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In my previous article I discussed the Cons of Using Submission Software to distribute your articles however there are also some advantages as long as you do it correctly. Most marketers want to spend more time on the most important tasks of their business such as creating new content rather than manually submitting articles which is a boring and time consuming task.
The Top 7 Pros of Using Submission Software
There is no doubt writing and submitting articles attracts a continuous stream of visitors to your web site however if done incorrectly it may only result in a trickle.
To get the maximum performance from your article submissions follow these 7 tips:
1. Check grammatical errors
At the very least check for spelling errors by running your article through a spell checker. I write my article in notepad then copy and paste it into MS Word which has a spell checker and can also do a word count.
2. Get someone to proof read your article
When writing your own articles it’s easy to make mistakes that you don’t see initially because you have been engrossed in creating the content. The creative aspect of your mind is working well but your detailed mind is not. Give it to someone else to proof read. They will be more objective and will read it with a a fresh pair of eyes.
If no one is available, let the article sit for a few hours or a day then come back to it. You’ll be amazed how many errors you’ll find plus you’ll find better ways to construct your sentences to improve its readability.
3. Select the category that relates best to your article topic
Now that you’re ready to submit the article choose the most appropriate category. For example if your topic is on “article writing” select the “writing and speaking” category then select the subcategory “writing articles.”
4. Write an appealing title
Even though you already have a title for your article, review it again before entering it in the article directory. The title should encapsulate the description of your article content. Make sure it grabs the attention of your readers and include your main keyword. Search engines will index and rank content based on the keywords you use.
5. Create a great description
Publishers looking for articles for their ezines will scan the titles then read the brief descriptions in the article directories. They’ll choose the one that appeals to them most therefore write a description that will make the reader want more.
6. Include a call to action in the resource box
Your content prepares the visitor’s mind to take action. It should naturally transition into your resource box so it looks like part of the article. The resource box is where you ask the reader to subscribe to your ezine, visit your web site and/or download a free report.
7. Include links back to your web site
EzineArticles (the most popular article directory) allows 2 links in the resource box. Use anchor text (live link text) for one link, and your full web site address for the other. This is to make sure your URL still appears at the bottom of your article should the reader just copy and paste your article into their newsletter.
Tip
Don’t submit your article to 100s of directories. It will look like you’re spamming the search engines. Submit to ezinearticles first because it receives the most traffic. Wait till your article has been published before submitting it to other article directories. Google only indexes and ranks original content. If you submit the same article to other directories it will be recognized by Google as duplicate content.
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Attract a continuous stream of NEW visitors to your website by picking up a copy of Article Marketing Strategies.
Herman Drost is the CEO of http://www.iSiteBuild.com
Affordable Web Site Design, Web Hosting and SEO.
Article marketing is only effective if you are able to do it on consistent basis. You can’t expect to get much traffic if you write and submit one article a month. Well….you would if it was miraculously published by an ezine owner with 10,000 subscribers but there are better methods for achieving success with articles.
Top 10 places to submit your article
1. Submit to the top article directory
Ezine articles dot com is currently the directory that gets the most traffic so submit your article to them first. It may be published by ezine owners looking for new content. It may be read by visitors to the ezinearticles web site (because your article is rotated on the front page with others). It may be viewed by folks that subscribe to their RSS feeds.
2. Submit to other top article directories
If you don’t have time to modify your article submit it anyway to the other top article directories. You won’t get as much traffic if using the same content but you can capitalize on the link juice you receive by including your keywords in the anchor text of the resource box at the end of the article. Modify your anchor text when submitting to many article directories.
3. Include it on your web site
You need to add content to your web site or blog continuously so search engines will visit it and readers receive fresh content. Even if you have a static site, create a section for articles or attach a blog to it.
If your web site gets spidered quickly by the search engines you might place your article here first then submit to the article directories after a few days. This will allow the search engines to spider your site first and rank first for that article.
Alternatively write 2 different articles, one for your web site and another for the directories so you will benefit from both methods and receive more traffic with the extra work.
4. Submit to individual ezine publishers
Create a list of ezine publishers related to your niche by entering ezines+keyword in the Google search box. Every time you write a new article send it to this list. If it’s high quality content that subscribers will find useful you will get lots of new traffic.
5. Article swap
Ask article writers within your niche if they wish to swap articles with you. This means you will publish their article in your ezine if they publish your article in theirs. It creates a win-win situation for both of you.
Points 6-10 will be included in my next post
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If you want to attract a continuous stream of NEW visitors to
your website without spending a dime on advertising pick up a copy of
my new ebook”Article Marketing Strategies“…
to receive immediate and long-term traffic.
Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, SEO
When you submit your article to an article directory you often set it and forget it hoping that some ezine publisher will include it in his ezine or newsletter and gets indexed by the search engines. This is only a partial view of what happens. You often receive an immediate boost in visitors when you send in your article.
Here’s a description why this occurs:
A day in the life of a new approved EzineArticles.com article:
1. You send in an article.
2. We approve and publish it.
3. We send it to our RSS feeds in real-time and your article gets read by folks who view our site in their favorite RSS reader. A select group of approved RSS publishers publish your title, summary and a link back to the full article, giving it more traffic.
4. We make it available to our new XML keyword search partners that return keyword search results of the most recent articles submitted as we can only display 10-25 usually for them… hence, the newest articles get listed first.
5. Your article gets included in the recently submitted articles in the category you selected until it gets bumped out of the list. That means other articles from your fellow authors help bring traffic to your article for about 20-35 position movements.
6. Your article get promoted to our proprietary email alert lists and this brings more traffic to your articles.
7. The search engines discover your article and give you an initial ranking. A few days to a few weeks later, your position in their indexes settles due to intense competition for the top.
8. In our category views, we list the newest articles on top and the oldest near the bottom. This is designed to encourage you to send in a continual flow of articles while giving our web surfers the freshest content.
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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, SEO, Web Hosting
Receive fresh, in-depth articles articles on how to design, optimize and promote your web site by subscribing to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter at: http://www.isitebuild.com/
