This is article marketing. This article that you are reading right now. I write a 350 to 500 word article, post it in free article directories and content-starved webmasters come along and add this article to their website.
It's pretty simple really. You need to have something useful to say, some place to send the reader when they like what you have written, and a relevant list of article directories that will post your articles.
Why do it? Using the resource box at the bottom of each article I am able to send you, the reader, to someplace that should be of interest to you. This creates a link back to my website or webpage. It's a great thing for increasing popularity. Also, I get in front of more people than ever.
It turns out that a 350 word article is about the length of an informative email. There are a few tricks to writing the articles. And it's best to study those "tricks" so you can make the most of your article writing.
We now live in a time where we can write for the reader and still satisfy the search engine spiders (pieces of software sent by the search engines) who seek to understand just what the article is about. By understanding how the search engines look at articles we can write effectively and get noticed.
Look at the above title. Notice I put "article marketing" right at the beginning of the title. I am actually telling the search engine spiders what this article is all about. And its easy for you, the reader, to know what its about. See what I mean? Simple.
By taking the time to study Article Marketing and learning a few tricks of the trade, you can easily reach out and increase your popularity with the search engines, increase your visibility within your market and increase your credibility with the people who are getting to know you.
Article marketing is what I call one of "The Big Four of Internet Marketing." You have got to have it. And it's so simple to do. And it drives traffic to your website which increases your sales. It's a win on every front.
Robin M Powers makes it easy to get started making money on the Internet. For more information on article marketing, go to: http://www.StrikingGoldWithArticles.com/
If you write online articles to market, then perhaps you need to consider the ramifications of your actions. You see, it is my contention that folks should use their real name. Especially considering that most articles are used as article marketing, and if you do not use your real name and send someone to a website that sells something, then that is fraudulent "shrill" type activity. By using a fake name and supposedly trying to promote a real product, this is complete hypocrisy.
Additionally, if someone uses a fake name, they are Hiding Something, every time. Someone here mentioned that they were protecting themselves from the Internet? Interesting, well then that is an admission that they are hiding. I ask who is protecting the reader from the trickery?
One of the problems on the Internet is that people use false identity and post bogus information, without taking responsibility. Using a fake name, they assume gives them security to spout off without recourse. I have a problem with fake "pen" names, and if you are promoting a product or service or even just AdSense Ad website doing this, it is borderline illegal.
Personally, I see it as a criminal act, I am not impressed with the excuses people use. The idea that everyone else does it, is not good enough, because many people do it, and use multiple identities and if you do it, you are in the same boat with liars, cheaters and terrorists. That is what I think. I am not impressed with liars, nor should you be. If you are using a fake name, then how are you justifying your integrity level to your mirror, please do tell. *the truth.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
When people visit your site, read your content, and leave without making a purchase, they are considered lost opportunities unless you have a strong tool that you can use to capture their email addresses. When you have their contact information, you can easily establish a way to get in touch with them so you can build rapport and eventually earn their trust. When they already do, pitching your products becomes easier because you're most likely to convince them to take advantage of your offering. This is the idea behind list building. It allows you to convert potential clients to buying customers to augment your sales revenue.
1. Improve your website content and put up your sign-up forms. The first step that you need to take to persuade people to join your subscriber's list is to establish your expertise. You can do so by filling your website with valuable and useful information. Then, post your sign-up forms on every page of your website to make it easier for your potential clients to subscribe.
2. Offer freebies or discounts. Encourage more people to sign up by giving them something in exchange of their subscriptions. Throw away free ebooks, tutorials, vouchers, and discounts. As people love getting something for free, this can definitely boost your sign-up rate.
3. Drive more people to your subscription page through article marketing. Write quality articles and post them on publishing sites. Don't forget to include the URL of your subscription page on your resource box.
4. Post testimonials on your sign-up page. Hearing other people talk about the benefits they can get from subscribing with you can potentially persuade more people to sign up.
To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"
Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.
It is now a well established fact that people primarily use the Internet to search for information on specific topics to solve specific problems. Now (of course) there are other ways the Internet is used too.
However, primarily, the Internet is an information delivery medium. It is NOT a "sell" medium (even though that happens). It's simply a matter of identifying the mediums marketing "logic" to work out how best to use it to sell on it.
In essence people on the Internet are looking for content that is relevant to their purpose, need or problem. They typically are not looking for marketing ploys.
Now, there are a number of ways to increase this content, Including having a search engine optimization company provide you with keyword rich articles. There are three primary reasons why more web site content increases your web site traffic.
The first reason more web site content increases traffic to your web site is that content articles tend to be focused on a specific topic. This focus will naturally lead to the repeated use of a specific keyword or phrase. The natural and repeated use of this phrased leads to higher search engine rankings, naturally.
Search engine rankings are the way findings/ results come back to an Internet user when they search for a 'solution to their problem' via a search engine.
