If the product page achieves a first page listing its traffic will increase and you’ll make more sales.

5. Expand your audience

As your articles get published all over the Web and if you continue to do this for several years, your customers will find you everywhere. By repurposing your articles into audio and video files you’ll reach people who prefer to access content in that format.

6. Improve your writing skills

To become excellent at anything you need to practice profusely. Writing an article a day will become quicker and easier as you practice more. You can extend your writing skills to include press releases, copy writing, creating sales pages or getting hired as a ghostwriter.

7. Become recognized as an expert in your niche

Writing an article every day enables you to create content for your own information products such as reports, ebooks, newsletters and membership sites. These products can be used to build your own information empire.

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Learn how to quickly and easily write an article a day
by getting a copy of my ebook:
Article Marketing Strategies

If you’re already writing content for your blog or web site, consider adding an additional income stream by writing articles for profit. This can be achieved without too much effort and also improve your writing skills.

Top 10 Ways to make money online writing articles

1. Report or ebook

Take the articles you’ve already written (or modify them) and weave them together to create short reports or an ebook. A report need only be 10-15 pages long. If you have 15 related articles you already have enough to sell your report. Sell it for $7-$10.00.

An ebook is more substantial than a report and will sell for more. For instance a 100 page ebook could sell for $47.00 or more. To make it easier to create your ebook split the content into chapters. Use the articles you’ve already written for chapter content.

2. Ecourse

Create a series of email messages from your articles then load them into an autoresponder. Schedule each message ot be sent every few days. Within each message promote your own product or an affiliate product. By constantly reminding your visitor about the product in your follow-up messages you have a greater potential to make a sale.

3. Webinar

Take the articles you’ve already written and record them by reading into your recorder. Play the audio for your webinar or even sell it as a product. Charge visitors to attend your webinar or if you offer it for free channel direct them to your products.

4. Video

Create a video of your article by reading it on camera or making a slide show. Use the videos for upselling a report or ebook or even as a stand alone product.

5. AdSense

These are Google ads placed within your web site content. When someone clicks on them you make a few cents. If your web site or blog has 100s of pages containing adsense ads your earnings will increase dramatically. The beauty of this system is that it’s free and easy to set up and enables you to earn a passive income.

6. Ghostwriter

Web site owners constantly need unique content to attract visitors. A ghostwriter writes the article for you without receiving recognition for it apart from making money. For instance you could charge $300.00 for a well researched, well written article.

7. Newsletter

A newsletter is a great vehicle for making long term and short term money.

Short term
A the end of each article in your newsletter promote your products. Alternatively offer advertisers paid ads in your newsletter as long as they relate to your content.

Long term
Your newsletter builds long term relationships with your subscribers. People usually buy from people they know and trust. This provides an opportunity to sell your products and services to your subscribers over and over again as long as they remain subscribed.

8. Website promotion

Constantly adding new articles to your web site increases your traffic. For instance an article optimized for the search engines may gain a first page ranking. Most folks only visit the first page to get the information they seek. If the web page containing your article maintains it’s high rankings, you’ll generate ongoing sales.

9. Content writing web sites

Sites such as ehow and associatedcontent will pay you to write articles for them. The amount of money you make depends on the quantity and quality of the articles.

10. Web based ads

If your web site or blog contains many high ranked articles or gets 1000s of visitors every day you’ll probably get offers from advertisers to place an ad or link on your web site. They will pay you for the traffic their ad receives.

Alternatively you can sign up for services that will pay you to place their ads on your site. It’s a great way to earn a passive income without doing anything except inserting the ad and collecting your money.
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Learn how to drive attract 1000s of visitors to
your web site by getting a copy of my ebook:
Article Marketing Strategies

A well written article will attract more visitors than one hastily put together. It will also create a viral effect because good content gets quickly distributed around the Net by people publishing, linking and/or bookmarking it.

Read these 2 articles for the top reasons and ways to rewrite articles:

Top 5 Reasons to Rewrite Your Article
Top 3 Ways to Rewrite Your Article

How not to rewrite articles

Don’t just create a copy of the original article by changing the words or sentences around. It will read the same. For the content to be unique it needs to stand on its own. The original and rewritten content should not be recognized as the same article.

How to rewrite an article

1. Define your purpose

Determine what your article will be used for and how many versions you need. For example publish the original article to your web site, blog or article directory. The purpose of your second (rewritten) article is to use it as a guest article on a high traffic web site such as an online magazine, ezine or blog.

2. Write the original article

Set a time limit and just start writing content so your creative ideas freely flow from your mind. Don’t worry about correcting the spelling or grammar mistakes until you’ve completed the article.

After letting it sit for a few hours or a day review what you’ve written before to make sure it is free of errors and ready for publication.

3. Rewrite the original article

• Create a different title.
• Rewrite each paragraph by using alternative keywords and altering the sentence structure.
• Use the thesaurus to find synonyms for words you used in the first article.
• Redo the resource box by changing the call to action and using different anchor text.

4. Create a fresh article

Sometimes it’s hard to rewrite the same article and not duplicate what you’ve already written. To avoid this write a new article from a different perspective using alternative keywords. They will spark new ideas.

Other ideas may include:

Stories
News articles captivate readers by beginning with a story. Do the same for your article but include some points they can act upon.

Lists
People love checklists because they’re easy to read. Create a checklist of points from your original article.

Frequently asked questions
Visit forums and blogs to read what questions are being the asked the most in your niche then answer them in your content.

Tip
Link your original article to the rewritten one(s) to improve its link popularity and search engine rankings. Don’t link to an article that says the same thing in different words. It will upset your readers. Instead only link to unique articles that compliment each other.

