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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Why Article Marketing Creates Such High Quality Traffic

As you might have guessed by now, article marketing is my favorite form of traffic.

By the way, what is article marketing traffic? Article marketing traffic is traffic that is created when I write articles about the topics that will interest people who would buy from me in the future, put links in my articles to web pages on my site (in my case, squeeze pages on my site), and submit those articles to the various online article directories.

So why does article marketing create such high quality traffic?

This is how article marketing works, on the visitor end: someone reads my article after searching for their desired subject online and my article has come up in the top ten results in the search engine. They read my article, and many of them click out of my article without reading any further or without clicking into my site.

That is the most important part! That is my screening process! I get rid of the deadbeats, the people who dont like me, who dont like my name or my ideas, or whatever. That means that only qualified people will get to my web site!

So this means that since only qualified people will get to my web site, then I have a list of people who are much more highly qualified than just about anybody else in my niche.

There is an incredible screening process that goes on with article marketing, that just doesnt happen with PPC or classified advertising, or banner advertising, or just about any other advertising online. It just doesnt happen with the other sources of traffic but it does happen with article marketing.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Five Critical Promotion Mistakes Every Marketer Makes!

Article marketing

Unknown to many website owners, but a powerful source of traffic, online articles could be your next secret weapon! It's a way of driving a lot of visitors to your website as well as establishing your credibility as the "go-to" source of information. And you can do it on zero budget. But all of that depends on making sure that you stick to some basic rules. Here's what we recommend:

1 Know who your audience is
Find out who should be reading your articles and clicking on the links at the bottom to come to your website. Know what their specific interest or need is and why they are on the lookout for articles like yours. Don't try to cater for all the interests out there, target your articles and content to the niche market that wants to get to know you better.

2 Go right to what they want
Are they interested in carp fishing? Do they have insurance problems they need to solve? Whatever specific need you have identified, go right to the itch that needs to be scratched! Your article headline is a big part of the battle here. Tell them right at the beginning what interesting information they will find in your article. Then give them the detail they are looking for. And finally, end your article in a way that keeps their interest in following on to your web site. The article "bio" box that article sites offer you is typically a good place for this.

3 Keep it fresh and interesting
Use "you" as much as you use "I" or "we". Paint pictures with words of what your readers can gain by reading your article, get them involved with examples and trigger their emotions. A good tactic for you is to read your article after you've written it, but as though you were one of your target customers. Does your article make you want to buy? Are there parts that make you yawn? Trust your gut feeling. If it doesn't "reach out and grab you", rewrite it until it does.

4. Be a pro - check your spelling!
No need for fancy words, but just make sure that you've spelt them correctly. Remember how you feel when you look at an article that has errors, duplicated or missing words. Your readers will have the same reaction, so don't give them any excuse. And while you're at it, check your grammar as well. Get friends or family to re-read what you've written and please - don't look for compliments, seek out constructive criticism. You'll go further in the long run.

5 The editor is your friend - keep it that way
Typically you'll be submitting your articles to an online article site. These are managed by editors who are looking for good, new content. Your articles can then get picked up by search engines and readers who then read your article. And if they like what they see, they'll be motivated to come to your site. But the editor is the gatekeeper! Play by their rules. They aren't complicated and by avoiding editorial rejection, you'll go further and faster.

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Targeted Article Marketing - 4 Simplified Steps to an Efficient Article Marketing

One of the most cost effective means that a lot of businessmen rely onto when they want a message to be sent across to their potential clients is the article marketing. The Internet as the medium used to channel this message is perfectly designed to make article marketing possible. It is cheap and inexpensive but extremely reliable and dependable. So, how does one then can successfully perform article marketing? Below are some of the steps that you follow:

1. Have a proper perspective as to whom you are directing these article materials. In a more simplified note, this is to know who your targeted audience is. Determine what your audience needs. What sort of information do they basically want? In addition, it is also contributory to the success of article marketing that you determine the demographic profile of your potential clients so that you can make necessary adjustments on what to write and the style of writing that you will employ.

2. After knowing who your targeted clients are, it is time to write and create your articles. Make sure that you apply the right kind of style and format based on the demography of your clients. More so, you need to make sure that all information that you put onto your article has a good sense of direction and poses relevance and significance to your potential clients.

3. When the article has been made and created, proclaim it to the world. There are just a bunch of publishing sites on the net to choose from where you will publish your articles. Attract these publishing sites by giving them a well-formatted, well-created article material.

4. After this has been published, it is time to wait if the articles did wonders. You will need to track and monitor how the article progresses based on the number of visits that you generate.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Best Article Marketing - Announcing 4 Secrets to Advance with Article Marketing

If you want to advance in article marketing, you need to be more aggressive in publishing your article online. Don't be contented with article submission sites. To create more inbound links for your website, you can also post your articles to your blog, websites, forums, or compile them to create an ebook.

Looking for other secrets to advance with article marketing? Read on!

1. Make use of killer titles. Articles with boring titles seldom create interest online because people automatically think that if your titles are not good enough, your articles are not worth reading so why should they bother and check out your content? Avoid this from happening by making your titles striking and attention-grabbing. It would also help to incorporate keywords on your headlines to make your articles highly searchable online.

2. Inform before your advertise. Impart some of your knowledge that you think will be valuable and useful to your readers. Make sure that the information you include in your content can help you establish your expertise on your chosen niche. When you are able to educate or help people, it would be easier to convince them to visit your website and join your newsletters.

3. Use compelling resource box. To increase your conversation rate, you have to make your resource box attention-grabbing and enticing. Communicate your expertise, the problems that you solve and your desire to help. Don't forget to include your website's URL and the reasons why readers should click on it.

4. Make your articles scannable. When people open an article that's made up of lengthy paragraphs and barely contain page breaks, they are most likely to close it and move to other articles that are easy on the eyes. Online users prefer articles that are easily to skim through so they can quickly find specific information that they need. To help them out, make your articles scannable by using sub headings, bullet points, and numbered list when appropriate.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Productive Article Marketing Revealed - 4 Comprehensive Ways to Multiply Your Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of the best website SEO strategies that is designed to get free targeted traffic for your website. It works by writing original articles that are related to your target niche and submitting them to various article directories online. These articles are then posted by publishers so other webmasters and ezine publishers can use them for free as long as they keep the resource box that directs online users to your website.

