Many internet marketers have heard about the traffic that
article marketing can bring to a website. Yet, when they try it
themselves, they find the results less than rewarding. With
article marketing becoming more and more well-known as a FREE
(or very cheap) way to quickly gain lots of inbound links to a
website, the value of it cannot be over-emphasized.
However, as this trend grows, so does the population of articles
that are available. With the inherent competition, article
distributors and newsletter editors, are becoming more selective
toward the articles they accept. Since they are in the driver's
seat, the sensible thing to do is find out what it is they need,
as well as the most efficient way to offer that to them.
Below are 9 tips that include everything from offline
preparation, to Byline Do's & Don't's. Each is designed to make
the process as efficient and painless as possible. Included in
the byline is a link to a current list of approximately 100
submission sites and recommended submission services.
1. LIKE A GOOD SCOUT, BE PREPARED There are several items each
distributor will need regarding each article submission.
Preparing these beforehand, as part of the writing process, will
make the submission session flow smoothly. The list below
includes everything needed to submit an article:
There are some companies that offer deliver bulk traffic for a certain period of
time, say for a month or two if you pay a certain price. Then there are viral
marketing campaigns in which you have a product embedded with your web site link
that gets passed around (usually for free) to other marketers.Additionally, editors of electronic magazines, or eZines, as well as webmasters,
regularly browse through article directories looking for articles they could use
as content for their newsletters or their sites.
-- Title. Like the name of a website, a Title is, was, and shall
always be the articles first advertisement. This is true for
editors and distributions as much as those who will eventually
read it. Though there are many articles devoted to this subject
alone, the most important thing to remember is: short and to the
point. The faster people can understand what the article is
about, the faster they can decide if they're interested. And
never, never use a deceptive Title. Though it may gain some
attention, in the long run, the editors will mostly remember
being disappointed by you.
-- Synopsis or Abstract. This is a short description of the
article, which is usually only one or two sentences long. Many
distributors even have a byte or character limit for it. Respect
that limit. If your synopsis exceeds it, the system will
probably just cut off the last few words. The synopsis is used
by the distributor to promote the article on their article
listings. It is the short "blurb" that explains a little more of
the article.
-- Key words. Like the keywords for a website, these keywords
must be relevant to the subject. For example, the keywords used
for this article were: business writing, article marketing,
internet marketing, affiliate marketing, article submission,
newsletter distribution. They all relate in some meaningful way
to the overall subject. There needn't be more than four or five
phrases. These will be used, not only within the database
searches, but with major seach engines, too.
-- Body. Most distributors also have a limit on the amount of
characters/bytes for this, but are usually generous with this
amount. Respect that amount. If your article exceeds these
limits, edit it appropriately.
--Byline. This is the little box at the bottom of the page that
is "About The Author". The reason it's called a "byline" is
because this is who the article is "by", i.e., who wrote it.
Keep this short, too, but be sure to include any background that
is pertinent to the subject and could deem you an "expert", as
well as your profession and a link to your site is needed.
Again, there are limitations on these, which vary according to
the distributor. Generally, if it's brief (like mine, below), no
one will object.
Once all of these items are written and edited the article is
ready for submission. It's also a good idea, before beginning to
make a short template that includes all these items, then save
it as something like, "basic_article.txt". But-- Often people ask what they should write articles about. One place to start is by
writing articles about what you are good at. If you work in the Information
Technology world then write articles relating to your field of expertise.As you perhaps already know, article submissions can drive a huge amount of
traffic to your web site for months if not years. The first step is obviously to
get a good article written, with a suitable resource box at the end containing a
link to your site to drive traffic to your site
2. THE RIGHT "PROCESS" Everyone has their own favorite word
processing program. And most are fine to use with submission
sites. Word is so completely ubiquitious, most sites assume
writers will use this. However, while the distributors do accept
these platforms, that doesn't mean they can accept all the
formatting included with them.
Generally speaking, formatting should be kept to a bare minimum.
I use silly old Notepad (yeah, that little WP accessory that's
available in every copy of Windows). It forces me to forget
about formatting. Since an article must be adaptable to many
different types of formatting, keeping ITS formatting plain
allows a larger amount of distributors to accept it. The last
thing one should expect is for the distributor to have to take
the time to re-format an article. That is not part of their job.
It's part of the writer's.
Also, if using Notepad while writing an article, turn the Word
Wrap feature "ON". But while submitting it, turn it "OFF". This
simple step can save hours of re-formatting for each submission
site and is another good reason to use Notepad. Always remember:
coding-BAD. Writing free reprint articles is a great way to drive traffic to your sites and
increases your business sales. However, much care must be taken in order to be
sure that your article is actually using keywords that users are looking for in
the search engines.
