In the previous lesson we discussed Off Page SEO, and covered many ways of obtaining links to your website.
Today we’re going to learn about a link-building strategy that involves other benefits too.
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
– It’s white hat (unless you do it the grey-hat way).
– It’s easy and low cost to get started.
– Even if you fail from an SEO standpoint, you’ll still have something to show for it.
– It’s cool, but NOT what I’m talking about.
– Fails to reap all the benefits of article marketing.
1) Off Page SEO from the back links
2) Direct click-through traffic from the links
3) Builds your authority/credibility as an expert in your niche
1) Write an article (or outsource it).
– Needs to be original. No PLR or public domain. Re-written or spun content works in some cases, but not recommended for EzineArticles.
– Needs to be 500 words. Between 400-1000 is OK, but shoot for 500.
– Don’t promote anything in it!
– Editorial guidelines: http://ezinearticles.com/editorial-guidelines.html
– Write about the things that your market wants to read about. (NOT about your product)
– Use your keyword research from Lesson #77. DO go broad, and use the long tail.
– Use your keyword at the beginning of article title. Write catchy titles to entice clicks.
– Use one of your keywords as the anchor text for a link to your site IN the article.
– Write an author bio, with a call to action to entice clicks to your website.
– Alternate anchor text between the URL, site name, and keywords.
– If your #1 goal is SEO, link to your home page or strategic page that you’re trying to boost. Otherwise, consider linking to a squeeze page. Remember I spent 12 lessons talking about list building.
2) Submit your article.
– Most important directory is EzineArticles.com
– Some article marketers do very well exclusively with EzineArticles.
– Others like to distribute to as many article directories as possible.
Strategy to consider:
– Submit at least half of your articles exclusively to EzineArticles.
-Take your remaining articles, and submit them to several other article directories, such as…
articledashboard.com
goarticles.com
articlesbase.com (uses no-follow attribute)
articlesnatch.com (uses no-follow attribute)
articlealley.com (uses no-follow attribute)
knol.google.com (uses no-follow attribute sometimes)
ezinemark.com
articlecity.com
articleclick.com
ideamarketers.com
isnare.com (Article distribution service)
Article networks (Gray hat IMO):
MyArticleNetwork from Matt Callen
SEOLinkVine from Brad and Matt Callen
3) Promote your articles to give yourself an edge
– Do some off-page SEO
– Bookmark it on social bookmarking sites like delicious.com
– Digg it on Digg.com
– Tweet it on twitter.com
– Use it in the URL of blog comments
– If you’re going to use any automated/spammy tools, this is the place to do it.
– Or hire some cheap oursourcers to do the work, and multiply the effect.
4) “Rinse and repeat”
Freelancer sites:
vWorker
Odesk
Classifieds:
craigslist
Article specialty sites:
Need-an-article.com
articlez.com
Hire your own team (probably the best long-term solution):
Replace Myself
Remember to…
-Ask for samples first.
-Check for plagiarism. (www.google.com, www.copyscape.com, www.scanmyessay.com)
Action steps:
1) Decide if you want to pursue article marketing.
2) If yes, commit to doing it diligently for 6 months+.
3) Write, submit, and promote your articles. (Or outsource it).
We’ll be looking at Video Marketing in the next lesson.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂
Have a great day!
Hi Eric,
Great Lesson!
What about using “Mass Article Creator” or “Instant Article Wizard” software?
Hey Eric, great tips as always. The first time I did Article Marketing I did it all wrong and got very little results other than some backlinking. The views were very low and the clicks were even lower.
The biggest thing I learned is that it’s very important to do keyword research before writing the article. I’m still learning how to do proper keyword research. I find that in the IM field it very difficult to find good non competitive long tail keywords that work.
The other lesson I learned is that my resource box was all wrong. It didn’t give the reader any reason to click on my link. Oh and one of my links in the resource box now will always lead to a squeeze page.
As I said I’ve learned a lot but have not submitted many articles lately – need to get back to it.
Thanks again eric
Great tip Eric as always. I ‘ve been article marketing for a couple of months now and although I have seen some results already, what I learned here is going to make a huge difference to how I will write my next article. Thanks
Hi Eric,
I agree that article marketing is not dead at all! But outsourcing is so important. I have tried churning articles out myself and after 10 or so articles it got really draining.
Thank you for this lesson! I am going to commit to doing article marketing for at least the next 6 months 🙂
As you may know, I’ve promoted some of those kind of products in the past.
I still think they are useful, but I would not use them for the type of article marketing that I’m teaching in this lesson.
Some article software programs are basically like writing “helpers”, and those ones are generally OK. Others are spinners and scrapers, and those are the ones that will not work for EzineArticles.
If you’re using grey hat strategy with other article directories and/or networks, then it’s something you can play with.
The other place grey hat marketers utilize mass-created articles is on their own websites (splogs mostly).
Cool, thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Great!
Good work Eric! I actually have revamped and recharged article marketing for 2011. Thanks for bringing attention to this reliable link building strategy.