If someone searches for the term dogs they will get many millions of pages of results. The order in which these results are displayed on the screen depends on a number of factors including how frequently the term is mentioned on the site and where it is mentioned on the site, and the exact phrase the user typed into the search field on their favorite Search Engine.
In other words, if you get the SEARCH key phrases right, and you continue to create content focused on that topic, you will ALWAYS be on the top of the search engines for that particular phrase.
The Internet is a content driven medium, thus the web site with the most (focused) content within a specific theme will always win.
It's as simple and as complicated as that.
Of course there are other offsite factors such as back linking and RSS etc, but this is not the focus of this article.
Research continually shows that people tend only to click on the first ten results a search engine offers them. Increasing your web site content will help you become one of these first ten web sites (within specific key phrases). This means more people than you ever thought possible will be clicking on your site in no time simply because of your top ten ranking for a specific keyword or key phrase.
Not only will you be closer to the top of the search engine rankings with more content, you will also be indexed by more search engines. This could mean that something like ninety percent of all Internet users seeing your web site in any one given Internet session for a specific key phrase.
The second reason more web site content increases traffic is more complicated. If you have strong, well written content on your site, you increase your credibility with customers.
Suddenly you are no longer a company selling homemade dog food; you are somebody who can offer knowledgeable advice about anything a responsible dog owner needs to know including house training, leash laws, and sleeping problems.
This increase in credibility not only makes people believe what you have posted to your site, it also makes them want to stay at your site LONGER to read the rest of your content articles on a topic about which they are PASSIONATE and ACTIVELY searching for on the Internet.
The more keyword focused content articles you have on your site the easier they will find you and longer they will stay there.
Keeping people on your site as long as possible is the key to selling your product to them.
You simply have more time in which to pitch them your product or service (in multiple ways) and thus close more sales. Not only will they stay at your site longer when your site has more focused content they are far more likely to return to your site the next time they search the Internet for information that's within your topic.
For example, if you are selling refilled printer ink cartridges, and you have content on your site which relates to all things printers you have a far better chance that someone might stay to look at a few of your other articles on your web site.
However, the next time they need digital photo printing tips, chances are good that they will remember what great content you offered them during their last Internet session, and they will return directly to your site just to read more of your topic focused content.
This means you have their complete, undivided attention for an even longer period of time this time. Moreover, if they are returning to your site on a regular basis, chances are good that they will recommend the site to other users like their friends and relatives which will mean even more traffic to your site.
The final way more web site content increases your web traffic is that it increases the probability that advertisers and reciprocal link exchangers will be attracted to your site. Reciprocal links are exchanged by web sites that have similar interests. The more relevant topics you are able to list, the more chances you have of someone with similar interests attempting to link to your site.
This could greatly increase your web site traffic because not only will people be able to find your site through search engines, they may also be able to find your site through other sites. And, advertisers are looking for sites that encourage customers they want to do business with. More keywords will mean more customers for you, which can mean more advertisers for you, which can mean more profits and visibility for you.
No matter which reason you choose to add more content to your site it will always increase your web site traffic.
This can only mean good things. Continually adding keyword focused content to your web site is one of the best ways to grow your web business. You can have these keyword rich content articles written for you, or you can write them yourself.
Whichever way you choose to go here be sure that your articles are well-written. Badly written articles will do little to increase your web site traffic, and most likely will affect your credibility.
Kenneth Doyle Is A Writer And Internet Marketing Consultant, Find Out About His SEO Article Writing And Submission Service Gets Thousands Of Prospects To Read YOUR Offers, Here... *SEO Article Writing Submission Service*
Search Engine Optimization. A lot of people are clamoring to know exactly what it is. SEO is the process of enhancing the presence and visibility of a website on search engine listings. Not only is it a process, it is about the tool required to make the enhancement happen. There are two main types of search engine optimization:
*On page Optimization
*Off Page Optimization
When SEO was in its infancy, getting back links to a site was the most important factor. In fact, many books and articles written on the subject will still tell people that getting back links is the only proper way to optimize a website. Back links with proper anchor text, of course.
After search engine optimization has a chance to mature, SEO specialists became aware that using only back links is not at all the best way to optimize a site. In fact, if an SEO is only creating back links, the site is not getting optimized.
In On page site optimization, there are techniques and tools that are related to your own website and in OFF page optimization, there are items which are related to the other websites. In On page the old technique was Meta Tag Optimization, appropriate content, Alt tag optimization, proper navigation for the website and much more activities through which changes were made to the website, itself. In OFF page optimization, only back links were created.
Today, optimization is a little bit different. While using the old techniques are still appropriate, creating a Sitemap can be added to the list. Sitemap is something that came in existence a few years ago.
A Sitemap is a graphical representation of the architecture of a website. There are two kinds of site maps. The first is used to assist visitors to a site to navigate the site and the second is done in XML. XML Sitemaps--usually called Sitemap with a capital 'S'--are used by Goggle to gather information about the site.
