Article Marketing is a great way to get the
word out about yourself and your business. Even people that have never
written before are finding success writing short informative articles
and marketing them through Article Directories. The great thing is you
don't have to be a professional writer to benefit from this Internet
based form of marketing. It's simply a matter of writing about
something you know or are interested in, and writing your article as if
you were talking to a friend sitting next to you. While I believe just
about anyone is capable of writing an article that is worthy of being
published, there are a few things to avoid when writing your article to
keep it from winding up on the publishing scrap pile. Of all the
mistakes that writers make, gross spelling errors is one of the most
blatant. When I speak of spelling errors, I'm not talking about the
occasional misspelling of a word, or using the word in the wrong
context like using 'there' instead of 'their' but we are talking about
articles that are written as if the writer has never opened a
dictionary before. The thing is, there really is no reason to submit an
article full of misspelled words. All one needs to do, is use a 'spell
checker' to proofread their article. Some article directories like
'Ezine Articles' even provide a free spell checker that will let you
check your spelling before submitting the article. No matter how good
you think your spelling is, my advice is to use a spell checker before
submitting your article. I always use one before I submit an article,
and I'm amazed at the spelling errors I find in my writings.
Another mistake that writers make is writing an article that is either
too long or too short. You want to try and get in the habit of saying
what you have to say as concisely as possible. I usually try to compose
my articles with a structure of 5-7 paragraphs and word count of
between 400-700 words. Any less than 400 words, and most newsletter
publishers and owners of websites won't bother to use it for
publication. It's the same with articles that run on forever. Remember,
you are not writing a book, you just want to compose a short,
entertaining or informative article that others will read and hopefully
post on their website. Your goal is to have your article distributed
around the Internet as much as possible. Keeping your articles short
but concise will help you to accomplish this goal.
One of the most egregious errors that I see some authors make is the
misuse of the 'Resource Box'. It's a shame to see a well written
article about some topic only to see the Resource Box not being used
properly. For instance, if you're writing an article about Tropical
Fish, you wouldn't want to include a link in your Resource Box that
takes the visitor to a site that tells them how they can save money on
their taxes with a piece of software. You want to link the information
in the Resource Box to the article as much as possible. If you are
writing a somewhat general article about making money, you're probably
safe in linking to most other sites about making money in one form or
another. On the other hand, if your article is written about a
particular niche, then use the Resource Box to send your visitors to a
website that relates to what your article is about.
Another vital ingredient to Article Marketing success is submitting
your articles to the right Article Directories. There are literally
thousands of directories to submit your articles to on the Internet.
While some people will suggest that you submit your articles to as many
directories as possible, I try and submit my articles to the highest
ranked directories on the Internet. The reasons for this are not only
because you receive more visitors from these directory sites, but your
articles will oftentimes receive a higher page ranking by the search
engines which leads to long term traffic for you. One technique I use
to check on the effectiveness of an article directory is after
submitting an article, going back a week or two later to check on the
article stats. If I find that the article is waiting to be reviewed or
hasn't been downloaded much, then I'll most likely avoid submitting any
more articles to that directory in the future.
Article Marketing can be a great way to bring traffic to your website.
If done properly, your article can bring you traffic for years to come.
While your article writing probably won't lead to a new career as a
novelist, it can lead to greater exposure for you and increased profit.
About the Author
Bill
Thomas is actively engaged in E-Commerce and Internet Marketing. Bill
also contributes articles on life, business and other topics. His
current website is..Build Lifetime Income from Home With Your Own...Incredible Internet Business