Article Marketing: Your Questions Answered

Article Marketing is one of the most effective link building strategies in existence. You see, article directories allow you to include a resource box at the end of each article you submit. Used wisely, a resource box can drive Quality Traffic to your website. That’s a free backlink for every article you submit. Ten Articles equals ten backlink! There are thousands of article directories online – thousands of backlink! Of course, your articles have to be quality pieces to be accepted.

Many article directories have a high Google page rank – PR4 or PR5, and some are even PR7 or PR8. Backlink from a high PR website are looked on very favorably by the search engines, giving your site a significant boost in the rankings.

So why isn’t everybody achieving great success with article marketing?

As with any other traffic generating strategy, article marketing takes WORK! This is one area of Internet Marketing where Private Label Rights (PLR) products don’t get you an easy ride. Duplicate content is cursed by article directories, and many ghostwriters who sell PLR packages stipulate their articles may not be submitted to directories ‘without Significant’ rewriting.

To be successful with your article marketing campaigns, you need to be Original and consistent in your writing.

So if I submit the same article to many article directories, won’t it be classed as duplicate content by the search engines?

No. Since we’re dealing with high-ranking websites, search engines will assume that the submitted content is their original work. So directories can be quietly confident about the articles they display. However, directories don’t want to be seen as a dumping ground for junk, so PLR articles and articles highly peppered with affiliate links, just won’t make the mustard.

So that means I can display my submitted articles on my own web pages, right?

Wrong! Since the search engines will assume that the higher ranking websites are the originators of your content, you may be penalized for duplicate content, which could mean being ‘sand boxed’ or de-indexed and your pages will no longer show up in search results. Not good, not good at all.

Should I submit many articles to many article directories?

Absolutely. This is exactly how a traffic building strategy works. But remember, write great content, don’t include tons of affiliate links and be as consistent as you can – success doesn’t happen overnight.

Build your backlink slowly and steadily. Search Engines, particularly Google, are wary of websites whose backlinks suddenly explode. Make it look natural. Submit an article, and then wait a couple of weeks before submitting a new article.

But does Article Marketing really work?

Yes it really works!

If you’re not experiencing steady traffic growth, ask yourself…

• Is the subject of my article interesting?
• Does it cater to my target audience?
• Is my title enticing enough to draw my readers in?
• Does my article offer value to my readers?
• Is my article comprehensive?
• Is it easy to read and digest?

These are the most common factors, which may contribute to low traffic statistics. Try re-editing your article, spell-checking and improving grammatically or adding new content.

Another factor to take into consideration is the popularity of the article directories you’re submitting your articles to – some have thousands of readers, while others much fewer.

Ok, my article’s good to go. How can I be sure that my work will be kept intact by other publishers?

You can’t be sure, but you can run a check from time to time searching for unique phrases in your article. Determine if the Webmaster is honoring their publishing rights. If not, contact the Webmaster directly and politely ask for your resource box to be included – if this doesn’t work, you can file a complaint with the article directory and they can act on the matter.

I hope this post has answered some of your questions about article marketing. Please feel free to add a comment below and continue the discussion.

Regards,
Steph.

P.s. If you’re looking for free software to compare articles for duplicate content, or a directory submission tool, look no further! Kontent Klone Killer and Directory Submit Pro are downloads of the month for Feb and May respectively. Install The Smart Marketer’s ToolBar and download your article marketing tools today!