Copyright © Alan Mater
http://www.ReplaceYourSalary.comArticle marketing is a great technique to drive traffic to your site. It isn't ethically or morally wrong compared to some marketing techniques known as "black hat" marketing. In fact, search engines love new content. Writing high-quality articles on a consistent basis is the best way to get free traffic, and thousands of websites are always looking for unique content.
The main concept behind article marketing consists of placing a link to your homepage within the article resource box. A lot of people fail to realize that having just a link to your homepage is not enough. In order for your marketing efforts to be effective, writing articles must be part of an "on page optimization" strategy that is geared towards specific keyword phrases.
I'm sure you've heard the term "keyword phrase" before. Choosing targeted, low competition keyword phrases is essential when it comes to article marketing. You must choose relevant keywords and then optimize your homepage using those keyword phrases. Once you have completed this step, writing articles will boost your marketing efforts and your search engine ranking.
As I stated earlier, it is important to place a link to your homepage in the resource box section of the article. However, there is a proper way to do this to be effective. Many people think that if they put http://www.SomeWebsiteName.com they are helping their rankings. While this won't any, it is much more important if you use an anchor text link instead.
I will give you an example of what an anchor text link is. You have a certain keyword phrase that you want your website to rank well for in the search engines. What you want to do is make that keyword phrase a hyperlink that links to the homepage of your website. An example would be <~a href="http://www.SomeWebsiteName.com">Your Keyword Phrase Here<~/a>. Just make sure you delete the "~". Now your keyword phrase text is anchored as a link to your website.
This will definitely boost your search engine rankings for your keywords. The more links you have out there for a specific keyword, the higher your rankings will go and the more traffic you will receive. People who promote article marketing as a quick way to generate traffic and get search engine rankings don't understand the concept behind using an anchor text link. Instead, they only link to their website like the first example. You don't want that to be you. You want to make sure you utilize the full potential that their articles have and create long term results for your efforts.
Do you post articles on your blog? You should, but be certain that it's not the exact same version you submit to article directories. You will severely damage your article campaign and effectiveness. You don’t want duplicate content posted on your blog. Change your article by at least 30% to be safe, more if possible. Don't forget the anchor text link for your blog posts, and use your keywords as tags.
Write targeted articles that are as niche specific as possible. Article marketing should be based upon you wanting to help your audience, or target market. Give your best effort because this will yield better results for you in the long run. Don't forget to keep your audience in mind. Write as though you were actually talking to someone. Be sincere and personal, and people will respect you for it.
About the Author:-----------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Mater offers free internet marketing training to help you generate more traffic and increase your sales. You can sign up for his newsletter at http://www.replaceyoursalary.com. He also offers
honest online income opportunities that you can start and make money from home.
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Labels: Anchor Text Link, Article Marketing