-T
Hi! Eric, it is a very informative lesson. I agree that this is a good candidate for outsources. I try to do it myself, but it is so time consuming, you kill the creativity, I mean you don’t have time left for it.
So I agree we need Article submission, but I really like to be outsourced.
All the best and have a great 2011.
Michaela
http://michaelacernescu.com
Thanks Travis, I just rescued your comment from akismet 🙂
Thanks Eric – great stuff. I have exclusively used EzineArticles with reasonable results. I find the consistency of writing articles difficult. I think you need targets – ‘x’ articles per week or month for example and you must stick to it.
Thank you Eric,
I think the main obstacle regarding article marketing lies within – it’s the will to do consistent writing and publishing. Inherent laziness?
Nice lesson as always Eric…It’s absolutely true that article marketing requires tons of work. I have tried this for over 10 years for my clients and if you just do a few then the result is very limited and if time is limited I think spending it on other effective SEO strategies would be better…If you outsource, be very careful cause there are loads of article writers who write for the sake of getting a back link and low quality. This does not work at all from my experience…So your video totally confirms with what I have been doing as well. Have a Great New Year and wish you the best of success with your business…
~Johan Hedin
Excellent tips and collection of resources, Eric. 🙂
Neil.
Looking forward to your video marketing one Eric… 10 out of 10 for your pointers on Article Marketing, I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for the good stuff again, Eric. I have gotten some nice response from my article marketing so far, but I have a question about niche article writing.
My articles have been about long-term investing, especially 401k investing. Since most people would rather have a root canal than fool with their finances, this niche is really search specific: folks have to make up their minds to learn more about their finances and look for help on the internet.
Would it be worth my time to write articles about subjects outside that niche, but still in popular niches, as a way to get exposure to people who are not currently searching for investment help?
I absolutely love writing, so it would not be a chore to try this. Do you think it would be a productive endeavor or should I just stick to my niche?
Thanks,
Paul
Another great lesson Eric. You have just fired me up to continue my article marketing efforts that I stopped several months again. Thanks a lot.
Eric,
Well constructed and thorough article. Have you ever written a lesson on the basic types of IM? (article marketing being one of them) I don’t know if it boils down to categories or styles or whatever but it would educational for me.
Thanks!
Hi Paul,
If you have the time, and won’t take away from your already successful niche, then go for it!
You might open doors to new business opportunities!
Hi Lonzo,
While there are thousands of ways to make money online, Eric discusses 18 categories in his lesson at the following link:
I guess I need to write (or outsource) more articles. I usually do only about 10 articles per site and then move on to something else. Thanks for the tips, Eric.
Hi Eric
Great Tips ( excuse the
pun! I guess thius is Erics Tips ) This was the first strategy I used when I started online and it brought me my first links and sales so much so that now I even write Articles for people and get paid!!
Plus last year I ran a webinar series for local business owners on the power of Article marketing and it blew them away.
I could not agree more about EZ. By mistake I once submitted an Article I had already posted on a blog of mine and they came back and told me!. Since then I always write my own.
I vary the length as well the longer the article the more words you can have in your anchor text.
Best Wishes
DEnise
Sorry for an off-Topic.
I am considering to purchase your 7 day firesale now under way.
But I am worried about the viability whether I can sell any copy of it. I am not based in the U.S., and the buyer should download the 24 hours-long video.
Although a proven copy of the salesletter is given in the package, I shall be hoping to sell the downloaded video from a website from scratch, meaning zero traffic. No credibility, as I have non-English name and my place is out of U.S.
Do you have any idea how I can start with the business your are promoting?
Hello Jeagan,
Eric has put together a comprehensive bonus tutorial you will receive as a customer that should help you to get everything set up, even if you are outside the U.S.
He also just added a few new sections to the tutorial on how to market the course. Eric is also covering traffic generation in depth here at Eric’s Tips.
Hi Eric, thanks for the great tips. My first two articles are on the first page of google and are bringing more traffic to my website.I’ve been getting around a 100 visits a day for the last couple of weeks. I feel I am offering a very good product but am still waiting for my first sale. I’m also using other traffic techniques and think they are working as my site is on page 2 of google for the keywords online easy money and is doing well on bing,yahoo etc. Do you think I should be patient. Many thanks, Kevan.
Hi Eric,
you mentioned that our next lesson will be about video Marketing, but have not received it yet.
I have no problem receiving your lesson from #1 to #79. Tried browsing lesson#80 today but it’s 404???
Oppps,
I just looked at your recent posts, it’s up to Lesson#79, I should have wait for a while. Thanks.
I would recommend installing a split testing script such as Affiliate Prophet which I mentioned in lesson #57 and #71.
The key for you at this point is to get that traffic to take SOME action. Whether it’s a sale, or an opt-in. Try a bunch of tests, like a very low price, squeeze page vs. sales page, etc. Maybe even try giving away your main product for free for a day or two.
Once you start seeing some action you can look at the stats and see exactly where that responsive traffic came from. And then you can also begin tweaking things to improve your response.