1. The success in article marketing largely depends on the quality of articles your write. In order for your copies to be widely distributed, they must be easy to read, well-written and focused on your target niche. Focus on writing articles that offer solutions as these are the kinds of copies that are often search for by most online users.

2. Choose keyword-rich titles. People search the internet through the use of keywords. When you make your headlines keyword-rich, they will be most likely to be found by your potential readers. To further entice your readers to open your articles, make sure that your headlines are intriguing and attention-grabbing.

3. Keep your articles short. Online users today have shorter attention span and they prefer short articles that are direct to the point and meaty.

4. Multiple the number of your articles. While it it true that the quality of your articles is the number one element that dictates the success of your article marketing campaign, the quantity of your articles plays crucial part too. As each submission grants you one quality inbound link, the more articles you submit, the more links you obtain for your website that can result to increased traffic and of course, sales.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Affiliate Marketing - AKA Bum Marketing Profits

The first thing you need to consider when you enter affiliate marketing is to decide what niche you want to enter. It is too easy to go to Clickbank and find a few books that you can promote. The first problem is that many people are also promoting them, and if you dont put some consideration into your advertising campaign you would soon be disappointed when you make no money.

Think about this carefully, if you are new to affiliate marketing and your site isnt known, how are you going to draw people in to buy your product or click on your promotion?

Unless you have a plan of what you are going to do then you will be spending many hours writing ads, and paying for PPC to find little return.

The best way to profit from affiliate marketing is to find a product that fits your niche, and then write articles, to promote the product.

There are many places where you can find products, which are looking for people to promote them. Too many people starting only consider promoting ebooks, but there are vast selections of products and companies for you to get involved with.

Look at it for a moment, from the point of the buyer. They might be totally new to the world of the web, and have heard many horror stories. They might not want to pass their credit card details over to a person they dont know. But there are hundreds of companies they know and respect. They have used them offline for many, many years, and they find they can now buy from them online.

These might be lower commission than some ebooks, but if you sell more, then you could be making more. It may take longer to sell a book that has 75% commission compared to a product that only gives 15% but you could sell more of them each day.

Not everybody wants to learn how to make money, but there are many things people need and will buy online. If you want to make money with affiliate marketing then you will be able to as long as you chose the right products.

To learn everything you need to know about Free Affiliate Programs and see exactly how I, Josh Spaulding, Make Money Online, visit http://ez-onlinemoney.com/ where I share all of my money making methods.

Article Marketing For Money

Article marketing is considered a traffic generation technique, and yet I still think that its primary purpose should be to make you money, not to generate traffic. You see, generating traffic is simply one of the vehicles by which article marketing makes you money.

So how does article marketing specifically make you money?

There are several ways that article marketing can make you money.

There are two specific ways that I think article marketing should be used to make you money online.

1) Article marketing to list build. I think article marketing is one of the best ways to generate quality traffic for your list building campaign. I believe that articles create some of the very highest levels of qualification, and that is what you need for your list campaign.

2) Article marketing to drive traffic to your ppc pages. I think that article marketing is a great tool for driving traffic to your ppc pages because the traffic is highly qualified and wants to learn more now. This is extremely important. They are hungry when they get there, and when the only way to really satisfy that hunger is to click a ppc ad, they often will.

I think that anytime you need highly targeted and qualified traffic is a great excuse to use article marketing. Sure, it is hard work. You have to write the articles, then you have to submit the articles. But the bottom line is that it works. It works for me, it works for about 100 other people in the world (my private estimate), and it will work for you. The only question are you willing to write for 2 hours per day?

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Do you want to learn how to build a massive list fast? Click here: Email List Building

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 900 articles in print and 9 published ebooks.

Amazing Article Marketing - Latest 5 Efficient Steps to Excel at Article Marketing

I have used several marketing tools in promoting my products and services but I like article marketing the most. Why? Aside from the fact that is it for free, it brings me qualified traffic to my website that leads to amazing sales potential.

In this article, I will share with you the 5 efficient steps that are proven to help you excel in article marketing and these are:

1. Titles. The titles of your articles are the first element that online users get in contact with. If your titles are enticing and attention-grabbing, you can be assured that a lot of people will be compelled to open and read your content. Based on researches and studies, titles that contain the phrases "10 tips", "How to", "secrets revealed", etc. can easily stir the right kind of attention online.

2. Quality. This is the element that can either make or break your marketing efforts. You see, when people read your content and they find it informative, well-written, and easy to understand, they will most likely to check on your website to either get more information or subscribe to your newsletters.

3. Format. We all know that online users have short attention span and they wish to get the information they need as quickly as possible. Help them out by using "how-to" and "10 tips" formats. If you prefer to use paragraphs, make sure that you use sub-headings.

4. Language. People can get easily annoyed when presented with an encyclopedia-sounding article that is relatively difficult to understand. Avoid this from happening by using the preferred language of your readers that they can surely relate to.

5. Empathize. To easily build rapport among your readers, make them feel that you understand where they are coming from by showing empathy.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Build Your Email List With Free Information Online Course

The internet is a massive market of people seeking information on all different types of subjects and content rich useful information will always command a premium.

So if you are in the internet marketing business how can you use this knowledge to your best advantage and build a long term business with a rock solid operating base.

If you have been working on the internet for any amount of time its easy to assume that the knowledge you have acquired is shared by the vast amount of other people on the internet and therefore you have little to offer any potential customers.

This however is not the case and you should reset your mind to realise that there are massive amounts of existing internet users and new users of the internet that are thirsty for even the basic knowledge of how to set up a website and start to develop an online business.

The basis of any successful business is its customer base and the internet marketing business is no exception.

We have all heard the expression that the real money to be made in internet marketing is in the list that we build or acquire so your number one goal when starting or trying to expand your internet business should be to build a list of like minded people who are interested in web based businesses and internet marketing.

One of the most successful and proven ways to build a list is through offering an online course of information specifically aimed at helping your newly acquired readers to develop their own websites and online business.

Your course should be built up of approximately 5 to 12 weekly lessons progressing from the very beginning of setting up a website to finely tuning that website to be a successful platform for any online business.

Of course, you can add further lessons and information to offer to your readers always bearing in mind that it should be of good quality and of real help in providing them with web building and internet marketing knowledge.

