Article Marketing 101  

Why Write Articles?

The catch-22 of Internet business is how to drive traffic to your site, even if they've never heard of your business at all. Most people who visit an online site will either find it through a search engine, hear the URL from an offline business that is online too, or have a friend tell them about a new website. In general, there are so many different sites out there competing for everyone's attention that to get noticed by new potential customers, you actually have to create content outside your website, preferably in high traffic areas, with links that go back to your products and offerings.

That's where article marketing comes in. The purpose of article marketing is to gather attention from high traffic areas and bring them back to your site. Instead of relying on your website to attract people to it via the search engines, article marketing is a method where you actually go to places where large crowds of online viewers congregate and offer them valuable information that makes them want to learn more about you and your business.

Don't Rely On Your Website Copy

Your website copy is great for converting customers once they arrive at your site, but it's not enough to draw people to your website all on its own merit – even with good search engine optimization techniques. Instead, you want to find multiple article directories where people are interested in reading various topics and submit your own articles to target the audience that might be interested in your products so that you can convince them to visit you online. After all, your website copy may be spectacular, but if no one reads it, you're not going to make many sales. You have to get people to your site first before you can actually sell them anything online.

Increase Your Traffic To Increase Your Traffic 

The best way to increase traffic to your site is to actually go out and find areas of high traffic and then drive some of that traffic back to your site. Article marketing does this exceedingly well for various reasons. One, people are always looking for fresh content, and article directories provide just that. Two, you are allowed to put backlinks to your website in the resource box, providing a conduit where traffic can flow back to your website from high traffic areas.  Three, article directories provide a large audience to start, and it's easy to harvest some of that traffic. Finally, article marketing lets you market a niche via topics, keywords, and categories, making it easy to attract highly targeted traffic that will be interested in your products and services and not just random traffic.  

Make Yourself An Expert

Most business owners are experts on the products they are selling; however, they don't always have the time to sit down with each new customer to go over the wonderful benefits of each product. Yet, if people understand the benefits, they will be more likely to want to buy. People buy products because they're looking to solve some problem or to improve their lives. If you're the person who can show them how to solve their problems or improve their lives, then you take on an air of authority and credibility as an expert that can help you to gain trust and to sell more products.

Pull Out Your Credentials

If you happen to have them, you should flaunt them, especially in the resource box that is available for authors to say more about themselves. People believe people more when they have some level of authority that makes them credible. That's why if you have a higher degree in a specific niche, have written a book, or can lay claim to expertise based on some remarkable accomplishments, make sure to mention some of that in your resource box.

Make Your Article Informative

Another way to impress people with your knowledge is to make your articles informative, as well as entertaining. People don't have much time these days, and when they take time out to read your article, they want it to count. If instead they reach the end of your article and feel like it is a “puff piece,” they are likely never to read another article by you again. 

Pick Topic Relevant To Your Niche

Write numerous article topics in the same niche, all on various aspects of that niche. The more articles you write on the same niche, the more people looking for information on that topic will get to know you and your expertise. If people don't find the answer to their problems or issues in one article, but they found you credible as an expert, they will look at the other article that you've authored to find one that does answer their questions. If you have many different articles, and they take the time to read several of those articles, eventually, they will also want to learn more about you personally. Since the resource box allows you to put two links to your presence online, you have two opportunities to show them more of who you are and what your business can do for them. Once they've read a few of your articles, they will have some idea of who you are and are more likely to visit your site with some set opinion about you that influences them, hopefully favorably, to buy something from you.