ARTICLE MARKETING

Introduction

Article Marketing is one of the most common ways used by marketers old-timers and new.

The process is as follows:

1. You write articles that drive traffic to your website.

2. You give a free product or promise information to those visitors to your site who leave their names and email addresses.

3. You show yourself to be a trusted expert to your mailing list subscribers, offering more and more useful information.

4. You sell to your list members.

Getting Traffic to Your Articles

You must first get traffic to your articles or you will get little traffic to your site. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Research keyword phrases that can be used in the title of your article and in the body of the article.

2. Test the number of competitive sites that are listed in Google when you place in quotation marks your keyword phrase. E.G. Your keyword phrase is "Grape Growing Secrets." Place "Grape Growing Secrets" and when you put that in the Google Search Bar you find there are 29,000 sites. That is too many competitive sites so you find another keyword phrase that has less than 5000 sites or so.

For USFreeAds.com, you want less than 1000 competitive sites say some marketers.

You should make sure your keyword phrases is being used about 1000 times each month or so. (See Keyword Research on right tool bar.)

4. Place relevant content in your site. You need to use content related to your keywords which you place in your webpage title, description, and keyword Meta file. Then when a reader clicks on your link, he will find more information in addition to that found in your article.

Here is another summary that may be helpful:

1. A website is prepared having relavant information on the keywords in the title and description.

2. Articles are written using the site keywords.

3. The article has a link to the website.

4. Visitors to your site leave their names and email addresses and become your customers.

Using Social Marketing to Drive Traffic to Your Articles

Don't overlook social marketing. You can Twitter your followers when you create a new article. Tweet the link to the article. Also use FaceBook and the other social sites. (See Social on right panel.)

Article Sites

EzineArticles.com

The premier site for article marketers is ezinearticles.com. Before you write an article for EZA, READ the Author Guidelines. That will save you a lot of time and frustration. EZA article get top ranking with the search engines. EZA has the same goal as the search engines and that is TO PROVIDE RELEVANT CONTENT TO THE READERS. Here are a few helps:

1. Your article has two parts called Above the Fold and Below the Fold (or Source Box). Above the fold, some links are allowed but no affiiate inks are allowed above or below the fold. Above the fold belongs to the reader and you must provide useful information to the reader relevant to the title of the article.

2. Below the Fold belongs to you the writer. You can write a blatant add or just say For More Information on Keyword, go to MYSITE. MYSITE must not be an affiliate link. It must be your webpage. There you can place your affiliate links, preferibly offering more relevant information. You are allowed two links below the fold. Most writers use only one link to help funnel the readers to that site. You can have a number of Source Boxes used for different articles.

3. EZA may hold your article until you make corrections. If you have a question, use their support service. They will help you get things going. If you carefully follow the guidelines, you will have few request for modification. If your article violates a guideline, you will be told which guideline it does not follow.

4. Being a coward, I never put followable inks above the fold. I may refer to a site but I do not enter the URL of the site. I may say Google and not http://google.com.

Go to http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=John_T_Jones,_Ph.D. to see my articles at EZA.

Squidoo.com

Squidoo calls their article a "lens." A lens is just a many part web page created by a writer. Squidoo had few restrictions in the past. You could use affilate links and write on about any subject. They have many options and they will pay you some money too for sells to Amazon or other services they sponsor. In fact, you will get the same commission from Squidoo for Amazon sales as you do for direct sales to Amazon. The reason is that Amazon pays Squidoo double commissions and you get half.

If you are writing a lens on How to Make Money, it may be rejected. For that reason, I no longer use Squidoo bocause they have become very difficult to work with. That is for we who have written a lot of lens that no longer fit guidelines we can't update the articles. At least I wasn't able to do it (being old and senile). I wasn't even able to bring them up to the new guidelines. When I did, they still would not let me publish.

There is no technical help at Squidoo where you can get a quick answer in my experience. Members service the site.

Here is my suggestion for Squidoo writers: Don't write in the areas that they have restricted such as Making-Money, Marketing Online, etc. Use it for everything else as it is a very powerful site favored by the search engines. Like all article sites, they are subject to the whims of the search engines. That is why they change their guidelines. It's a fact of life.

But if you are not in the overworked money-making markets, you will be fine. Actually, I removed all of my lenses from Squidoo because you must continually modify your lenses to keep Squidoo happy. However, I recommemd the site to new writers. You will have a lot of leeway and great tools.

AffiliatedContent:

Two options to make money here. They pay for some articles!

howtodothings.com:

1,2,3 how how to do articles.

articlesbase.com:

I have not written for this site.

goarticles.com:

Good for new writers.

helium.com:

A suffisticated site in a way. I have written for them on occasion and plan to do more there. They keep asking me to come back.

HubPages.com:

I like this site. It has few restrictions and is great for affiliate marketers.

USFreeads.com:

I use this often. I pay as a user and do not use the free function. It is 9.95 a month but worth it. All my maketing friends use this option.

Gaining Popularity as a Writer

Article writers gain a tremendous popularity on the Internet.

Google "John T Jones, Ph.D." How many sites showed up? Try "Taylor Jones, the Hack Writer" (also me). How many sites this time? The point is that you can become very popopular with Google and the other search engines.

Learning Article Writing Sites

If you google "learn article marketing" you will find millions of entries. You will find programs that help you write, articles on article marketing, tons of stuff.