By offering this course for free you can be fairly sure of building up a reasonable sized list and more importantly building up a trust worthy relationship with your readers.

Copyright 2007 Terry Till

We offer a 12 week online course with private label rights for you to use as your own and build your list:

More information here

Webmasters and ezine owners may use this article provided they leave all content and links in full contact and without alteration.

A Do It Yourself On How To Efficiently Get More Quality Link Partners & Exchanges With Your Site?

Requesting Links

Ahoy everyone! Here is my secret out to build a quality link exchange program for your site. Lets get straight to the point shall we?

Remember: Not every link you request requires giving a link back. Sometimes it is cheaper and more efficient to just to go target higher quality links. Sometimes you can just request a link and get it by being personal and empathetic. Other times links may require payment ( I personally never buy links cause I personally feel it is not really necessary for my niche and I have enough unique and quality contents in my site's portfolio).

Be Personal

The best way to go about acquiring links is to be as personal about it as you can. Look around their website and try to find personal information. The more you find, the better you are.

When e-mailing them, try to submit it to the person who runs the site, not a general info submission. If you can state where your link should go on their site and how it would improve their user experience, you stand a good chance of getting a link.

Off-topic, somewhat personal statements showing you share similar interests may make you seem more human and more connected with them and will make it easier to get links. For instance, if you found out that I like peanut butter, somehow mentioning that or joking about it in the e-mail will make me far more likely to link to your site.

Proper Link Request Buy Line

Another good idea is to make the buy line of the e-mail appear as a suggestion. If I see the subject line of the e-mail as "SEO Book website suggestion," odds are that I am going to open it. Feedback is a fundamental part of any successful business so I have to open it.

I like using the word suggestion versus feedback. If you use feedback, they may feel like you are tricking them. If you use the word suggestion, they are highly inclined to open the e-mail. Remember, getting someone to open the e-mail is half of the battle.

E-mail to Use

When building links, you are more likely to have a higher close rate if you use an e-mail address with the same domain name with the site for which you are building links. Hotmail and Yahoo! mail type accounts probably do not close as well.

Some people also send their link requests as though they are cute females.

Scouting Out Potential Link Sources

A good way to find candidates for links is to use the Yahoo! link search. Do a search on Google to find your top few competitors. Go down the list and perform a backward link check on Yahoo! for each of them. See the sites that link to them and see if you can get links from those same sites.

Also, look at the categories those sites are in and use the Google directory to get the best sites from those categories to link to you. (Once again, to do a backwards link check of a competitor's website, go to Yahoo!'s search box and type "link:http://www.evilcompetitor.com.")

The Cost of Links

Some people are afraid of certain links because they think those links cost too much money. An expensive link can also be a good deal though.

If a link is expensive, or if the cost of obtaining it is a significant amount of effort, money, a long wait, or the approval from a webmaster who is a stickler for quality, it means those links are not going to be easy to get. People who create $5 sites hoping to double their money will not usually be acquiring links that take hundreds of dollars or many hours to get.

As people continue to abuse lower quality links the high-quality links will only count more.

Finding Niche Link Sources

You can do a search for " + directory," " + add URL," " + submit site"...any of them. Start thinking of ideas like that and finding sources of inbound links should be no problem. You can search across multiple search engines and even search for various file extensions.

If you have a resource about the ASP language, it may be a good idea to search for ASP file types.

If you have a golf site with a Flash game on it, try to get golf links, but also see if there are some game sites or Flash sites that might be willing to link to your site.

If you have a beautiful site design or an XHTML and CSS compliant design, try to list your site on sites about beautiful web design.

If you are a site designer, consider creating free open source site designs and promoting them on OSWD.org.

Let the Link Sources Come to You

If you know how to create and format truly remarkable information then you might be able to gain a top ranking by

  • Creating great content
  • Buying AdWords ads for related keywords
  • Letting bloggers and the media find your content via the AdWords ad
  • Watch them write about you, and see your rankings improve as you build links.

If you buy AdSense ads, you can run Google's position placement report to find where Google was syndicating your ad to. Webmasters who own these related pages might be willing to sell you links if you contact them.

Affiliate Program Links

Most affiliate programs redirect your links through third-party websites that prevent the link from parsing link popularity.

In addition, many other websites use query strings on the links. These typically will not parse PageRank to the destination page. A query string is something like "?affil=34565" at the end of the link. This identifies the affiliate for tracking purposes.

Even if affiliate programs do not provide static text links, they still help raise your brand awareness and build trust in the eyes of your prospective customers. A well-run affiliate program can also mean that some of your affiliates are crowding some of your competitors out of the search results.

Problems With SEO-Friendly Affiliate Programs (How They Can Hurt Affiliates, But Help Merchants)

If you build enough link popularity pointing to an affiliate page, it can outrank the regular version of the document. But if many good affiliates are promoting a product and those pages link back to the home page of the site they are promoting, then you can end up pushing a ton of PageRank to the home page of the merchant site. That PageRank can filter down to the regular (or non-affiliate) version of the page, which may eventually outrank all the affiliates.

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Article Marketing - The Poor Man's Way To Riches

Article Marketing is the poor man's way to riches. With little or no money, you can drive a lot of traffic with article marketing. By writing a keyword, rich headlines, and body articles you can gain page ranking for your website or product. With high page ranking on the search pages, you will see more traffic on your websites. The same articles will be used for content on other websites which gives you back links and more traffic.

Article Architect is a writing program that simplifies the whole article marketing. It has a keyword search engine built-in that drills down to the best niche. Based on the number of searches to the number of competing sites, there is an article subject research program called SE Snooping built-in that goes out onto the Internet for information. With that, you can write a good rich content article on any topic that will offer your readers very good information on the subject. Another tool is called Brainstorm. It creates 100 headlines for your article based on the information you supply.

The Article Architect is not an automated directory submitter. The format is setup to input all your directories with your passwords and names. Article Architect logs you in. All you do is click and point your articles to the directories submission forms. You can date the submission in the program and track the monies brought in by each article.

This article is just small. Look at a program that has saved me so much time and work. I can write a lot more rich content full articles and know that it will help my readers. If youre writing garbage filled articles to promote your business, this program is not for you. But if you take pride in your work and want to build a rock solid online business, take a look at this program.

