The 6-Step Article Marketing Plan
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Mon, Feb 07, 2011
By now, if you’re marketing online you’ve probably heard that 
article marketing is a relatively easy and effective way to demonstrate your authority and build a solid customer base. But, has anyone mentioned anything about strategy? Of course they did! I know I did, many times in previous posts.
In case you were asleep during that class, I’ll remind you that strategy comes first—not just in content marketing but with just about any course of action designed to achieve a goal. So ask yourself: Do you have a plan?
Content strategy includes a few steps that need to be thought through before any action is taken. Article marketing is one form of CM, which offers many ways for you to get the word out about your business. But, without a cohesive plan, a lot of your effort is bound to be wasted.
If you want to start article marketing, here are some tips that will help you stay on track:
1. Choose relevant keywords. Mix in long tail keywords with other, more widely searched-for keywords. This gives you broad coverage so that you can reach your niche market as well as a general audience. For example, localized search terms (Chicago personal injury attorney) are a great avenue to more targeted traffic. General keywords (attorney), though they are harder to rank for, will reach a higher volume of readers.
2. Plan out your content. Decide in advance what topics you want to cover. Go maybe a month forward. Here’s an idea: make up the titles in advance and design them to cover your topic in a progression. This gives readers a clear idea of how the articles relate to each other and how they flow. It also gives them a reason to look forward to the next post.
3. Choose good directories. The value of article directories lies in their credibility with search engines. Some pack more punch than others in that department. Remember—your article is piggybacking on the strength of these directory sites, so don’t waste your time with ones that won’t help you rank. Check into which directories are worth your time.
4. Make use of the resource box. The resource box is located at the bottom of your article, and it’s the place where you tell readers who you are, link to your site, etc. This is where the magic happens in article marketing. Just keep in mind that directories have rules about the box and what you can put in there, how many links are allowed, etc.
When creating your article marketing links, here’s a tip: making one of them keyword-rich anchor text is a proven strategy that helps with SEO.
5. Avoid duplicate content. Writing possibly hundreds of article each year may leave you searching for ways to cheat when it comes to your submissions. While it may be tempting, resist the urge to submit the exact same article to several different directories. You can rewrite articles as long as they are at least 50% unique. You don’t get credit for duplicate content anyway, so why bother?
6. Link your articles. When submitting articles to different directories, provide back links for each one by linking them to each other. Since your articles are all related within the same niche, they will be higher quality than ones that are less targeted.
Directories also have rules about how many self-serving links you can include within your articles and resource boxes, so don’t overdo it.
An effective article marketing plan depends upon first thinking through your strategy. What do you want your articles to 
accomplish? Keywords help you locate your buyers. Great content keeps them interested. Submission to directories allows a broad range of readers to see your content. Links help them get back to your site and your other articles.
That sounds easy enough, right?