How to Use Article Marketing to Drive Traffic to Your Website

If you want to increase traffic to your website, article marketing is the key.

Are you trying to get more traffic to your website? Article marketing is a powerful way to generate significant traffic to your website. In this article, I’ll provide some details on how to use article marketing in a very specific way to generate a steady stream of qualified prospects to your site.

The first step is to develop an article that is clearly written, provides value, and builds credibility. A clearly written article ensures that readers do more than skim your article. It also provides an “easy read” resulting in a high level of engagement.

To keep your reader’s attention, your article must provide something of value. This is a basic principle of article marketing. An example might be an SEO related article that shows readers how to write an effective “Title” tag for their webpage. A valuable article would first explain the concept then follow with examples – giving readers something tangible to represent each concept.

A result of a clearly written article that provides valuable information is that of credibility. The concept of credibility can be subtle but is very important if you wish to drive the most traffic to your site or affiliate products. Some suggestions for building credibility through article marketing include: injecting your experience into each article, providing references to findings from recent studies, offering facts, providing quotes from industry experts, and so on.

Once you’ve written a compelling article, you can weave a mention of your sites products and services into the text. However, be sure to do it in modest way if you want your article marketing to take hold. Some examples are:

• “I’ve used a number of products that weren’t any good… but I did have some success with the [insert product name here].”

• “I’ve used [product 1], [product 2], and [product 3], but found [insert product name here] to be the cheapest and the best.”

• “Personally I use [insert product name here], but any [product descriptor] will do.”

• “I’m not an expert on [product descriptor] but know that [insert product name here] is quite popular.”

Too often I see individuals using article marketing with a hard sell. This doesn’t work. People don’t like to be told what to do, what products they must use, or rely on the opinions of those they do not trust. So your best bet is to begin with a clearly written article, provide something of value, and use your newfound credibility to generate referrals/sales.

Now that you’ve written your article, here are some tips for “on-page” optimization. This will ensure that once your article is posted, it can be seen by the major search engines and is easily crawled.
Tip #1 Place your keywords in the title of the article. For example, if you’re promoting email software, let’s call it, “Email Management Software” then work it into your title. Here’s and example…

How to Use Email Management Software to Improve Results.

And try to limit your title to about 7 main words. This is how you optimize your article marketing efforts for a given article or page. Now we’ll talk about some other ways to increase your on-page optimization factors.

Tip #2 Use your key word term or phrase in most of your paragraphs. You certainly don’t have to use the phrase in every paragraph of your article, but it helps to use it frequently. Many engines count the number of times the keyword or keyword phrase is used. However, you do not want to over do it. This will turn off many of your readers and negatively affect your credibility. Find a good balance between using your keyword phrase and an appropriate amount of content.

Tip #3 Bold your keyword phrase at least once within the article. It doesn’t matter where you bold your keyword phrase when using article marketing, just be sure to bold it at some point in your article and/or when you post your article online. This provides emphasis and shows the search engines that it’s important to the content on the page.

Tip #4 Italicize your keyword or keyword phrase once in the body of your article. Again, providing a treatment to the text signals its importance and value to the rest of the content on your page.

Tip #5 Use your keyword phrase in the first 25 words of the page and last 25 words of the page. This is essential for on-page optimization and again signals the search engines that your phrase is relevant to all of the content on a given page.

Now that you’ve written your article, what are you going to do with it? When considering the options available for article marketing, consider distribution of your article through online article directories. I personally use those directories that have a high Google PR. If the article directories are favored by other popular sites, they will most often have a good deal of traffic. Article Directories with the highest Google PR (that are any good) include:

Article Central - PR7
About.com - PR6
EasyArticles - PR6
Go Articles - PR6
EzineArticles.com - PR6
ArticleAlley - PR5

A number of these directories are also favored by major search engines like Yahoo! Some allow affiliate links and others do not. Be sure to read the submission policies carefully before submitting your article.

For some directories, you may have to include your website or affiliate link in the “About the Author” section. This is one of the most important aspects of article marketing. Be sure to write your bio very carefully. The added benefit of inserting a link to your product or site in this section is that other webmasters, who repurpose articles from article directories, will include these links – giving you the benefit of viral marketing.