There are other programs out there and I say compare quality, the number of tools with in the program, and the price for each one. Article Architect will beat them in every category hands down going away.

You have permission to reprint this Article in it's entirety in your newsletters or blogs. Also please feel free to pass it along to others who you think would enjoy it. Please leave all links active and working.

G Cook
Author
Internet Marketer

My Website

Do yourself a favor and take a look at My Website for more information along with a demo Video.

Search Engine Optimization And Developing A Strategic Marketing Plan

Are you enamored by websites' that consistently appear in the top 10 search results for multiple terms? In case you're wondering how they rank so well, those sites have graduated to the status of authority websites.

What is an Authority website? Authority websites are sites that contain useful content, enjoy massive quantities of unique (recurring) traffic or have strong link profiles from other sites as a result of their content. As an authority website, they have strategically acquired the trust of the search engines (like a good friend) and like clockwork, provide search engines with consistent, relevant, fresh content, (which is what they seek the most) and are rewarded by high ranking search engine visibility.

Here are some tips (broken into stages) that you can use, when developing a strategic marketing plan for your next search engine optimization campaign.

1. Competitive Research (knowing who, what, where, when and how the competition does what it does).

2. Keyword Analysis (making sure you select keywords with the most relevance and also keywords that can be acquired realistically by your website in it's current status.).

3. Link Building & Website Authority (knowing the range and scope of your search engine visibility, or knowing how to increase it).

4. Marketing & Promotion (putting a spin on your content or making it viral to build links naturally).

Let's start with competitive research and one brief statement " you are only as strong as your weakest link", so if you are trying to rank like a blockbuster and still have lackluster copy lingering on your pages or pages for lack of better terms that are starved for links, then you are only in essence, holding yourself back. We briefly discussed making your website an authority above, one side effect is, your entire site will be crawled, and re-crawled until every page is indexed and contributing it's 2 cents. So you may wish to make sure that the content on all of your pages is up to par.

Shall we get started? The first an foremost thing is to know the extent of your competition. If you were selling arts and crafts for example, you may not be in a competitive environment by comparison to real estate for example. So, knowing yourself and surveying the competition is imperative in order to provide the framework for the game plan.

1. Competitive Research

SEO does not involve happenstance, it is based on very specific principles of engineering and common sense. Similarly, do you think that world travelers set out on a quest with a head full of conviction, assumptions and half witted impulses? I would hardly think so, in fact their quest began with a vision and then they had to develop a plan to execute it. Much in the same way a search engine optimization expert needs to survey the territory to make an adequate summation of the obstacles and advantages to the course they plot.

This is where competitive analysis comes into play. Knowing who your competitors are (outside the ones you are aware of) is important. This can all be accomplished to some extent through SEO tools. However, the tools are only as good as the ones using them, but the point is, it is a starting point for getting a grip on what's hot and what's not as far as the industry, the market potential and most importantly the keywords and trends that consumers are exhibiting when conducting searches to find the key players at the top of their game (the category leaders). How did they get there you might ask? By plotting the proper path. The web is based on words, choose the right ones to optimize and traffic is the result, choose the wrong keywords and something terrible happens, nothing.

2. Keyword Analysis and Choosing the Right Keywords

This step comes right after the competitive research phase...

Choosing the right keywords is essential for initiating a proper search engine optimization campaign. Organic SEO is a more involved process than PPC (pay-per-click marketing) which just allows you (for a fee of course) to rank for related or unrelated content. Organic SEO however, involves ranking variables such as

(1) the servers you use

(2) are they clean (free of shared IP addresses from Gambling or Adult sites)

(3) the programming language and the code used to program your pages (W3C validated & compliant?)

(4) is the site static or does it use a content management system? and if so, is it optimized

(5) as well as architectural elements that comprise your websites' content and design all contribute to how search engines interpret and rank your pages. But just as the aforementioned components are an imperative quotient for superb rankings, choosing the right keywords when

(a) creating content as well as

(b) optimizing your site are the true secret formula for achieving top 10 placement.

Choosing the right keywords is the equivalent of making the first move in a chess game. By the very nature of design, certain choices eliminate other choices, in SEO this also is true. Using the right strategy for the right circumstances wins the favor of search engines at the end of the day, the only trick is, what they favor changes daily, so you have to keep a constant vigil and look for indicators or islands of stability in the code. Just like in the movie the matrix, over time you start to understand the ebb and flow of search engines and can arm your website with a plethora of tactics to stave off any unnecessary eruptions which could through your trajectory off course in your plight to reach the top. Call it a touch of prevention, or a more equip description would be strategic planning.

So in essence, you can determine the extent of an internet marketing strategy, based on (a) the medium it uses (b) the weakness or conditions it exposes or (c) the trail it leaves behind. Whereas by comparison in SEO, it is easy to see where something is going, based on certain signposts that indicate where it has been. For example, if a site has 5 top 10 rankings, rest assured having 10 is not a stretch of the imagination, rather merely a matter of time. What you cannot see, is how the strategies overlap, so just as in chess you make the first move, but are thinking four moves ahead, SEO works the same way.

Developing Links & Website Authority

When you first analyze a website (after you have seen enough top 10 rankings to be proficient in your analysis) you start to develop a feel for what it takes to land a page in the coveted top 10 search results for competitive keywords. Much like a weatherman, although you cannot surmise exactly with pin point accuracy, you can however predict certain behaviors by executing certain protocols or seeing tell tale signs which represent patterns you have deciphered in the past.

The first step is usually removing all of the things that obstruct search engines from getting to the real gist of the page, the content. Search engine spiders follow passages from one website to the next, these are links. Links are responsible for connecting your content as well as connecting your site as a hub to and from the internet. Based upon your use of links, internally in the site and externally referencing your site, you can create link popularity and relevance for your material.

We know for example that links are the basic fundamental building blocks that are responsible for how websites are ranked. The higher quality the link, the more value the link passes. Get enough of them, and your website is the new authority on the block, and as such high rankings are a by product.

So, we know that instead of creating or building links from off topic sources (link farms or tacky free directories with low quality links) which have little value, that what we do have control over is the content and the types of industries we select to execute a link popularity program. So, for example a new site or a website that has not really branched out and performed any type of website promotion is better off using article marketing (a controlled method that creates context and piques interest for visitors) to build quality inbound links.

