What is Article Marketing?
Let’s kick off this article marketing guide with a definition – article marketing is an internet marketing tool involving the creation and distribution of these articles, either by posting them on websites, submitting to article databases or utilizing the social media platform. Articles are about the writer’s industry and instead of the traditional byline, there is an entire resource box where the writer can include references, website information or contact details.
5 Benefits of Article Marketing
- Article marketing can do wonders to your reputation. When you get useful and relevant articles published, you will be regarded as an expert on the niche that you were writing about. Good reputation and expertise would generate trust and encourage people to do business with you. Trust is important in internet marketing as people aren’t all that keen dealing with those then don’t know/can’t see. With article marketing, you get to leave marks, as an expert in the field.
- Article marketing also has global reach. Since the medium you would be using is the internet, your audience is not limited to a specific geographical.
- Article marketing can be viral. Articles can be easily forwarded and it’s human nature to share when them stumble upon an article that is entertaining/useful. These so-called linkbait articles that can supercharge your popularity.
- Articles can also be easily repackaged to be used for other marketing techniques. For example, a collection of your best articles can be compiled and presented in e-book format and you can give them to people as freebies or as part of a lead generation campaign.
- When you get articles published in article databases and e-zines, you get to build links because of the resource box. These links would increase your page rank value and would help you get noticed by the search engines.
7 Tips for an Effective Article Marketing Approach
- Create catchy titles. Titles are where you turn on (or turn off) potential readers and clients. As much as possible, the essence of the article is communicated within the first 5 words. That is why you would often see article titles with two “sections” that are separated by a colon or a dash.
- Create unique content. Yes, this is easily said and difficult to do, what with millions of write-ups available online. However, you can still make a unique article by focusing on a different angle. For example, instead of writing about the key things to consider about a company, why not write about common pitfalls and how to avoid them instead. You are never sure that your ideas aren’t shared by anyone in the world, but you can work on the angle. You can also make it unique by being specific.
- Do keyword research. This is handy if you are an online business looking to use article marketing to rank in Google. Use the keywords in your articles.
- Don’t forget to create contextual links on the resource box.
- Your articles, no matter how good they are, would be useless if they do not have enough visibility. You can submit to article databases.
- You can also volunteer to be a guest writer or contributor for a popular niche website.
- Always deliver on what you promised. Don’t get into the pitfall of making an insanely attractive title that has nothing to do with the content. For example, this article could have been title “Supercharge Selling: An Article Marketing Guide” and it would look better but it is not a hundred percent appropriate for the article.
