Internet entrepreneurs and seasoned Internet markers will all agree - marketing your website is one of the most time consuming tasks you will undertake. One of the top reasons a website might fail is due to lack of traffic because of an ineffective marketing campaign. One of the most effective and efficient ways to market and drive traffic to your website is through the use of article marketing.

How exactly does article marketing work?

Start by writing articles with a similar subjects and topics to the website you want to market. These articles will be published on article directories, or, websites other than your own. These unique, high-quality articles are intended to generate interest in your area of specialization, making you an authority in your field.

A unique article will leave your reader wanting more information, thus giving him a reason to want to click on the link you will leave at the end of your article and be directed to your own website. A link to your own website within the content of an article found on another website is called a backlink.

As your articles are published, you may find interested Internet users using social bookmark websites to draw attention to articles they enjoyed. Other Internet users may post links to your articles or your website on their own websites, creating even more back-links. Accumulating back-links across the Internet will make your website noticeable by search engines which will increase the likelihood of your website showing up on Google, Yahoo, or other engine searches. As the number of backlinks to your articles increases, so will the traffic to your website.

How do I start my article marketing campaign?

First, write unique articles for submission to article directories. You do not want to use the same articles you are already publishing on your website as duplicate content on the Internet will damage your ability to drive traffic to your website. You should also avoid writing ads in disguise. Be sure to write genuinely useful articles as your readers will appreciate your honesty and will become more likely to use your site as a source of additional information.

Use the same care in writing articles for article directories as you would when writing articles for your own website. Article directories are not homes for your sub-par quality work. Articles should be at least 400-600 words in length, but generally no longer than 1,000 words. Lengthy articles are likely to bore readers who are used to fast-paced Internet browsing. Be sure to use keywords in your articles and proof read your work for typographical and grammatical errors.

What do I do with the articles I’ve written?

After you have written your articles you will need to find websites, otherwise known as article directories, where you can publish your articles free of charge. Article directories allow you to publish articles on their site which will allow two things to happen.

First, Internet users who search for a given topic may find your article in the directory. Second, website owners who have similar interests may find your article and publish it on their own website. If this happens, the person using your article will be required to publish your article exactly as written, including your author information and the back-link to your website.

There are hundreds of article directories on the Internet. A few popular directories include:

• http://www.ezinearticles.com
• http://www.goarticles.com
• http://www.articlealley.com
• http://www.articledashboard.com
• http://www.searchwarp.com
• http://www.buzzle.com

If you do not want to search for article directories in your genre, there are services like http://www.isnare.com, which will, for a small fee, submit your articles to directories on your behalf.

Do not forget to include the backlink!

The most important part of your article is the short author’s biography you will include at the end. Remember, the articles themselves are not intended to be advertisements. This is where you will include information such as your name, your website address, and a short teaser to entice the reader to visit your website for more information.

Make sure the website address is clearly written out, such as http://www.yourdomain.com. Do not hide the link in text in your author bio, as you’ll want readers to see the entire name and address.

Article marketing is one of the most effective and consistent campaigns you can use to drive traffic to your website. With a little work, a successful marketing campaign can provide an endless stream of valuable links and traffic to your website for years to come.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 6:26 am and is filed under Traffic Suggestions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.