Instead of linking to hundreds of low rate directories in an attempt to persuade the search engines to heighten your online credentials, instead we would suggest using articles and controlled distribution to inject new material (with links back to your site) intact in each article. In this way, it creates a linking buzz back to your site, which then gets indexed from search engines, but now instead of the new guy on the block, you are the new bona fide expert, as a result of the tactical press releases and content you published. This tactic creates intrinsic value while providing enough link bait for your website to shake a stick at, enticing readers to investigate further if the merit of your content created an emotional hook with the reader. Although that is one example, there is one more important factor.

The Wild Card

The true wild cards of internet marketing are things like the emotional state of the reader, how sticky your sites content is (which changes based upon the emotional state of the reader), do they want to read more, click the back button, purchase your products, etc. Some things are simply beyond your control and the mood of the person reading your message is one of them. Based on their mood they will react to certain click triggers under Circumstance A and yet click another selection based on impulse under Circumstance B. So the gist is, to put yourself in the position of the visitor and weave enough compelling copy into your titles, your pages and your sales pitch to capture a broader segment of traffic and interest from anyone who stumbles upon your content (by way of a search, a link, or web 2.0 site) that is if you want to reap the rewards of traffic conversion, which is another topic in it's entirety.

Jeffrey L. Smith is an seasoned search engine optimization strategist and founder of SEO Design Solutions SEO Web Design Company in Chicago. Jeffrey has been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings fresh optimization methods and solutions for businesses seeking long-tail Search Engine Optimization Services.

Top 10 Link Building Tips for Marketing Your Website

Link Building is the key to success on the Internet. Without good, quality, inbound links your website will be perceived as non-existent by the search engines. But with a solid link building campaign, you will let the search engines know your website exists and begin to receive higher rankings, guaranteed.

Link Building refers to the process of acquiring quality websites to link to your website, in order to improve link popularity or page rank within the search engines. There are many positive ways you can build solid inbound links to your website and there are also many link building mistakes to avoid.

This article will outline the top 10 link building tips to help market your website in the major search engines. Stick to these and your link building strategy will receive your website higher rankings.

1) Focus on Developing Quality Content that is Linkable

The best way to increase inbound links to your website or blog is to focus on developing quality content that is linkable. If your website does not have quality content then why would anyone ever link to it? But if you have content that others think is important, then they will create links without you having to do anything. Here are some good ideas that others will consider to be linkable:

a. Create "Top 10 Tips" articles

b. Create "How-to" articles

c. Create a "List of Top [Subject]" articles

d. And any other types of articles that others will think is linkable

2) Submit Press Releases Online

Every business, from time-to-time, has a newsworthy event that is worth sharing to the world. Submitting press releases online can be a great way to not only generate buzz about your business, but to also build links through press release syndication. Use such sites as PRWeb.com, PRNewswire.com, etc...

Learn more about how to submit a press release online and the 5 steps to a successful submission.

3) Add Company or Industry-Related News to your Website or Blog

Adding Company or industry-related news to your website or blog is a great way to build credibility and attract interested readers looking to link to the latest and greatest news in your industry. It's also a great way to show your business is focused on staying up-to-date.

4) Create an Account with Ezine Articles and Syndicate your Articles

EzineArticles is a great place to post your articles and drive more traffic and links to your website. It's a website that allows writers and experts to share their knowledge and syndicate their articles into their database of hundreds of thousands of articles. The great thing about these article sites is that their article pages actually rank highly and send quality traffic to your website.

5) Submit your Website to DMOZ

This is an oldie but goodie. Submit your site to DMOZ. DMOZ does not accept all websites but it's definitely worth the time to give it a shot. Google also uses the DMOZ database for the Google Directory.

6) Submit your Website to FREE Directories, Websites and Forums

Find free directories, websites and forums and submit your website. Be sure to look for the quality directories and forums and don't waste your time on the lousy ones. When visiting a forum, check out their Google PageRank for their directory landing pages. If they are a 4 or higher than spend the time to submit your website. Some good sites include:

a. Craigslist

b. Yahoo Answers

c. Blog Catalog

d. Blogarama

e. Squidoo

7) Share Links with Others

Have a friend who writes for a blog or has their own business? Develop content and link to their blog. In return, ask them to do the same thing.

8) Spend some time doing Social Tagging

There are plenty of social tagging websites out there, such as Digg, Delicious, Technorati, etc... If you find other's articles to be interesting, try digging or tagging them - you just might find them digging and tagging your articles in return.

9) Local and Government Websites

Adding your business to local or governmental .org domains is a great way to build links and let the search engines know your site is of importance. Such examples include:

a. The Better Business Bureau

b. Your local Chamber of Commerce

c. Local city resource websites

10) Create a Blog for your Website

Last but certainly not least - do you have a blog on your website? If not, then create one immediately. Blogs are a great way to build industry-related content and drive targeted traffic to your website. Also, when you have a blog, you can now write about other blogger's articles and link to their blogs. In return, they will start to link to yours.

Apply these Top 10 Link Building Tips and you will begin to receive higher rankings. This is a never ending process but if you can stick to these basics then you will be well on your website to achieving success in the Internet.

At Hudson Horizons http://www.hudsonhorizons.com we provide website design, web development, content management, e-commerce integration, RSS content distribution, search engine optimization, e-marketing services, link building, and the development of custom applications such as blogs, newsletter systems, online payment solutions and any other Web solutions that may be needed to help simplify your business.

Hudson Horizons is an e-business product, solution and marketing company specializing in creating highly sophisticated customized websites, web-based software applications and providing e-marketing and SEO services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Our vision and ultimate ambition as a company is to always strive to be "The New Light for e-Business." By offering new, innovative and extremely competitive products and solutions to our clients, we provide better ways to run and operate a business online.

Selling Articles For Profit - How To Sell Articles On Ebay

Not surprisingly, there are authors that attempt to sell custom articles on Ebay. In many cases, they do garner some success. That said, with a little bit of refinement, you can target your article selling to focused audiences.

Among other things, many new business owners will scour Ebay listings looking for ideas about how to market their products. As an example, if someone wants to sell jewelry online, they will review all kinds of Ebay guides, as well as listings from other vendors. Therefore, if you offer custom design articles under the jewelry keyword, you may just catch that person's eye. If you post your services using the featured option, this will also make it much easier for your prospective customer to find you.