Another good tool at this point of the game would be visitor spy, or clicktale
Since you’re getting traffic, you’re way ahead of most marketers. Now you just need to figure out what those visitors are doing, and how to get them to take action.
HI Eric,
I accidently deleted lesson 80, kindly email it to me again. I’ll appreciate it very much. Thanks
Good solid information. Very useable strategy.
Thanks,
Akili Kumasi
Hello Ish,
Here is the link to lesson 80:
Thanks Eric your advice is going a long way for me. Really looking forward to your next lesson
Thanks Eric I have been putting off doing article marketing, but these tips are getting me started.
Hi Eric
Just watched your video lesson on Article Marketing again – great tips and advice.
Thank you
Just about to start submitting my first articles to help spread the word about my site.
Article marketing is as alive as ever, and despite the new Google rules, it is still one of the most effective ways of getting your product or service out to the market.
I use ezine and get the best results when I get the article to come out in the weekend at a time I choose. This costs a lot to join to get this ability in ezine.
Hey Luca, when you say that “you did not give the reader any reason to click on your link” what do you mean by that?
did you write something like: “for more info about X,Y,Z visit http://www.example.com ?
(I’m interested to know because I recently started using this traffic format too)
Hi Eric, I have been following your material for almost two years now, and this is actually the first time I submit a question to you (thanks for all the great information by the way)
My question is:, if I promote several verticals (segments, products however we should call them) and use article marketing ,should I create several “expert profiles” for each type of genre I promote?
Do people even care who is the “expert” behind the article?
Thanks in advance
Yogev
There are a couple schools of thought on this. One thought is to use only one profile, and build up its credibility with hundreds or thousands of articles over time. The other thought is to not put all your eggs in one basket– create multiple profiles in case one of them gets banned or something.
I would lean toward one (or fewer) profiles if you’re submitting VERY high quality articles. Otherwise I think a different profile for each niche is appropriate too.
No, the average person who finds an article via a search engine and reads it does NOT care who wrote it. They just want the information they’re looking for.
But if you want them to click on the website link in your author bio, then you’ll need to look legitimate and establish some trust with them through the article itself, and in your bio.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the great info.
Backlinks from articles – Google’s Farmer/Panda Update – are the backlinks now of lesser value from the article directories?
thanks , Jules
that’s a good question, and I don’t know yet. It wouldn’t surprise me though, as it seems Google is keenly aware that the article directories have become internet marketer’s playground (in spite of some of the directories being some of the best content on the web). If you find any conclusions, let us know. In the mean time, I’d say article marketing is still here to stay (remember, it’s a triple-edged sword)… we just don’t know if/how much value it’s lost lately in terms of SEO.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for this wealth of information. I have a lot of catching up to do with the lessons. Just focusing on some urgent things at the moment. I haven’t received any lessons for the last couple of days.
Hope all is well with mother, baby, yourself and the rest of the family.
Thanks again
Prue
Hello Eric,
I have been following your training from lesson #1 up to #81 and I have enjoyed and benefitted from them a lot, and I’m looking forward to completing it (to lesson 100), as you’ve said severally during past lessons.
I’ll like to inform you that the last lesson I received was lesson #81. I’m wondering if there is any problem with my subscription or something else. Please whatever it is, let me know and I’ll fix it.
Also, I want to seize this opportunity to express my appreciation for the quality training you have provided and still providing for free for people like me. I say THANK YOU AND GOD WILL CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU RICHLY, AMEN.
Regards,
ID.
It’s amazing that things like e-mail and article marketing are “oldies” when the internet itself hasn’t even been around THAT long! It just goes to show how incredibly quickly it has grown, and how much further it will probably get in the future.
Laurie
Hello ID,
Yes, Eric will still be completing 100 lessons. The next lesson will soon be completed and will be sent to you shortly thereafter. You can also visit EricsTips.com to see the latest lesson updates and revisit earlier lessons:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/
Hello Eric,
I have been doing some writting in Ezine and click rate is 20 % to 16% in 2010 and 2011. What is considered a good CTR to get more results
Hello Ileana,
From my understanding, if you can get that up to 25% you’ll be doing well for CTR!
It’s a wonderful feeling to finally understand how all the marketing systems work. But, best of all to now understand terms that are now becoming familiar. Another form of empowerment through your teaching.
Nedra
Eric, i say amen to what Nedra has said. A lot of work yes! But nothing is free in life. You either pay money or do things for yourself. Both ways cost something. Thank,many, many thanks! Because of your teachings now my vocabuary has expanded. My love is in writing… so for me this lesson has been very, very sweet. To me, does not matter if i became or nor became an Internet Marketer. I can use your lessons now in many other ways. God bless your talent! Aida
Hi,Eric you came with a good idea of how to build traffic, maybe that’s what I’m lacking of that’s why I can’t make money, I’ll have to concentrate on your lesson #79 carefully maybe it’ll help me to build a good traffic. GOD BLESS.