Have you ever wanted to know how people manage to get so many visitors to their website? Would you believe there is a technique which you can use to drive targeted traffic to your site for the keywords you choose? Not only that, would you believe that such a technique can be implemented for free?
Article marketing is a technique that involves writing relatively short articles (300-500 words) on a given topic that targets a certain keyword. You then submit these articles to an article directory (there are many of them around but ezinearticles.com is currently the most popular). Your article is accompanied by a resource box which you can use to include a link or two back to your website. This technique provides the following benefits:
- You have a link to your website that visitors interested in your article can follow
- Your article has an excellent chance of ranking high because Google likes good article directories and often ranks them high
- You get a back link to your website which search engines, such as Google, count in your favor when determining where your site appears in the search results
- You build your credibility and reputation
- You can put your visitor in the correct mindset before they even arrive on your website to read what you have to offer
You are probably wondering what the catch is. The only downside is that you have to write articles and you have to write regularly – but I don’t mean hundreds of articles a day. Too many and the search engines will think you are up to something. At most one or two a day but several a week is also fine. Remember – these articles are relatively short. They should only take about half an hour to write – an ideal length of time for pursuing in your spare time. Which is another reason why I like this technique – I can work on my online projects part time and still make decent money.
What you write about is also important. You should pick a topic that is related to your website and find a keyword or phrase with high search volume (use the free Google Adwords Keyword tool for this) and low competition (search for your keyword with quotes and Google will tell you the approximate number of competing pages – the lower the number the better).
A good article will promise something of value to the reader in the headline, deliver on the promise, be interesting for the reader, and leave them wanting something more so they click on your link in your resource box. Also, when writing your article, try and use your keyword about once for every hundred words or so. This will help you rank high in the search results.
There are many different styles you can use for your article, such as:
- Product review
- Top five list (or any other number)
- Interview
- Question and answer
- What if? Scenario
- Your predictions
The list is practically unlimited. As long as your article is useful and informative it will serve the purpose of article marketing. Before you submit your article to the article directory it is a good idea to read over their guidelines to ensure that your article is accepted.
The important thing to remember in article marketing is consistent effort. One article is not going to send torrents of traffic to your website. Consistent effort over time will reward you with the traffic numbers you are looking for.
If you are looking for more resources about article marketing as well as tips and tools for finding the best keywords, Wealthy Affiliate has some excellent information available as well as tools that will make your keyword research a breeze. You can also read about my experiences in their article marketing club. Definitely worth a look if you are serious about making money online.