Article Marketing Made Really Easy

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Article marketing is a method to promote your site and reach a targeted audience through the distribution of short, informative articles.

This is how we will use Article Marketing:

Find a keyword or topic you want to write about that that relates to your blog or business. To find keywords, Google: "Google keyword tool" and search for keywords that you can rank high in the search engine for. If finding the right keyword for your content is an overwhelming task for you, just pick a topic you would like to write about.

After you decide on your topic, write a short 400-750 word article and then submit to an article directory. Most article directories are free to set up an account and they only accept original content written by you or content that was written for you and only you. They do not accept PLR articles.

There are many article directories, just do a Google search for "article directory" and sign up to any that you like. I like the Ezine kind the best. The end goal in doing article marketing is to get your article picked up by popular Ezines and sent to all their subscribers for, for free. This is another reason why writing great content is so important, you want to stand out from the rest.

So, the end goal is to get picked up Ezines, but there are a number of other advantages of article marketing too. Here are a few:

• You will build credibility and get your name / brand out there
• Search engines will pick up your article, which can lead to free traffic
• You will be seen as an authority figure on that topic, which is an important part of your Online Presence
• Your article will be seen by targeted traffic, interested in your topic and business. This will dramatically increase conversion rates of your prospects
• You can send readers of your article to your blog or opt-in page and optimize keywords very easily in the resource box. (A resource box is a couple of sentences at the end of the article where you can input your links.

Writing articles should not be too difficult. Do not think you need to be a journalist to create great content. The best articles are the ones that inform the reader in the simplest way possible. Here are a few points to consider when writing articles:

1. The headline is very important. This is the first attention grabber. A couple helpful tips: Go to where and see which headlines got the most diggs and adapt those to your topic.
2. Write good, informative content and not a sales pitch for your business. Not only will readers be turned off by a sales pitch type article, but it will not pass the article submission process. Check the editorial guidelines for submission.
3. Although keywords are very important for seo purposes, too many will get you forwarded. Do not load your article with keywords.
4. In the first paragraph give a quick overview and tease what your article is about. This is the second attention grabber.
5. In the resource box give the reader a reason, or incentive, to click on the link. It should only be a few sentences, try to make it flow with your article.

In the beginning, write a new article once or twice a week, if possible. Even if you write a new article every other week, it is still better than not writing at all. Building content and your message takes time, but set aside an hour or two in your schedule to concentrate on researching and writing your article. Somewhere down the road you will be very glad you made time to do this.