Article marketing is a great way to promote your website or products. By writing an article that delivers value and offers a subtle mention of your website or product, you’re well on your way to getting the proper exposure you’re looking for. Add the on-page optimization factors we talked about, and you’re sure to get noticed. Give article marketing a try and you’ll be glad you did!

Thinking About SEO For A New Website

Are you launching a new website? There's no better time to think about search engine optimization than prior to launching a new site. By giving consideration to your on-page optimization factors, you can increase your chances of achieving top organic search results.

To prepare your site for easy indexing, be sure to follow these basis guidelines:

1. Design your site in html or similar format that minimizes the use of java script and flash. The more complex you make your code, the more difficult it becomes for the search engine spiders to read your content and prescribe the appropriate Google PR to your web page.

2. Make sure that your meta tags are coded properly and include the Robots.txt tag. Many individuals downplay the importance of meta tags. Although meta tags themselves won't drastically change the organic ranking of your site, they do create the display text users will see when your site appears in search results. If your meta tags are search engine optimized and compelling, you increase the changes of improving click-throughs.

3. Apply the proper tags to your page. H1, H2, and H3 tags are a great wall to call attention to your content and promote your keywords and keyword phrases. Try to use each tag at least once, but don't force the issues. You want your text to flow and appear normal.

In addition to ensuring that you've made your page easy to access and presented text that is optimized, you also want to consider other factors that can help long-term with your SEO efforts. So often, web designers get caught up with on page factors, that they overlook the requirements for establishing a foundation that supports long-term initiatives.

In particular, consider adding pages that you can add to over time that support link building and accessibility for search engine spiders. Be sure to include:

1. An html sitemap and an xml sitemap. Including a sitemap on you site makes it easy for search engines to access all of your website pages and index your site accordingly. Your sitemap should be in both html as well as xml. Although users would not access the xml sitemap, search engine spiders use this version to crawl websites. Additionally, key search engine submission resources like Google's Webmasters Tools require xml site map versions.

2. Include a partners page. Previously referred to as a links page, the partners page is essential for reciprocal linking. This strategy isn't as powerful as developing one-way links, but until your site has been assigned a Google PR, one-way links can be difficult to acquire. So begin your link exchange program with a partners page that allows you add or remove link quickly and easily.

3. Submission pages that encourage new content. One of the most powerful seo techniques is the addition of new content. Make it easy for your users to add or submit content to your website. When search engines see new content, they rejoice. Don't underestimate how important it is to make it simple for your browsers to add or submit content.

When focusing on search engine optimization, especially with a new website, follow the basic ideas outlined above. There are a number of other factors to consider as well. However, you should always start with a strong foundation - a site design that meets basic SEO standards but one that also supports your long range search engine optimization goals.

E- Mail Marketing For Dummies

E-mail seems like a terrific marketing tool -- until you think about all that spam clogging up your own inbox. But of course YOUR message isn't spam. So how do you use e-mail to market without becoming a spammer?

Done properly, e-mail marketing is highly effective. "E-Mail Marketing For Dummies" can help you send your message to the inboxes of the world while observing professional standards, improving your deliverability, and executing your e-mail marketing strategy in line with current laws. You'll discover the secrets to creating professional and inviting e-mail messages, locating receptive respondents, tracking the results, and finding out whether your program is working. You'll be able to: Combine e-mail with other marketing media Develop a winning strategy, build a quality e-mail list, and find success Comply with anti-spam laws Set reasonable objectives Decide whether to use an e-mail service provider Brand your e-mails Build relationships with your customers Increase your "open" rate and find out who's actually opening your e-mails Use e-mail to improve search engine optimization

And if you're not a bona fide, pocket-protector-carrying geek, this book is perfect. It's written for business people who need to get return on their time as well as their marketing efforts. Whether you read it straight through or dive right into the part you need most, "E-Mail Marketing For Dummies" is all about using e-mail to help your business prosper.

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing

Plan and launch your PPC campaign and keep track of its progress

If you want potential customers to form a traffic jam at your Web site, Pay Per Click just might do the trick. This book will help you decide It tells you all about Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search, targeting your customers, watching out for fraud, assessing the pros and cons of Pay Per Click, and making Pay Per Click work for you.

