Article Marketing: How to Promote Your Website Writing and Submitting Articles

article marketing

Even if you have a beautiful website it won’t attract many visitors if you don’t promote it. There are hundreds of ways to promote a site however one of the most successful methods is writing articles then submitting the content to top article directories. Ezine publishers and website owners select well written articles from these directories to publish in their ezines or add them to their blogs or websites. This generates lots of traffic back to your website.

How to write an article that gets published

1. Create a list of keywords

Open the Google Keyword Research Tool then enter one of the main keywords related to your business. Use exact match to weed out general search terms. The tool will generate a long list of related keywords showing how many times people searched for that keyword in Google. Use this list to write a series of articles (one article per keyword or keyword phrase).

2. Write your article

Title
Write an attention getting headline that includes your main keyword. For example in the title of this article I chose “article marketing” as the main keyword phrase. Make sure place you it at the beginning of your headline because search engines place more weight on keywords at the beginning.

Article body
The main content should expand on what you promised in the title. A good length is 400 words. One simple way to write the content is to simply create a list of tips then write a paragraph on each tip. If you write 4 paragraphs each containing 100 words you’ll have a 400 word article completed in a short time. Be sure to include your main keyword in the content.

Resource box
This is added to the end of the article and is the only place you can promote your product or service and include a link back to your website. To motivate readers to click on the link offer an incentive such as a free report or free software.

Proofread your article
Get a friend or relative to proofread your article or if you do it yourself let it sit for a while then read through it again. Removing grammar and spelling mistakes will ensure the article is ready for publication.

Article marketing
The more places your article gets seen on the Net the more visitors it will attract. Publish it on your blog or website first then submit to the top article directories. If you have time rewrite the article before submitting it to the directories. This provides them with a unique article rather than the same one you added to your blog.

Tip
If you submit the same article to multiple publications the first website containing your article will rank ahead of the others in the search engines. For example if I first add the article to my blog then to a directory, the blog web page will rank first. Article marketing needs to be done frequently and consistently to be successful.

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Article Submission – Top 7 Tips for Submitting Your Articles

EzineArticles Cartoon

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.