Unfortunately, most article sellers make their Ebay listings vague, in the hopes of reaching larger numbers of people. As a result, most potential customers do not even know to look for content writers on Ebay. Not only will they never find your listing, you will wind up wasting money on insertion fees. On the other hand, creating more listings with specific topics can easily boost your sales.

Even though Ebay is traditionally geared towards the sale of physical merchandise, they do have the resources to help you sell digital media. Not only can this help with delivery of custom content, you will be able to ask the customer to pay you before you actually release the item for download. Considering the high rate of article theft, Ebay is one of the few places where the writer has an advantage.

Fabian Tan is the author of the free 51-Page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your free copy now before it's gone!

Questioning the Experts or Aspiring to Be One - Online Article Writers Choose

If you are an online article writer you can promote yourself as an expert by posing as an authority and claiming you have attained wisdom and knowledge. Or you can stand aside from the so-called experts and stand on your observations, experience and talents. Perhaps you have achieved the pinnacle and can do all of this. Either way you need to know where you stand.

How can a reader know where you stand? They may read an excellently written article by a great writer who in reality knows very little about their subject matter. Perhaps it is the only article they have ever written on the subject, they may in fact know very little about the topic past that one article. Are they an expert? Certainly not, but they might appear to be from the reader's perception. What if someone has written lots of articles on the subject?

Well in fact this might indeed be a better indication, but like many who follow the online article venue, I too have the same question, because it seems like the numbers are irrelevant really, but some believe otherwise and it is an interesting point of contention. Shouldn't we question the so-called experts; isn't this what Einstein indeed also tells us to do? He advises us to question the experts.

Personally as an online article author, I am so busy questioning the experts, I might feel slighted if one were to proclaim me one, although it appears there is no escaping it, as Einstein admitted later in life how he lambasted the experts only to become one himself? Indeed, isn't life funny that way? I have a problem with lawyers too, does that mean I will become a lawyer too some day? I hope not?

The point I am making here is; are you questioning the Experts or aspiring to be one? Every Online Article Writer must decide this for them selves. Are you a real expert or are just faking it until you make it?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Targeted Link Popularity - 5 Powerful Ways to Achieve Link Popularity

Link popularity does not necessarily mean having to go crazy adding up as many web pages as possible. If you do, you might be suspected of link spamming and may incur some penalties as a result. What you need to do is to focus your attention on the quality and relevance of the back links that you make. Here are five powerful ways for you to achieve link popularity:

1. The first move that you ought to make is to write articles and submit them to the many article directories that you can find online. A lot of article directories will allow you to put links leading to your web site from your resource box. If you can produce good, high quality content, your articles will be snapped up in no time and increase your link popularity tenfold.

2. Your second move when it comes to building link popularity has something to do with posting blog comments. Look for relevant blogs on Google or any other search engine and add sensible comments to those pages. If your comment is interesting and useful, the url you place in it will be clicked on by a lot of net surfers.

3. Joining forums on the internet to build link popularity is your third move. Look for all the forums that are relevant to your business and your target market and set up an account there. Add a web site link to your signature file and in order for that link to be clicked, participate in the discussion.

4. Your fourth move is syndicating your web site. Make sure your blog also has its own XML and RSS feeds.

5. And finally, your last move will involve building up your blogroll. Look around for blogs that are considered to be well established and make a request to be part of their blogroll.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Making Sense of Marketing Models

Marketing can be bewildering for busy small business owners who wear many hats and are aiming to figure out the most effective marketing strategies while managing their day-to-day businesses. Daily we are bombarded with marketing messages from all directions-television, radio, SMS, internet and print media. The marketing messages may reach us via solicited or unsolicited (spam) channels.

Research on the internet reveals a multitude of marketing models and techniques, each claiming to be the best and most cost-effective one. There is Telemarketing - Bum Marketing - Niche Marketing -- Metaphor Marketing - Guerrilla Marketing - Ambush Marketing - Fusion Marketing and Alliance Marketing to mention a few. Not surprising, more and more people complain about having too much information and choices vs having too little. A working definition of the Marketing Models is provided at the end of this article.

How do you respond to this avalanche of information? Do you feel overwhelmed and do nothing? Or do file the information away for review when you have more time? Maybe that time never comes and you end up not making the decision that could support your business growth.

Marketing Models - What do they have in common?

In its essence marketing models are a contest for your attention or the attention of your potential clients! They simply can be divided into Permission Marketing and Interruption Marketing Models.

Internet marketing pioneer and founder of Permission Marketing, Seth Godin says, "Advertising just doesn't work as well as it used to - in part because there's so much of it, in part because people have learned to ignore it, in part because the rise of the Net means that companies can go beyond it...we are entering an era that's going to change the way almost everything is marketed to almost everybody." This was in 1999. And while marketing with the rise of the Net has changed, the philosophy of permission marketing is as relevant to small business owners today as it was then.

Mass marketing, based on the Interruption Model, has become less effective because there's too much going on in our lives for us to enjoy being interrupted anymore. Interruption Marketing, however, is still extremely effective when there is not an overflow of interruptions. No doubt, you have your own thoughts and feeling about having your favorite TV show interrupted several times by an advert or your family dinner by Telemarketing calls, or your email inbox overflowing with spam emails. Is it possible that your potential clients have similar thoughts and feelings about your marketing strategy?

The challenge for marketers, Godin argues, is to persuade consumers to volunteer attention - to "raise their hands -- to agree to learn more about a company and its products." This makes perfect sense. He calls the new model "Permission Marketing" because it is built around permission. Permission marketing, he claims, "turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers."

Readers' Digest use permission marketing by giving the consumer an opportunity to win prizes in their Sweepstakes in return for the permission to send marketing literature. Another example is your subscription to newsletters.

In the United Kingdom opt-in is required for email marketing, under The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. This came into force on the 11 December 2003.

Reflect and Act Marketing is a crucial aspect of your business success. If you are like most small business owners you will want to invest your marketing dollar wisely to maximize your marketing results. Permission Marketing is a powerful "be-in-touch, stay-in-touch" targeted relationship building strategy.

