Although they may not be riding the same wave they were just a short time ago, articles are still a viable way of drawing traffic to your blog. Although article marketing has been around for some time now, there is still some confusion in some circles about what it entails.
Against The Grain
In a way, article marketing goes against the grain of normal advertising in that it isn’t about direct self promotion. There are still some people that think the correct articles to submit are a lot like advertising copy in that they give the entire picture of the company or service that you’re trying to promote, but that’s not the general idea.
The articles that get accepted for syndication start from the premise that all good advertising starts with good content and that most people will only read an advertisement or article if they feel there’s something in it for them. To that end, the savvy content writer knows that the articles should have no mention of the person or company that’s hired them in the body of the text; the bio or ‘about the author’ box at the bottom of the page is where the real advertisement and that information should be.
Body of The Text
The body of the text should contain interesting information that the reader will find useful. Of course it should also be the kind of useful information that will hook the reader and draw him or her toward the bottom of the page where they can find more. It’s helpful to remember that people read only what can help them solve a problem so the careful author should take pains to see that the text they provide serves this purpose.
As an example. If you’ve got a blog that promotes you own brand of exercise machine, you don’t want to commission or write an article about how and why you started your company as interesting as that might be. That’s the kind of information that would be better left to the ‘about us’ section of your blog.
Busy People
This blog would do well to have an article that explains how busy people without much free time on their hands can find the time to do exercises in and around their home or on the way to or from work. In this way, the reader is disarmed by the information that they can use and don’t feel harried by the time they get to the end of the article and read the bio to find that you’ve got something to sell.
To the reader, you’ve become much more than a person with something to sell, you’ve become an expert in the field who has advice that should be trusted.
great reminder. with the rush to Twitter and Tweets at 140 character, it's important to remember the importance of actual writing and articles.
good job!
I agree with your Rob.
Article marketing is still a great way to get traffic to your site.
I Agree, A good article needs to provide valuable information, if the article is only advertising obviously it will not provide the results you want.
Hey Saptarshi
That's a good point, but many of the clients I work for are big enough they don't have the time. Remember that a professional writer can add some spark as well.
Rob
While I agree with most things that have been said I think one key objection that we often get from a segment of SEOs in regards to article marketing is that if we are working hard to generate good content ( article) why not put it up on our own site and publicize through social media to see if it can travel virally and get us some traffic and link , rather than giving it off to the article directories.
I couldn't agree more that Article Marketing is a way to set yourself up as an expert.
If for a certain person, a way to a person's heart is through their stomach, in the web, a way to receiving more traffic as always are good articles that have something for you: the writer, and something for the readers as well.
Sometimes I can't help but think that marketing online is like mutualism too. You help them and they help you too. Being brief but informative and fun with posts will sure push you up to the stairs of victory one step at a time.