Sitemap is especially important if your site:
* Has dynamic content
* Has pages with a lot of flash or AJAX
* Is new and does not have many links
* Has a lot of archived pages that are not linked well, or not at all
The use of Sitemap becomes doubly important if the site has pages that can only be accessed through user entry. Sitemap will assist web crawlers in finding and accessing the pages.
Google has a very nice Sitemap tool that will assist in the creation of Sitemap for a website.
Karen Vertigan Pope writes for Ciniva Systems, an award winning Virginia web design company. Ciniva specializes in web design and SEO. Ms. Vertigan Pope is the President of the SEO Department of Ciniva Systems.
There's a debate raging in marketing circles: should you use SEO or Search Engine Optimization techniques on your website or not?
First of all, what do I mean by SEO? Search engine copywriting requires that the copywriter concern himself with the strategic placement of keywords, tags and the like within his web copy to get the web page as high as possible in the search engine rankings.
According to a survey by Enquiro and MarketingSherpa on the role of search, over 60 percent of BTB buyers research products online from 2-12 months in advance of a purchase, and 69 percent of them start with the organic (i.e. search engine) listings. So, ranking high with the search engines is important.
That said, there are several other points to take into consideration:
(1) How does organic website traffic fit into your overall sales process? Do you drive traffic to your website using other means (advertisements, direct sales calls, seminars, free white paper offers, etc.)? And how qualified are the leads that come from the search engines?
(2) You need to make it into the top 10 or top 20 (any lower position is of little or no benefit). How much competition is there for the keyword? How likely is it that youll make it into the top 10-20 listings without too much effort?
(3) Search engines are constantly tweaking their algorithms (partly to prevent the black hat SEO experts from manipulating rankings) so just optimizing your pages is a moving target.
(4) Ultimately, content is king. Having plenty of useful (fresh) content on your site will probably do more for your rankings in the long-run than SEO will. Moreover, content is a more stable contributor to high rankings.
(5) Incoming links (other website linking to your site, ideally websites that are ranked high and are highly respected) are generally considered more valuable than simple keyword optimization and the like. See www.alexa.com to research website rankings.
(6) Keyword optimized pages can sound slightly strange; they often dont read well. Moreover, their selling power may be weaker than pages that focus first and foremost on the prospect, rather than the engine.
In the end, its probably best to follow a 3-part strategy:
(1) Focus on writing the most convincing copy you can, aimed at the human reader rather than the search engines.
(2) Optimize the keywords, if you wish, but never change a word of strong copy if that change will weaken the copy, even if SEO best practices dictate such a change.
(3) Once the page is up and working (e.g. generating strong conversion), optimize it for the engines by tweaking the copy, but test to make sure that those edits dont reduce conversions.
So, do SEO, but use SEO intelligently and always put your (human) prospect first.
Theres also a larger point here: besides search engine optimized pages and clever copy, what really drives traffic to your website and keeps visitors coming back is useful, fresh content.
Content is STILL king!
Copyright 2006 Paul Arinaga
Paul Arinaga is a professional freelance copywriter specialized in helping software and other technology companies improve their marketing materials to get more and better leads. http://www.paularinaga.com This article is excerpted from "The Software Marketer's Toolkit".
Almost everyone in the Internet home business industry has heard of Stone Evans and the Plug In Profit Site system. Stone Evans, or the Home Business Guy, is one of the most successful online Internet marketers in the world and that is not something that anyone can question. What people want to know is whether the Plug In Profit Site home business is a legitimate opportunity or just another of many home business scams designed to make the owners rich while slowly but surely draining the members of their money.
What makes the PIPS (this is what it is commonly called by members) program unique is not only that it allows the complete newbie the opportunity to have a fully functional e-commerce web site promoting 6 different affiliate programs within only 24 hours but also the community that is found among those who promote this program.
Members of the Plug In Profit Site congregate in the Warrior Forum and provide and find support from one another. They share in each other's successes and failure. They provide tips and ideas on what is working and what is not. The sense of community among those involved is uncommon and not something that is often seen in this industry.
Members of the PIPS system are extremely dedicated to their mentor, Stone Evans and for good reason. A thorough review of this program revealed a 30 day training program given to members for free and this is not some poorly written e-book put together simply to say it is there.
The 30 Days To Success Guide available for members is known to be one of the best Internet marketing and home business training guides available for any price. In fact, many prior Plug In Profit Site members who are now very successful in other businesses attribute their success to what they learned from the training guide.
In addition, Stone is actively involved in helping members become successful in their business and is always adding new resources and programs aimed at this goal.
Anyone new to this industry who is looking to make money online in an Internet home business should certainly consider the Plug In Profit Site opportunity.
Dustin Cannon is an experienced Internet and network marketer and writes on various subjects related to the home business and network marketing industry. For more information on the Plug In Profit Site home business please visit http://www.Just-Home-Business.com