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Internet marketers who have been around the block
a time or two know that article marketing is one of
the best, low-cost ways to drive traffic to your web
site. And traffic (visitors to your site) can
translate into buyers, right?
That, right there, is the main idea of article
marketing. Let me give you a real-world example (and
then in a minute I'll give you another idea how you
can use articles).
Suppose you have written a book (either a physical
book, or even an ebook) and offer it for sale on your
web site. Web site traffic doesn't just appear, you
have to drive it to your site in some way. Probably
the easiest way is with pay-per-click traffic -- but
the downside is that, as the name says, you will
*pay* per click. Even if you're paying 10 or 20 cents
per click, that can add up to real money in no time.
The other obvious way to get traffic to your site is
through the search engines. But anyone who's looked
into SEO, or search engine optimization, knows it's
time-consuming and seems to need a healthy dose of
voodoo.
So this brings up article marketing -- a way to
promote your product or service by writing short
articles about the subject.
If the book we're pretending you've written is about
gardening, you need to find a way to get gardeners to
your site -- so write an article about some aspect of
gardening that will really excite those people with
green thumbs.
At the end of that article you can put a resource, or
bio (biography) box. Most people put in a blurb about
the author, but since you're trying to drive traffic
to your site, you'll want to give them a reason to
visit. Offer them more of what they just received in
the article and a lot of them will click the link and
visit your site.
Once you've written your article you will distribute
it to article directories online -- and then people
who need articles on gardening (or every other
subject) will see your article and, if it's written
well, use it on their web sites, in the blogs,
ezines, etc. And every time they use your article,
the link to your web site is right there for the
reader to click on!
That's the main way article marketing is used.
There's another way that's similar, but it's done for
a different reason.
If you don't have a product for sale yourself, you
can still use article marketing to promote someone
else's product. Find a product you believe in (it'll
probably be one you've purchased yourself) from a
company that offers an affiliate program, and sign up
for it. As an affiliate you can promote the product
with a special link and will receive a commission for
each sale you make.
Now, you do the same thing as the person who's
promoting their own product -- write articles about
some aspect of the product you're promoting and drive
people to the sales page with the link in your
resource box.
--- Sidebar: Some article directories do not let you
point directly to a product using an affiliate link.
In that case, you'll lead the reader back to your
site, and then to the product sales page. Be sure and
check the terms of service for each article directory
to whom you submit an article to make sure you follow
the rules. ---
One of the biggest "secrets" in article marketing is
in writing more than one article. A lot of people
write one article and when they don't see an
avalanche of traffic, they decide it doesn't work and
give up on it.
But the people who continue to write articles and
submit them to the directories will see their traffic
build and build. Article marketing is a tried and
true method of creating web site traffic -- and once
you can get them to your web site, you have a chance
to close the sale and make some money!
Jay Jennings has created software that makes
article marketing quick and easy, even if you're not
a writer. See Article Architect right now at http://articlearchitect.com
and find out how more traffic to your web site will
impact your online business.
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