The How’s And Why’s Of Article Marketing

The Internet has opened so many channels of communication in our world that marketing has evolved because of it. No longer does a business have to spend thousands of dollars to inform other people about its existence, the World Wide Web provides for numerous ways by which this can be done for free. Spreading the word has never been so easy and cost-effective, especially when you decide to literally “spread the word.”
Article marketing is one of the many ways by which you could promote your business enterprise for free. This method involves the writing of an informative piece on a subject that is related to your enterprise, and submitting the same to the many article banks in the web. How would this be able to help your trade? Perhaps an enumeration of the steps needed would shed light to this question. We will go to that later.
You must have a website, or if you’re enrolled under an affiliate program, you must have your affiliate links at hand. The purpose of article marketing is two-fold. One, it would help you brand yourself as an expert in your field. Two, it would help drive traffic to your website or your affiliate links.
Now, for the steps that are needed:
– The heart of this strategy is to write an article that is relevant to the subject of your business. If your business is about dogs, you could write an article about dog care or dog grooming. Limit your article’s length to around 400 to 900 words.
– Once you have finished writing your article, include a resource box. A resource box is a series of lines where you could introduce yourself (in the third person, for example “John Doe is an Internet marketing expert who has been in the business since 1998” your credentials, and most importantly, your contact details, which should include your link, either to your website or to an affiliate campaign you’re promoting. Limit your resource box to a maximum of five sentences, as this is the requirement for most article banks.
– Then it’s time to submit your article to the many article directories in the World Wide Web. Popular article banks include www.ezine.com and www.goarticles.com , but there are thousands of others. The more article directories you submit to, the more exposure you will get for your links.
Article directories figure prominently in search engine results pages (SERPs hence, if your article is hosted in their database, more people are bound to see your link, and more people are bound to visit your site or your affiliate’s sales page.
Additionally, once your article is uploaded, many webmasters and eZine owners might decide to pick it up for their websites or their newsletters. This would mean even more exposure for your links, and new sources that would generate traffic for your business endeavor.
Any veteran Internet marketer would tell you that traffic is the lifeblood of your online enterprise. You could measure the success of your marketing campaign through the amount of traffic you will be able to generate for your site.
Article marketing can give you the traffic you need, and fast! Upon submission of your article, it would take less than 24 hours before it is uploaded, generally speaking. After which, many people would check it out almost immediately, especially in the more established article directories that are bustling with activities. You’ll most definitely receive a boost in the volume of visitors that would visit your site.
Also, by writing knowledgeably about a certain topic, your readers would start to view you as an expert in the field. This is excellent for branding purposes, as your business would always be attached to your name in the online game. Brand yourself as a credible businessman, and customers would find it easier to trust you with their cash.
So what are you waiting for? Summon that muse and start typing… a world full of readers, and possible clients, awaits you.