Article Marketing As A Link-Building Strategy
Posted by Tim Brugger on Mon, Feb 21, 2011
Could be you think “blog” is what hangs over L.A. most days in the summer (in addition to unfulfilled dreams), or “SEO” is the newest sporty, two-seat number from Pontiac that Car & Driver keeps raving about. So what in the world does article marketing as a link building strategy have to do with you and your business, you may ask.
The answer is simple: everything. If you’re not currently implementing an article marketing strategy, you’re leaving prospective customers on the proverbial table. If you are, read on as we’ll discuss ways to ensure you’re getting the best possible results for your efforts.
The Basics
Let’s take a moment to talk about what article marketing is. This is a means of marketing, using informative articles posted at various sites on the Web, that allow for links back to your business website. It works like this: there are numerous sites, or directories, on the Internet that allow articles to be posted for free, such as:
To take advantage of this opportunity to market your business, post articles on these sites with links to the appropriate pages on your website (we’ll discuss this in a bit more detail shortly). Most links are added at the bottom as a part of the “authors bio” or “credentials”, or some derivative thereof. Whatever they want you to call it, it results in potential customers visiting your website by you simply posting an article.
Tips and Tricks
- Submit quality, informational articles that relate to your business, and avoid “salesy” pitches. One common mistake is to submit as many articles as humanly possible, to anyone who will have you, and “saturate” your marketing universe. Or, the article itself is a marketing piece for your business rather than helpful information for the reader. Either way, there is a good chance your article will be denied by the directories editors, who review all articles before they are posted. If it is not informative, is too self-promoting, or is submitted without the proper formatting, it’s a no-go.
- Tweak your articles by 30% - 50% so you’re not submitting the same article to 5 different directories, but rather 5 almost-unique articles to each. We who call ourselves writers refer to these as “rewrites”. Rewrites will dramatically increase the chances of your article being found via search engine.
- Research “like” businesses that are similar but don’t compete with yours, and volunteer to submit an informative article with a link back to your site. Like many websites, ancillary businesses to yours are quite likely looking for free, informative content too. In fact, you may offer to do the same for them. It’s the Golden Rule of article marketing.
- Make sure the link on your article is to the area of your site most applicable to where the user came from. Example: if you submitted an article on the value of widgets, the link to your website should be to the area that discusses the many advantages your widgets have over the lowly-types calling themselves your competitors. What many article marketers do, by default, is link a reader to their homepage, regardless of the article content.
Let’s summarize the many upsides of article marketing. There is little expense, other than your time. If you don’t feel comfortable writing quality articles and submitting them yourself, there are a number of companies that specialize in helping you find quality writers, without breaking the bank. As a business person, lead generation is always a concern, and something no business can have too much of, and article marketing will help.
I certainly use article marketing. I am currently expanding my reach with articles and short stories posted to sites that will allow me a link with my submissions. When my upcoming book is ready this summer (assuming I finish it by then of course), guess what I’ll be placing on the bottom of those articles, and all the articles I post between now then? For me, it’s not a question of why article marketing, but really, why not?
Additional Resources
Additional information on article marketing can be found at Articles Factory. The information is somewhat forensic in nature, but it lays it out pretty well. The Marketing Encylopedia is a pretty good reference too.