To get a better understanding of the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, I invite you to reflect on the following questions:

1. Am I maximizing my marketing opportunities?

2. Do my marketing efforts focus on the segment of the market that is likely to do business with me?

3. Are my marketing strategies based on the Permission Model or the Interruption Model?

4. How do potential clients perceive my marketing strategies? Do they welcome them? Do they create overwhelm?

5. How effective are my current marketing strategies?

6. What is the return on my marketing investment?

7. What is the most effective marketing strategy I can implement today?

To find out how consumers perceive your marketing strategies, I invite you to develop a five question questionnaire to conduct a mail or phone survey of 10-25 potential clients. Awareness is power when combined with effective action.

Marketing Models: Working Definitions

Alliance Marketing: "It's about developing a well-oiled strategy between companies who are doing business with the same prospects on a daily basis but are not competing with each other. It's a strategy that leverages each company's strengths and database for each other while yielding major results at the end of the day." - Matt Tommey

Ambush Marketing - "A deliberate attempt by a business or brand to associate itself with an event in order to gain some of the benefits associated with being an official sponsor without incurring the costs of sponsorship. - Blah La Word Press

Bum Marketing: Also known as article marketing.

Fusion Marketing: Is tying your marketing efforts in with the effort of others. It is a make-everybody-wealthy marketing tactic known in Japan and by guerrillas worldwide. It is also known as Collaborative Marketing. - Jay Conrad Levinson

Guerrilla Marketing: Is high impact low cost marketing.

Interruption Marketing: as the name indicates that each and every marketing strategy interrupts what potential customers are doing in order to get them to think about the marketing message. - Seth Godin

Metaphor Marketing: Is essentially Brand Marketing.

Niche Marketing: Is concentrating all marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population

Permission Marketing: As the name indicates, consumers need to grant you permission to send messages.

Telemarketing: Is marketing conducted via the medium of the telephone.

copyright2007 Elisabeth Gortschacher

Authentic Personal Branding expert, MCC and Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach, Elisabeth partners with entrepreneurs, leaders and professionals internationally to develop and market their distinctive soul-inspired brand. She is affectionately known as the 'archeologists of the soul' for her depth, passion and integrity she brings to her work. Elisabeth is the co-founder of the Guerrilla Marketing Universe, and the founder and leader of world leadership day. Visit her at http://www.GuerrillaMarketingUniverse.com

http://www.eeg-coaching.com.au

http://www.politicsatgroundzero.org

Link Popularity: Why It's The Best Investment You Can Do For Your Business

More and more search engines rank your web pages based on the number of links that point to your web site (link popularity). Google uses link popularity as its most important factor in ranking sites. HotBot, AltaVista, MSN, Inktomi, and others also use link popularity in their formulas.

In the near future every major search engine will use link popularity, so developing and maintaining good link exchange campaigns are essential to the success of your business. Also, finding the right partner to exchange links with is equally as important as becoming a member of a link farm can be devastating to your long term search goals.

Your exchange link partner should be reputable in the industry, and should provide links back to you on pages that have a high page rank. The end goal is to have the greatest number of websites pointing to you saying on the link itself, Your Company Offering (insert your key phrases here).

For a good ranking on Google, Inktomi and Altivista, you need good links that point to your site. If you develop a strong content oriented site you can persuade thousands of other webmasters to link to you or to trade links with you. If you want to do it yourself, all you need is the right content, the right email letter, and a keen eye for finding sites that well link to your site.

The key is to develop content people want to link to and then get out there and make the contacts by visiting people's sites, sending out personalized emails to webmasters of sites you have visited, and networking in discussion groups.

You can also make posts in forums related to your industry to increase your link popularity. Just do a search on any search engine with your industry + forums or discussions and you should be able to find a few discussion boards where you can make posts.

Make sure that you find a way to participate on the discussion as opposed to just posting an ad that's not related to what people are talking about. Another way that you can greatly increase the link popularity of your website is by publishing articles. There are literally thousands of ezine and newsletter publishers that would love to publish your article on their ezine.

Again, if you search for ezines related to your industry you should find plenty of places where you can submit an article and see it bring lots of targeted traffic. Make sure you place your resource box at the bottom of the article and require publishers to keep it there.

That's it for now. For more info on how you could Get a High Ranking on Google in 3 Days, Visit www.WebProfitSecrets.com/FastonGoogle

Marcio Dias is an established Web Marketing Specialist who has taken dozens of sites from obscurity to millions of visitors per year in as little as a few months. Visit his main site at: http://www.webprofitsecrets.com?s=ea

How To Increase Link Popularity

These days there is a case to be made for building link popularity as being the most important website optimization factor, even above keyword density and other on-page factors. Did you know that there are little-known but excellent methods to greatly increase your link popularity...

Three or four years ago the most important factors in determining where your website appeared in the search engine results pages had not to do with building link popularity but lay in on page factors. In other words it was the wording and positioning of the wording on your page which was the all-important factor. Your link popularity score was just another factor, and in those days it had much less importance than it does today.

Your title tag was especially important (and to some extent it is still is), closely followed by the keyword density of your page text. If you wanted to rank well for a particular keyword phrase then you had to increase that phrase and variations of it in your text until they reached a percentage rate of roughly between 1% and 6%, this varying with choice of keyword phrase, search engine, etc. These days such factors still matter, especially for pages that target keyword phrases for which there is not a large amount of competition, though effective keyword density rates seem to have come down well below 6%.

Increasing Link popularity as the possibly most important determining factor in search engine optimization really came to the fore with changes that took place in Google and in Yahoo during 2005. That was a year when many previously successful web sites found their rankings in the search engine results pages plummeting rapidly or being lost altogether. Because they had fewer inbound links such sites could not sustain or increase their ranking positions.

So, as building link popularity is now such an important factor, the question is what strategies can website owners and webmasters use to significantly increase link popularity? There was a time when the simple answer to this was reciprocal linking with other webmasters. In those days email requests for link exchanges were opened and replied to more than 50% of the time, and traffic and link popularity could be built using this method.

However, those days are now largely a memory for most webmasters. Today webmasters receive so many spammy requests for link exchanges that they have given up even opening the emails. Even if today's webmasters can forge linking alliances it is frustrating and time-consuming work, and as most of these alliances are reciprocal linking in nature their value in SEO terms is questionable. So how do today's successful webmasters increase link popularity?

The answer lies in 'Power Linking' techniques. Read more...