3. DITTO WITH HTML Though most email now accepts HTML coding and
many even include it automatically, this does not mean that the
programs used in article distribution are included in that
equation. This is another excellent reason to use something like
Notepad, since there is a minimum of unseen or invisible coding.
Any type of coding may transfer poorly and cause an article to
look more like a cyptogram than legible writing. Remember:
Coding-BAD. No Coding-GOOD. A few distributors will not even
allow such common characters as quotation marks or asterisks.
One good substitute for this is CAPITALIZED words, which also
work well to replace a bold or italisized word.
Up to this point, the tips have been about the preparation
process. The following refer to the actual submission process.
There are some companies that offer deliver bulk traffic for a certain period of
time, say for a month or two if you pay a certain price. Then there are viral
marketing campaigns in which you have a product embedded with your web site link
that gets passed around (usually for free) to other marketers.
4. THE GOOD GUYS VS. THE BAD GUYS Especially for the ambitious
writer who is always doing Google searches for new article
sites, it should be noted that not ALL submission sites are
reputable. For some reason, some people begrudge even a simple
byline as payment for providing valuable content and will "overlook" several key essentials. Any reputable site (and most
of them ARE) will offer three services to the author: a byline
segment, the ability to preview the finished article as well as
edit the article AFTER it has been submitted. For those who
don't, for whatever reasons, a writer may include a top byline
within the Title, as well as the bottom byline within the body
of the article. But ONLY for those that do not provide a place
for them. Otherwise, you articles will come out looking silly --
and may be passed over -- for having doubled this content.
5. PICs OF YOU Some submission sites ask for a photograph of the
author. Though many people shy away from cameras, this is an
additional security measure against plagarism, especially if the
photo is included with each article. So consider keeping a
relatively recent photo on file on your computer. Most that do
ask for this require that the photo be a relatively small file,
so keep it simple.
6. AFFILIATE MARKETING OR BIZ OPPS? Choosing the right category
during the submission process is another key ingredient to
success. Most newsletter editors only skim through the
categories pertinent to their area of interest. If a submission
site has no relevant categories, skip it and go on.
Additionally, editors of electronic magazines, or eZines, as well as webmasters,
regularly browse through article directories looking for articles they could use
as content for their newsletters or their sites.
7. EMAIL INCLUDED? Until recently, including a professional
email address in the byline would be advised. However, with the
increase of email address security issues, this is becoming less
common. If using an email address at all, use one that is not
directly associated with a privately owned website.
8. ORGANIZATION EQUALS EFFICIENCY The first, crueling session of
article submission (with the emphasis on "mission") can be
daunting to a budding enewsletter author. However, if the time
is spent wisely, it can be an investment that will pay for
itself with each subsequent article. When submitting to sites,
create a folder in the "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" portion of
your browser. For each successful submission, remember to add
the link for that site to your folder. Also, edit each one,
putting the username for that site and password in the link so
that, when clicked on it, it also has this information
available. And, to save steps later, be sure the link goes to
the sign-in page (for those requiring membership) or directly to
the submission site (for those without). Once this system is in
place, and the article includes all necessary items, the whole
process should only take a short time.
9. BYLINE DO'S AND DON'T's DO: Adjust your byline according to
the article and promotion. For instance, though my main work is
now internet marketing, I've also worked extensively as a
crafter. If I decided to write an article about crafting, I
would revise it to include that information. Also, since I
represent several different companies, I choose the company most
closely related to the subject. Turning that thinking around,
one could also write articles that would specifically promote
different sites.
DON'T: If A submission site does not allow HTML in the byline,
do NOT USE it. Type the URL in its entirety. Some sites simply
don't have the technology to support HTML. There are also
several free services that will provide short urls or URL
scramblers, if there is any concern about security.
DON'T: include more URLs than allowed. Some sites do not
specifically state a limit, but most do not want to more than
two or three.
Often people ask what they should write articles about. One place to start is by
writing articles about what you are good at. If you work in the Information
Technology world then write articles relating to your field of expertise.
DO: As an added security measure against plagarism, always put
your initials right at the end of the article, as I do, below.
This is an old offline writing habit, which was typically used
in newspaper work to identify to the typesetter which articles
belonged to which authors. Online, it prevents the plagarist
from copy/pasting the text without being detected.
Finally, and above all, respect whatever rules or requirements
each submission site has, for your own sake as well as theirs.
Remember, as more and more people learn the value of article
marketing, competition will continue to increase. So, as you
submit regularly to sites and they come to count on you for
good, professionally submitted content, they will appreciate you
and your efforts.
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