Quick & Easy Guide to Article Marketing (Part 1: Beginner Basics & Content Creation)
In this Article Part 1, we will cover the First Five Topics:
- Article Marketing Explained
- The 4 Things ALL Articles Must Have
- How to Create an Outline For All of Your Articles
- 5 Easy Ways To Get Your Creative Juices Going
- What to Do Before Submitting To Article Directories
- Red Hot Tips To Get Your Articles Read
- Writing a Resource Box that Makes People Click
- If You Hate Writing Articles…
How does this work?
Write articles relating to your website and submit them to “free content” submission sites. Easy to do, takes little time, and can increase your website traffic, sales, and of course, your income.
How can an article be written to boost traffic and income?
The article on the free content site contains a link to your own website. Readers, after reading your articles, may choose to click on the link and pay you an unexpected visit. Having them on free content sites is also making these articles available to other webmasters. Who may wish to publish them on their sites?
If they do, your article will include a link back to your site. And anyone who reads the article on that site can still click on the link to visit your site.
As the list of your published articles grows larger and more of them appear on different websites, the total number of links to your site also increases.
Major search engines are placing a lot of significance on incoming links to websites, so they can determine the importance of a certain site.
The more incoming links the website has, the more important search engines attach to it. This will then increase your website’s placement in the search results.
If your site is into promoting a product or service, the links that your articles have achieved will mean more potential customers to you. Even if visitors only browse through, you never know if they might need what you are offering in the future.
Some already have specific things they need on their mind, but cannot decide yet between the many choices online. Chances are, they may stumble upon one of your articles, get interested in the content you wrote, go to your site, and become enticed by your promotions.
See how easy that is?
Search engines do not just index websites; they also index published articles. They also index any article that is written about your own website’s topic. So once someone searches for that same topic, the list of results will have your site, or may even show the articles that you have written.
And to think, no effort on your part was used to bring them to your site. Just your published articles and search engines.
It is no wonder that many webmasters are suddenly reviving their old writing styles and taking time to write more articles about their site than doing other means of promotion.
Getting their site known is easier if they have articles, increasing their links and traffic, and making it accessible for visitors searching the Internet. Since many people are now taking their buying needs online, having your site on the search engines through your articles is one way of letting them know about you and your business.
The good thing about articles is that you can write about things that people would want to know about. This can be achieved in the lightest mood but in a professional manner, with a little not-so-obvious sales pitch added.
If you think about it, only a few minutes of your time are spent on writing one article and submitting it to a free content site. In the shortest span of time, they are also distributed to more sites than you can think of. Even before you know what is happening, you are getting more visitors than you previously had.
If you think you are wasting your time writing these articles, fast forward to the time when you will see them printed and widespread on the Internet. Not to mention the sudden attention and interest that people are giving your website and your products or services.
Try writing some articles, and you will be assured of a sudden surge in site traffic, link popularity, and interest. Before you know it, you will be doubling and even tripling your earnings.
Nothing like getting benefits for something you have for free!
The 4 Things ALL Articles Must Have
The importance of articles on today’s websites and Internet-based companies is immeasurable. They dictate a lot in the success and the drive of traffic to one’s site. It has become a key element in making a site work and earning a profit. A website operator and owner must have the good sense to include articles on his or her site that will work for them and earn them the many benefits articles can give to their site.
Articles have been known to be the driving force in driving traffic to a website. Articles are a factor in giving a site high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks, the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie it gets. With a huge number of traffic flows, there are more profits and more potential for other income-generating schemes as well.
But it is not just stuffing your site with articles; they have certain requirements as well. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article will provide for your site. A well-written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be able to recommend your site to others.
Here are some tips to help you and assist you in making your articles. Below you will read about four things all articles must have to make them successful and helpful in making your site a profit-earning and traffic overflowing site.
Keywords and Keyword Phrases.
An article must always be centered on keywords and keyword phrases. As each website visitor goes to a site, there are those who are just merely browsing but are actually looking for something specific. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g., article marketing strategy, content marketing for beginners, article writing tips, etc.). It could be anything they want.
The Important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, you must be able to have articles about cars and their parts. There are many tools on the Internet that provide services in helping a webmaster out in determining what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. You can use this tool to determine what keywords to use and write about.
Keyword Density
Now that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to “feel” its presence. Articles should have at least ten to fifteen percent of keyword density in their content to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best for a site.
Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader, as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.
Good Article Content
As stated above, you cannot just riddle an article with keywords. They must also be regarded as good reading materials. Articles must be able to entertain people as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.
People respond well to figures, facts, and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well-written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.
How to Create an Outline for All of Your Articles?