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Cut your article writing and rewriting time by 75%
by reading my review of Article Architect.

Article rewriting can be boring because you get tired of looking at the same content however the top writers create multiple drafts before submitting their final copy for publication. The final copy becomes their best one because the content has been refined and major grammar, spelling errors eliminated.

To understand the benefits of rewriting your article please read..
Top 5 reasons to rewrite your article

Let’s look at some of the ways to rewrite an article

1. Do it yourself

If you’re the person that wrote the original content it will be easy to write similar content based on what you’ve already written. Simply rewrite the title and paragraphs by altering the sentence structure and using synonyms or write the article from a different angle ie create a list, write a story, etc.

2. Ghostwriter

As a writer you often don’t want to write the article again. This may be due to:

• lack of time
• tired of looking at the same content
• lack of creative ideas
• lack confidence to create different content from the original
• lack motivation

If you fall into any one of the above categories, consider hiring a ghostwriter to create another version of your article.

A ghostwriter will have a different writing style than yourself so the article will be fresh and unique. It will address the same topic from a different angle so it can’t be distinguished from the original.

To find a ghostwriter, enter “need an article” in the Google search box.

3. Article rewriting software

There is software that spins your article automatically creating 100s of even 1000s versions of the same article. The problem is that the article often doesn’t read well. It’s obvious it was not written by a human. These types of articles often get rejected by quality article directories.

Only use software which allows you to open up the original article to modify or rewrite it yourself then save several unique versions for publication.

I use Article Architect to write, rewrite and submit my articles to multiple directories. Other features built into the software include:

• title brainstormer
• keyword research
• word/character counter
• publishing content directly to your WordPress Blog

Instead of writing, saving and publishing one article at a time, this software will store all your articles in one location for easy access.

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Cut your article writing and rewriting time by 75%
by purchasing Article Architect.

Article marketing is a proven method for building backlinks, increase search engine rankings and attracting a continuous stream of visitors. Most article writers will write one article then publish it on their web site or blog and submit the same article to multiple directories.

Unless you rewrite your draft article it will only be mediocre. Most professional writers rewrite their article several times before publishing it.

What does rewriting mean?

It means you can rewrite the whole article or just sections of it depending on the purpose of your content.

Writers who focus more on quantity than quality may spit out a 300-400 word article in 30 minutes then publish it immediately. This may be good for blogs and some article directories that don’t check for quality however rewritten articles tend to be of higher quality.

Top 5 Reasons To Rewrite Your Article

1. Improves content quality

When writing an article it’s best to just write as you think without going back to correct how it reads. It enables your ideas to flow easily. After completing the article let it sit for a while, review it then rewrite sections that can be improved. It will greatly increase the content quality.

2. Corrects grammar and spelling mistakes

It’s easy to miss grammar and spelling errors after first writing the article. If you let another pair of eyes check it they’ll often find errors that you missed. Rewriting it will eliminate the errors.

3. Create several unique versions

If you submit the same content all over the Web the first submission will be indexed by the search engines. If you want your content to gain more exposure rewrite it to create another unique version. By submitting different versions to the top article directories so you don’t have to worry about duplicate content. Each article will generate its own new stream of traffic.

4. Generate multiple streams of traffic

Every time you rewrite an article, use each draft to attract new visitors. Rewrite at least 20% of the original content so it stands on its own as a unique article then submit it to different publications.

5. Become a a guest writer

Your guest article should be your best one. It will be your final draft that has been rewritten several times. Contact your publisher to find out what length they require and tell them they’ll get exclusive rights to it. This means you it won’t publish it elsewhere. Often times it needs to be several pages in length. In that case bundle several articles together.

Don’t dismiss print publications like magazines or newspapers. Exposing your business to these channels attracts a wider audience as these visitors may not spend much time online.

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Cut your article writing and rewriting time by 75%
Purchase a copy of Article Architect
Read my review

When designing a web site on your own computer it’s easy to forget how it appears on other computers because of the screen size or the operating system platform. If your building the web site on a PC it may not display the same as on a MAC. This means you could be losing visitors to your web site and missing out on potential sales.

To read my article on “What screen size should you test your web site for” visit: Screen Display Resolution

To read my article on “What browsers should you check your website for?” visit: Cross Browser Compatibility

Operating system platform statistics
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

These include WinXP, W2000, Win7, Vista, W2003, Linux, Mac.

Looking at the chart above, Windows XP is the most popular operating system and the Windows family counts for about 90% of all Internet users.

Ways to test your web site for different Operating system platforms

Browser Cam
http://www.browsercam.com
This is a paid service (although you can get a free trial) that enables you to view your web design on any browser on any operating system. It checks javascripts, DHTML, forms and other dynamic functionality on any platform.

It also allows you to test your site on different devices such as Iphone OS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

Install Multiple Operating Systems
Create 2 partitions on your hard drive then install an operating system on each drive. For example install Windows on one drive and Linux on the other. You can boot to either operating system for testing. Installing the MAC operating system on a PC is not recommended as it’s not PC compatible.

Check Mac Browsers
You can check how your web site will appear on a MAC by using the MAC browser versions of Opera, Firefox and the Windows version of Safari. These three browsers share the same rendering engine across platforms. If you validate your HTML it will reduce display errors. The only other way to test is to view your web site on a MAC computer.

Ask Other Computer Users
If you design your web sites on a pc and your customer owns a mac, just ask a friend to view your design on their MAC before sending it to the customer. Do the same to test for other operating system platforms.

If you can’t find a friend visit web design forums. You’ll find many friendly folks willing to help you out.

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To receive a free quote for professional web site design that
will correctly display across multiple operating system platforms,
screen resolutions and browsers visit:
Professional Web Design