Discover how to Use the right keywords to trigger your ads Figure your breakeven point Write ads that reach your customers Calculate return on investment Use geo targeting Track your ad results

Top 20 Tips for Beginner Blogger

1. Choose a topic that you know, like, and are passionate about. This way you will never get bored and will keep your audience always interested and asking for more.
    
2. Pick a topic where there is not a lot of competition. If your topic is too common, try addressing it from a particular angle or focus on a specific niche. For example, there are many sites that talk about cars, but few that specialize in only one brand, and even fewer that focus on only one model. The key to be successful is to find a specific enough topic with a large enough audience.
    
3. Open a Blogger account. It is free and easy to use. That way, you won’t have to invest in costlier platforms like MovableType or TypePad before you have the chance of finding out if blogging is for you.
    
   
   
4. Use a minimalist template, preferably one with a white background. This format is easier to read and pleasant to the eye when you combine it with color pictures.
    
5. Use pictures to dress up your blog entries and give your blog a more professional appearance. You can find excellent pictures at a very low cost in istockphoto.com, or even free in Flickr (don’t forget to ask the owner of the picture for permission before you use it).
    
6. In one of your blog’s side columns, list six or seven links to authoritative sites related to your topic. When the search engine robots visit your blog, they will find these links and your blog will benefit by association.
    
7. Write in simple language, short paragraphs and using bullet points. These are essential guidelines for writing on the web, and will make your posts easier to read and understand.
    
8. Always link out to the sources you use to document your posts. This is not only good etiquette but also a way to promote your blog and get links: when the people you link to find out that they’ve been linked to, they will most likely link to your post from their site or blog.
    
9. Check your posts for spelling and grammatical errors. This will make your blog look more professional and will increase the probability of other people linking to it.
    
10. Use labels to categorize your posts and keep your blog neatly organized. Blogger recently modified its software to allow the use of labels.
     
11. Participate actively in forums and discussion groups related to your topic. Find what are the most common questions and provide the answers in your blog. Then, direct forum readers to your blog. Try to also direct forum readers to other resources, or  answer without necessarily linking to your blog, sometimes. If not, you may be perceived as self serving and only interested in promoting your blog.
     
12. Use HitTail to research topics to write about. HitTail gives you a list of the search terms used by those who came to your blog through a search engine. This search term list will give you ideas for future blog posts.
     
13. Allow your blog readers to email your posts to other people. Also, give them the option to bookmark your posts using del.icio.us, furl, or any other social bookmarking service. You can go to AddThis to download a smart button that makes it easy to bookmark your posts. You can find instructions on how to add the button to Blogger here. The easier you make it to share your blog posts, the more relevant traffic your blog will get.
     
14. Use Technorati tags at the end of your blog posts. Technorati tags are a way of classifying your blog posts by topic and have them added to Technorati’s index (Technorati is the most important search engine for blogs). Use this automatic Technorati tag generatorto avoid having to create the HTML code manually.
     
15. Syndicate your blog allowing your visitors to subscribe to your feeds through their favorite aggregator. This way, they will be automatically notified every time you update your blog. You can use this tool to generate attractive syndication buttons, which you can then place in a side column of your blog.
     
16. Post frequently. It is the only way to keep your audience interested and coming back. Two or three times a week is ideal. Once a week is the borderline minimum that I recommend to keep your audience engaged and maintain adequate visibility in the search engines.
     
17. Keep a large number of posts in the main page of your blog. Search engine robots usually won’t crawl and index all your blog pages, however they will visit your main page frequently. The more content you keep in your main page, the bigger the chance of it popping up in the search engine results pages.
     
18. Use Google Adsense to monetize your blog. Blogger lets you add Google Adsense easily and seamlessly in several locations within a page. The best locations are within the content, and on top of the page simulating a navigation bar.
    
    
    
    
     
19. Don’t use Google Adsense excessively, at least at the beginning. Your initial focus should be not to monetize your blog, but to build your audience and establishing your blog's reputation as an authority within your topical community. A blog that is deep on content and lean on ads is more likely to attract the kind of links needed to become relevant to users and search engines.
     
