Operating any kind of business online requires article marketing of some kind. There is no way to get around it. There is no way to do without it. While many people do not think it’s true, after learning how websites get traffic and how online businesses get ranked in search engines, they change their tunes. Article marketing happens in many ways and when done right, the results are explosive.
Article marketing is a part of the new buzzword, content marketing. This happens when business owners use written articles to drive traffic to their websites in an attempt to increase their sales, build trust with their target audience or increase their reputation as an expert in their industry.
How It Is Done
Article marketing uses a lot of written content. People get content in many different ways. Some businesses have an on-staff writer to write the content they need. When this is the case, much of the content is specifically written for that company, giving the content a more personal edge. While that is a great option, not all business owners can afford that. They instead turn to freelance writers or buying prewritten content. Any bought content can be written or edited to fit the needs of the business.
The goal of article marketing is to increase a business’ online presence. To do that, the articles business owners own have to be placed in different places online, bringing traffic and attention to their website. The best places for these articles are:
- Business websites
- Article directories
- Guest articles on other business’ websites
- Quality e-zines
While some disagree with the effectiveness of using some of these sources to get traffic, it is worth the effort. Submitting quality, non-duplicate content to these sources will increase links to a business’ website as well as increase their reputation as an authority. Since the release of Google’s updates, quality content has been emphasized and most websites and sources filled with less than quality articles have lost rankings or been blacklisted completely.
With a list of places to submit articles to, business owners have to become consistent. Articles should be consistently be released, especially on a business website. Quality articles have to be submitted regularly to get the results business owners want. Posting regularly will:
- Increase the number of links going back to the website
- Increase brand recognition
- Build trust with target audience
- Build authority
- Increase search engine bot activity on the website
Nope, It is Not Dead
In short, article marketing is not dead. It is not something that will die easily because the need will always be there. No matter what new tricks marketers find to bring attention to their products, the need for information will always be there. People want to know what they are buying, who they are buying from and articles give that information.
Experts like to say article marketing is dead but it is not. Article marketing has gotten lost in a new shuffle of buzzwords but the reality is that content is king, quality is queen and consistency is the hidden ace.