Why Use Article Marketing?
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Fri, Dec 04, 2009
We've been asked the question hundreds of times: Why use article marketing? It's time consuming, It can't be tested as easily as PPC. Articles can go all over the place.
The answer is: that's nonsense. You need to use it to get ranked in the SERP's. 
End of conversation.
1. The SE's want to give their users the best possible results for any search term they enter. Articles offer information, hopefully well researched, that helps folks make decisions, feel better, and enjoy their Internet experience.
2. Articles offer flexibility for marketers. Some information needs to be explained carefully, at length, and writers have the freedom to talk about products and services in detail.
3. Article marketing generates back links. Writers can embed URL's in plain anchor text and in the author's resource signature. That means that the originator's website can get other sites back linking. The SE's love good quality, relevant back links and rank sites accordingly.
4. Finally, if you use article marketing there is solid proof that it works. Let me explain.
Analysis of keywords for the top 10 Google rankings on SERP's has shown that "15% of all keywords had an Ezine article in the top 10 listings!"
But here's a big but. Not all article directories are created equal. It pays to understand who the big dogs are. Ezine came on strong but Goarticles and Articledashboard weren't nearly as effective.
We are doing similar research because we understand the need for a solid focus on how marketing works on the Internet. Real life SEO, though, is a combination of techniques including Web 2.0, attention to Meta tags, and solid on-site SEO copy.
If you don't use article marketing though, you are clearly leaving out a critical weapon in the world of Internet marketing.