We’ve done it through junior high; it expanded longer through high school. Then in college, it became chapters. No matter how many times a person has done it, writing articles has proven to be a task many have continuously avoided. Now, at a time when writing articles could help your job or work, you can still face the job at hand with unfriendly behavior.
While there are a great number of people who do not have the same attitude in article writing as others, there are still those who would rather walk in piping hot coals than do some article writing. What sets other people apart from other towards article writing is that they are prepared and have some methods and procedures in writing articles.
One of the methods you can use to prepare yourself when tasked to write an article is creating an outline first. Creating an outline for all your articles makes you prepared. You have an idea of what to do first and plan for your success. Being prepared makes the job easier and faster. Being organized will allow for disorientation to be shunned.
An outline can act as the design or blueprint for your article. This will guide you in creating the introduction, body, and conclusion of your article. Here at this point, you can write down some of the ideas and sentences that you feel will look good in your article. This could be one of the focal points that could help make your article creative, interesting, and appealing to a reader.
A carefully planned and fully prepared project would guarantee and ensure a problem-free procedure that can virtually go without any hassles. Creating an outline for all your articles will get you ready and help you breeze through writing an article in no time at all. Here, I will provide you with some tips and guidelines on how to create an outline for all of your articles.
Do a couple of brainstorms and jot down your brilliant ideas first. Think of some ways to attract the interest of your reader. Designate a time frame where you can write down all the ideas that you can use for your articles. By this time, you should have done all your research and information searching. Review and reread your ideas and notes, gain mastery and sufficient familiarity with your topic so that writing them down later would be easy for you.
The next step is to discover your subtopics and subtitles. As you would provide a first sentence for your article, one that would immediately grab the attention of your reader, you would need some as well for your subtopics. To be concise, you would need to get all the facts that will support and go against your point.
These are the frames or skeletons of your article; now it's time to add the flesh and the meat of your article. You will need to connect all your paragraphs and subtopics. This will form the body of your article. While the introduction will usher in the ideas of your paragraph, you will need a conclusion. The conclusion will wrap up your points and drive home what you are saying in your article.
The outline for your article would also require you to write a draft first. This may take more than one attempt, but remember that it is called a draft for a reason. Your outline shall be perfected as each draft is written, and this draft is meant for your eyes only, so there’s no reason to feel ashamed. As you go on, you will clearly see the bigger picture and write an article that will perfectly suit what is demanded of it.
Reread and reread what you have written down. Always refer to your outline so that you won't drift away from what you had first written down. It's not hard to be caught in the moment and get lost in your writing frenzy. Your outline will help you keep track of your work. All those hours spent outlining your article will not go to waste. This will serve as your guide in writing articles. Trust and rely on your outline because this will prove to be a very helpful tool in writing all your articles.
5 Easy Ways to Get Your Creative Juices Going
Writing an article doesn’t just mean putting down thoughts into words, then typing and writing them. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across, you must get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity.
The main ingredient in baking up an article is a large dose of creativity. While creativity may come naturally to many people, some just get into a block or something to that effect that can drive someone crazy. Many writers have literally torn their hair out when they get writer’s block and just can’t seem to get their creative juices flowing.
Putting words into images in the reader's mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence, then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article.
So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? There is no surefire way to get the perfect ideas, but there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing. No one can guarantee you will have the perfect mindset, but many methods may aid you in achieving that state of mind. Here are five easy ways to do that.
1) Keep a diary or a journal with you always.
Ideas can be triggered by anything you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard; someone’s ideas could be used to develop your own ideas, and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it’s the development of the idea that makes it unique.
2) Relax and take time to sort things out.
A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. Everyone must have a clear mind if one wishes to have their creativity at full speed. Get rid of all obstacles that can be a hindrance to your creativity. If you are bothered by something, you cannot force your mind to stay focused.
Try to relax every time you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions, which could be reflected in your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you express yourself and your ideas; with this, you can grow creatively.
3) Workplaces that can inspire your creativity
Your workplace can be quite a hindrance if it doesn’t make you feel happy or relaxed. Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind, and a messy workplace that causes distraction won’t be conducive to firing up your creative flow.
Surround your working place with objects that make you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, objects that inspire, or anything that can get your creativity cranking. A clean and well-organized workplace also rids itself of distractions and unwanted hindrances. With a good working place, you can work in peace and never notice the time passing by.
4) Set the mood.
Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce yourself to feel what makes your mind work best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood, and everything else will follow.
There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to use alcohol, a little sip of wine, to stir up the imagination. Some would like some mood music, while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood.
5) Go on a getaway and just do something crazy.
Letting yourself go and having fun produces adrenaline that can make your imagination go wild. Take an adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine to take the rut out of your schedule. In no time at all, your creativity will make use of that experience and get your imagination to go into overdrive.
Continue reading: Article Marketing Part 2 tomorrow.
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