As I discussed last time, the first step in building a successful online business is web page optimization and SEO. If you haven’t read that step then go re-read Steps for Building a Successful Online Business – Part 1 now because that is the foundation on which you will build your online business. You can’t skip that step! These next steps will mean nothing without proper web page optimization, and your work will be in vein. You don’t want that to happen. This is your online business we’re talking about.

Okay, so without further delay, let’s get to the next step…

Step Two: Article Marketing

This is perhaps the easiest method to building your online business. Article marketing is the basic idea of writing an article on a particular topic or niche and then submitting that article to article directories. It helps build your brand, and you’re seen as an expert in your field. It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in… article marketing works!

Now before I go any further I need to mention about the overall benefit of article marketing and how it directly relates to building your online business. This is where the SEO factor comes in.

You see, Google rates a website based on how many one way backlinks the website has pointing at it. The more backlinks, the better. This is where article marketing comes into play. In the resource box of your article you have the opportunity to place a link to your website, but not just any link. You want to use an anchor text link that uses the keyword phrase you optimized your website for. See, this is why step one is so important.

Write an article related to the niche of your website. Use your keyword phrase in the anchor text for your link in the resource box. It’s that simple. But… were not done yet. Now you have to get your article out to as many people as you can, building backlinks for your website. Read my article on the proper way to write an article and use the resource box with Article Marketing – Getting the Most Out of Your Marketing Efforts.

You want to submit your article to as many article directories as possible. This will create numerous one way backlinks all pointing to your website. The problem is that this can be quite time consuming, but it’s well worth it. There are also automated software submissions you can use to do this for you. It’s your choice. I will tell you what I do and what has worked for me.

Take a minute to watch my video to see PROOF that article marketing actually works…

I submit my articles to EzineAritcles, perhaps the most trusted and used directory. I also use Article Marketer, which distributes your articles to thousands of directories. They have a free and paid distribution, but I only use the free distribution. I also submit, by hand, to a number of other article directories, which you can find by visiting the link below.

Here is a list of resources to help you in your article marketing effort:

A list of high Page Rank article directories (the higher PR, the better for your website), Article submission software, article writing software and much more.

Everything is all on one page, so be sure to check it out. Here’s to your article marketing efforts…

Be sure to check back as I will discuss the third step in the online business building system.

Oh… and leave me a comment if you found these tips useful. Thanks!

Tags: anchor text link, Article Marketing, one way backlink, online business

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