Information
based marketing is one of the oldest and most effective
techniques for bringing targeted prospects to your site
and converting them into buyers. This is part of the
reason that software, and distribution services that
make the process of article promotion easier are so
popular lately.
Though the various tools you can use to make the process
of distributing your articles more easily are invaluable
in getting your content the most exposure, that s only
half of the story.
Getting article marketing to work for your site lies
primarily in two things:
The article you re submitting, and
The preparation you do before a single word of
your content is written.
Since those two determining factors make at least 50%
of the difference in bringing you success, let s take
a look at what the most common mistakes are in that
area, and how to overcome them.
Mistake #1 - Confusing the Reason to Promote with Articles
with the Reason to Write Articles
There are three key benefits to promoting an article
- branding, lead generation, and as a corollary,
online promotion, particularly as part of your optimization
efforts.
Yet there is only one reason to write an article, and
that is to inform your audience. If your article is
not geared towards this as its primary purpose, you
will fail to see the three benefits of promotion - because
no one will want to read your article.
How many links you're able to generate by submitting
your article to hundreds of sites will matter little
if you're unable to get them picked up by publications,
or read by people who search for information.
Sure, if you know what you're doing all those links
pointing back to your site will count for something
in your search engine results - but remember that generating
links to your site is only one part of optimizing your
site for Google, Yahoo or MSN.
To overcome this issue, you'll need to figure out how
to get people to read what is in your article, and then
click through to your site from your resource box. The
best start to a solution is to produce better content.
In the end it's a matter of choice. You can get a little
exposure from increased link backs, on a very basic
level, or enjoy massive exposure from a little extra
work.
Mistake #2 - Starting The Article Promotion Process
without a Plan
Not every article can fulfill all three purposes of
promotion. Some will work better for branding, others
can generate leads and increase sales. But if you don't
start out with a plan for what the function of your
article should be, you'll end up unhappy with the results.
To overcome this issue, before you write a single word,
decide what purpose the article is supposed to serve.
An article meant to brand you as an expert should display
your knowledge. One for generating leads may need to
be geared towards solving a very specific problem.
An article that gets published every where and helps
to make you known is not meant to have the same level
of exposure as hyper-targeted content geared towards
a narrow group of people. Learning the difference will
help you know what kinds of articles to write.
Mistake #3- Publishing Content That Doesn't Help Your
Reader
Maybe you're thinking: All I want is links back
to my site - any visitors the article generates is gravy.
Well guess what? Not all article banks and directories
are going to accept your content automatically. You
can double the number of sites you can submit to by
writing articles that the directories want to share
with readers. And all it takes is one publisher with
a hundred thousand readers to increase your potential
audience tenfold.
So if you want article marketing to work for you, write
articles that publishers want in their publications.
This also means obeying the standard guidelines, running
a spell check, researching a good topic to write about,
or even hiring a writer to produce articles on your
behalf.
Mistake #4 - Failing to Maximize the Promotional Opportunities
of Article Marketing
You already know that articles marketing can help you
generate additional links back to your site. But did
you know that you can get more visitors and better search
engine results from articles in a variety of ways?
You can mention your desired keyword in strategic places,
though you should take care not to overdo this. Some
people will also tell you to make use of anchor text,
which can also is an effective method. However, you
should know that the majority of directories and publications
aren't able to support this.
There are alternatives to this method that are just
as effective, if not more so, but they require more
space to explain.
It's not just about the links back to your site either.
Part of doing well with article marketing is getting
picked up by publishers with large audiences, or gaining
the ability to leverage other brands due to the quality
of your work.
Better search engine results are great.
But by themselves they don't put money in your pocket
- there are a myriad of factors that can turn your article
marketing efforts into an opportunity to increase your
income, not just the number of visitors to your site.
Tinu
Abayomi-Paul is a Web Promotion Specialist who runs
the Free Traffic Tips Blog. You can read part two of
this article at http://www.freetraffictip.com/article-marketing
and learn about three more common mistakes even veteran
article marketers make. |