Hugo Durrant writes for More Website Traffic at TrafficFolder.com. You are welcome to re-print this article provided you do not edit it in any way. The closing paragraphs must be included also, complete with unedited and clickable links. We can check this through the search engines.

Internet Marketing Success

The internet is very dynamic and anyone wanting to make a success of marketing online needs to be well informed and up to date with the various techniques of marketing on the internet.

When you first get started in internet marketing, you are bombarded with sales pitches for everything you need to get started right. Many website owners that are looking for internet marketing success consult companies who promise them top ten placing with little or no effort, and then end up disappointed.

Comprehensive Internet marketing is more than just launching a campaign. Before jumping into using the various internet tools available to promote you products, you must have a firm grasp of the essentials of marketing. If you do not, your marketing strategy will become like spam to the potential customer. If you are a complete newcomer to internet marketing, then you will be faced with a steep learning curve. However, if you dont know what youre doing, or if you cannot dedicate the time and resources, then do the smart thing and hire an Internet marketing expert

Online marketing is the key to getting quality names, and the key to Internet marketing success is placing your content in front of the largest audience you can.

So what are the techniques that you must consider incorporating into your internet marketing efforts in order to increase traffic to your website and boost your sales? There are some simple methods of free internet marketing you should research and master. Success in Internet marketing is a cumulative affair. Therefore, the single most important ingredient in Internet Marketing success is focus. You need to be focussed on what you are trying to achieve, dedicate regular budget, time and effort to your internet marketing activities, and remain consistent.

After you have selected the audience that you want to attract, you will then need to research and understand what your audience wants to know. Use that knowledge to provide content for marketing your business, website, and blogs. Also use offline content like writing ad copies, articles, press releases, sending them to media outlets and popular publications, to promote your business to the portion of your online audience who use print media.

One of the keys to a successful online marketing campaign is the ezine. Turn your content into articles and submit them to ezine sites - with a live hyperlink back to your site offering further information. Not only do you put your articles in front of an interested audience, you also increase your link count, which is a major part of the search engine algorithm when ranking websites. Provide and share expert tips and ideas, if you can. Each article that links back to your website from another website, blog, or online newsletter, acts as a vote for your website.

By consistently using the strategies outlined above, you will be able to grow your internet marketing audience and bring more traffic to your website and your business.

Mary Akpala is a CRM Consultant and Trainer for Alpha CRM Ltd in London, England, UK. She helps businesses automate and co-ordinate their business activities. She helps professionals and small businesses to make their working lives a lot easier, and their businesses easier to manage through the use of online collaboration tools and business software. Her emphasis is on training users to make sure they can get the most benefits of the available software by using them properly. You can reach Mary at +44 20 8361 7300 and via the website http://www.alphacrm.com

Six Article Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid

Although more people discover the power of article marketing every day, many fail to learn some simple techniques to optimize their writing and maximize the effectiveness of their article marketing campaigns. The following paragraphs will reveal six critical mistakes that must be avoided if you want to reap the full fruits of your article writing efforts.

The first three mistakes fall within the category of "Guideline Awareness." The rule of thumb is to be familiar with the guidelines of the directories where you submit your articles, so that you can better use them to your advantage.

Mistake #1: Failure to Use Hyperlinks in Article Body

Some article directories will not allow any hyperlinks in the body, but most will allow from one to three. Convert your target keywords to hyperlinks to the extent possible; this will bring your website direct traffic through clicks and it will help to improve your site's search engine rankings for that keyword.

Mistake #2: Ineffective Use of Author Resource Box

The author resource box, sometimes called the boilerplate, is an area where you can sell yourself. This is important, because the article itself should not be used for overt advertising, only for teaching and informing. Use your name, or a pen name; over time, people will associate the mane with the topic, and you will be established as a trusted expert in your field. Once they trust that you know your stuff, they will not hesitate to visit your site and buy your product or service.

Mistake #3: Article Length - Too Short or Too Long

Webmasters, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly in need of fresh, original content. That is what makes article marketing so powerful. When someone picks up your article and publishes it on the web or in a mass-email, it multiplies your exposure. However, many people write a paltry 100 words to submit to an article directory, which amounts to little more than a dictionary definition of their chosen topic. At the other end of the spectrum, some people will submit works of more than 2000 words; on the web or in a newsletter, that is an epic-length tome.

Opinions vary as to the optimum length of an article, nut the consensus is between 400 and 900 words. It should be long enough to thoroughly explain the subject, but short enough to read quickly and easily.

The next three mistakes concern the actual submission of articles to directories. They are not so much "rules" as they are strong suggestions to maximize your results.

Mistake #4: Submitting to Too Few Article Directories

After the effort of writing the piece itself, it may seem like a tedious chore to submit the work to twenty directories. If it is too much for you, there are services that will manually submit your articles for you. If you cannot afford such luxuries, then you must do it yourself. Do not compromise on this; it is critical to your success. Find at least twelve article directories for starters, and build from there. Once you get to about twenty, you are doing well.

Mistake #5: Using the Same Pen Name for Different Topics

If you have multiple websites in different niches, use a unique pen name for each topic. It's all about credibility. If Sally McMarketer writes about designer dog collars, can she be equally trusted as an expert on high-performance fuel-injectors? In reality, it is not uncommon for people to have proficiencies in multiple areas, but unless you personally know the dog collar/fuel-injector guru, it seems unlikely.

Mistake #6: Submitting Website Content as Articles

One of the worst things an article marketer can do is to take the content directly from their website and submit it in article form to the directories. Remember, you want to submit your work to twelve to twenty article directories or so in order to get traffic and backlinks to your website. However, if the articles contain the exact same information as your website, the search engines will view it as duplicate content, which may be downgraded in the rankings. Besides, readers of your articles will be a bit put off if they click on one of your well-placed hyperlinks only to see the same old stuff on your site. Keep your website content unique.

Article marketing, like any good, profitable endeavor, requires work, education, and practice. You can, and should, constantly refine your techniques in search of ever better results. If you can avoid the six misstates discussed above, you will be well on your way to becoming a proficient marketer with a growing, moneymaking business.

Article Ranger is a free submission article directory where authors may post articles about subjects of interest, and publishers may pick up articles for use in ezines, newsletters, etc.

Scofield Parker is an experienced internet marketer who regularly writes for Article Ranger.