Conclusion

The reason that affiliate marketers use article marketing is that it is free. You become an expert and many will follow you if your site is set up to allow this. But article marketing is used by most all marketers. It does not have the risk of PPC and can be very effective. AND you will have millions of readers and thousands of URL clicks over time.

Final Note: I just learned about an ebook called Article Dominance. I read it and wish I could have read it years ago. Like I've said before, the ones that make money in this business are the young eager beavers. I learned about the book from my 26-year-old French friend, Louise, at Wealthy Affiliate University. Mark Thompson wrote the book, has been in the business for only 5 years, and knows how to get URL clicks from articles. IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE, GET ARTICLE DOMINANCE NOW! CLICK HERE!

Click Here To See My Recent EzineArticles

(Because of the use of scripts by EZA your browser could block the listing. Just choose OPTIONS and then ALLOW.)

Click Here to See My Recent GoArticles

Following is another Review of the Article Marketing Process:

Introduction to Article Marketing Methods

Article marketing is one way to drive traffic to a website. An article full of relevant content will be picked up by the search engines and will become available to those searching for information on the Internet. If an article does not satisfy a search engine "content wise," it will not be listed on the first pages of a search. You may not even find it at all, especially if a search engine has a "dump" for such articles. The same is for web pages. The search engines have one purpose and that is to supply information asked for by its patrons. If you have an article that is entitled "How to Grow Carrots," it must do JUST THAT. If your article has a link to a web page that is supposed to tell more about growing carrots, that site must have relevant information on "How to Grow Carrots." In other words, you must give people what they are looking for.

The Article Marketing Method is:

1. You choose a subject. You want a niche where you can compete.

2. You create a web page on that subject. (Or you can produce a lens at Squidoo.)

3. You chose a title for your article (and web page) that has keywords that people are using in their searches.

4. You write several paragraphs making sure you have your keywords in the first and last paragraphs with a scattering in between.

5. You place a Search Box (usually provided) at the end of the article. In that search box you tell the reader where he or she can get more information on the keyword subject. That is where you place your site URL.

6. On your web site or lens you have an affiliate link. If the reader goes to your web site and clicks on the link, then you may make a sell.

7. You do not try to sell in the article or in the website. You are the provider of information PERIOD!

8. You study the vendor's web page. He has to make the sell. If the vendor's web page is not good, then find another vendor or tell the vendor what you think is wrong with the landing page.

9. Write many articles directing people to your web page or lens. The more you write, the better.

10. Monitor the number of clicks on your article URL and on your web site. Check your sales. Make corrections as needed.

Now, I have just listed the basics. There is much to learn.

Write to Answer the Searchers Questions

But you will need to know your product first.

Knowledge is essential in Internet marketing. You don't need to write like Hemingway to win. But you must know what you are talking about. Here are some writing hints (We will get back to the products later):

1. Use short sentences. Long sentences can distract your reader. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." That was a short sentence in Lincoln's day. It is a long sentence in today's world. Can you shorten it?

2. Use words people understand. If you are tutoring in your article, you may have to explain some of your terminology. But don't think that your reader is a nincompoop. Talk to him like you would talk to your neighbor across the fence omitting all swear words. However, you must not assume that your reader knows everything. He is looking for information, right?

3. The Title is very important and needs to contain your keywords. I will tell you how to find keywords later.

4. Write about 400 words. People are in a hurry now days. Remember that you just want them to go to your web site where they an learn more details of the subject. Now at your web site or lens, you need to get them to click on your affiliate link without selling.

5. Your keywords need to be in the first and last paragraph but don't overload the article with your keywords. One in a hundred words maybe.

6. Affiliate links are often not allowed in articles but some article sites do allow affiliate links. Read the guidelines and don't try to get around them. Put your lens or web site URL in the Resource Box. Your affiliate site is on your site or in your lens.

Let's say your are an affiliate for an insurance company. Then your article should have something to do with providing insurance to the family or business. Your web page or lens should be about insurance and your affiliate link should be on your web page or lens.

Now I keep bringing up LENS because you don't need a website with the costs of buying a domain name and hosting the site. You can write a lens, write 10 articles that lead to your lens, and you can be in business.

Finding Those Keywords

Google, Wealthy Affiliate, WordTracker �

Google had a free tool for finding keywords Google Keyword Tool External. You can look at the number of competitive sites by writing your keyword in quotation marks and entering it on your address bar of your browser. Most writers want fewer than 5000 sites competing with their article.

WordTracker also has a free keyword tool or you can get added features by paying a short-term or long-term fee. It has features not on Google's free tool yet most all writers and marketers use Google's tool as well.

Wealthy Affiliate University has a new and excellent keyword tool, especially for writers, but it is for members only. Wealthy Affiliate University is the premier site for learning Internet Marketing. The tuition is reasonable and you are not required to stay there forever. Well, I'm into my third year.

Good Luck!

You can learn to use these tools at the sites.

In my personal opinion is that one of the best place to learn Article Marketing is at Wealthy Affiliate University which I joined in May of 2008. There you will find the tools you need to be successful. That means you will have access to great tutorials, keyword research, RapidWriter, and the many tricks of the trade.

Having said that, there are a zillion free ebooks on article marketing and many of them are quite good. There are many on the Internet who will help you with your article marketing for free.

USFreeAds will allow you to quickly put ads for Clickbank products and such. Don't just make it a sales pitch. Add some content. It is just a webpage where you can use HTML or not. It is your choice. I tend to use both features. Go for it!

ARTICLE MARKETING