20. Once your blog is established and generates abundant, relevant traffic, you can monetize more aggressively, not only with Adsense but also with affiliate links and, why not, maybe even by selling your own products.

You can see a real example of all these tips at work in my blog: http://www.shoestringbranding.com  

You can freely reprint this article provided that you include the following resource box:

Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net ), a growing collection of Internet marketing articles, tips and resources, and Shoestring Branding ( http://www.shoestringbranding.com ), an online resource for entrepreneurs who want to build strong small business brands.

Pay Per Click Search Engine Basics

Pay per click search engines let you set up an account with an initial deposit, and then bid for the top positions in the search results pages for keywords or key phrases that you are interested in. Your bid will typically be set in cents or dollars per click. When a prospect clicks on your link, you are charged the amount of that bid.

Naturally, the keyphrases that people search for the most will command the highest bids.
Some pay per click search engines operate their own brand of search engine. However, the bulk of the traffic to bidding web sites doesn't come directly from them but from partner sites, usually large portal sites like Yahoo!, MSN or AOL. Links to bidding web sites will appear at the top or at the side of the search results page, clearly marked as "sponsor results" or "sponsor links".
For example, Overture (formerly GoTo), by far the most popular pay per click search engine, provides sponsored listings to numerous partner sites, among them: America Online, Altavista, Direct Hit, Excite, HotBot, iWon, Lycos, Netscape, and Yahoo! The highest bidders will achieve the top position for their selected keywords.
With Lookssmart, you pay a flat fee per click ($0.15 at the time of this writing) and the pages with higher relevance rise to the top.  Looksmart provides sponsored search results to a high quality core of sites like MSN, Altavista, About.com, Netscape and CNN.
Another important Pay Per Click search engine is Kanoodle.   Kanoodle goes beyond offering traditional sponsored results in search engines, by offering their ContextTarget™ service.  ContextTarget™ puts your ads alongside editorial content instead of within search results. This allows you to reach potential consumers at the exact time they are engaged and reading relevant content on their favorite sites.   At the time of this writing, Kanoodle was offering new customers it's attractive $5 Kanoodle Free Trial.
Google, the king of search engines, has recently launched its own pay per click service, called Google Adwords. At the time of this writing, Google Adwords provided sponsored search results to America Online, AskJeeves, Earthlink, and to Google itself. Google operates a little differently than Overture and Looksmart, in the sense that the top positions are determined by a combination of high bids and high click through rates, so nobody can lock the top positions solely by bidding high.

  

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that usually only the top two or three bidders for a selected key phrase will be displayed in the search results page of the partner sites. This means that if your page is in fourth position or lower, your link will most likely not be displayed on the top partner sites, and your traffic will be significantly less. That explains the large difference in price between a top position and a lesser one.

Since bidding for the top positions is so expensive, you want to make your link text as specific as possible, to attract only the most qualified, targeted traffic. If you make your link text too generic and bid for a top position, you may end up receiving lots of clicks from people who are not really interested in your product, and who click on your link only out of curiosity. That is also the reason why you have to select very specific keywords.
To know how much to bid for a top position, you have to have an idea of your expected conversion rate and the gross profit margin of your product. Let say that you sell computer books at a gross profit of $4 per book, and your conversion rate is 3% (meaning that 3 out of 100 people who click on your link actually buy a book). Under this assumption, if 100 people clicked on your link, you would sell three books, making a total gross profit of $12. This means that, to break even, each click must be worth $0.12. If you bid less than $0.12 per click, you make money. If you bid more, you lose money.
Pay per click search engines provide you with real time reports that tell you how much are people bidding for specific keywords. They also provide you with Keyword Suggestion Tools to assist you in selecting the right keywords or keyphrases (to see an example, check Overture's Keyword Suggestion Tool). One of the most important functions of this tool is to show you alternative keyphrases, which may be cheaper to bid for than the ones you had originally selected.
In summary, using pay per click search engines is the quickest and easiest way to gain the top search positions in the major search engines. It can also be very costly, so it is important that it be handled properly.