If there’s one thing bloggers and website owners want more of, it’s readers! Whether you’re blogging for pet lovers, kids’ clothing, or Philadelphia Phillies fans, driving more people to your posts is definately a prime objective. And one of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog or website is through article marketing.

While it may seem counter-productive to provide your content for free to other websites, there are several benefits of article marketing:

1.     Link Love. When other sites publish your content, you receive a link back to your blog. When properly optimized, this link will assist in helping you rate more highly for search engine results. When you rank more highly in Google and other search engines, you’ll get more organic traffic to your blog. And more traffic means more readers!

2.     Validation. When your articles are published by others, you receive an unofficial recommendation from the publisher. It’s as if you’re getting a stamp of approval from another blogger or website. This recommendation will further your reputation and drive more readers to your site.

3.     Expert Status. When you can say, “I’ve published 25 articles on chiropractic care for kids,” you increase your web presence and ability to claim expert status. That means your trust level increases and makes you more believable.

One of the keys to great article marketing is to have a clear goal. It’s not enough to throw a bunch of great articles at the directories and hope people will make their way back to your blog. You’ll want to know what you hope to achieve from your article marketing. Is it more blog readers? Is it more comments? Is it to get them to sign up for your RSS feed or email list? Writing articles that draw people to your exact goal is one way to excel in article marketing.  The following tips will assist you in knowing what works and what will not work when it comes to having success with article marketing.

• Always provide creative content that is valuable to the reader. Remember it’s important to keep your content original. Plagiarism is easy to detect and will lose the trust of even the most loyal supporters.

• Use content you already have. Rewriting articles that you have archived or have placed on the back burner can save you time. Sales pages disguised as articles won’t work. Readers know and they are insulted when someone tries to pull this off. It’s not how to market your site, product or yourself.

• Format your articles to make them easy to read online. Keep paragraphs short, keep a clear structure and use bullet points, lists and subheadings to keep the reader engaged.  While most article directories have guidelines with a minimum of 250-300 words…Personally, I think it’s always a good idea to aim for a nice, solid 400-500 word article so you can really build a relationship with your reader.

• Be sure to spell check your article before submitting it to any article directory. The directories won’t check your spelling and grammar for you. If readers find mistakes they are less likely to hunt out other articles written by you to read.

• Provide proof the article is credible. Relevant facts not only provide truth to the article but they also show authority. The articles most often published will provide the figures that lead to the credibility of the article.

• When choosing articles sites be sure to pay attention to the specs for that site. You want your article on sites that are rich in traffic and abundant in readers. Be sure that the sites have statistics for articles. This will give you a chance to see what articles are being read and which ones are being passed over. Here is a quick list to check out ezinearticles.com, hubpages.com, ladypens.com, articlebase.com, associatedcontent.com.

• Be sure to categorize your article. This makes it easier for the reader to find and will keep those prospective readers from passing over an article that may be valuable to them.

• Submit a bio. Write a bio that shows you have the knowledge and are the expert on the article subject. Also include a call to action in your bio. This will motivate readers to click on the link that will lead them to your website. Calls to actions are the best way to draw traffic, new and old, to your site.

• I suggest submitting to the major article directories first like ezinearticles.com.  After your article is approved there then submit to the other directories.        (Tip:  Using a tool like traffic geyser can help speed up the submission process.)

• Make sure to share your articles with your social media networks too! (some article directories like ezinearticles allow you to do this right from your article with a share button)

One last very important tip to remember is that each article directory has its own set of rules. Be sure to read and follow the rules in every aspect when you submit articles. Following these article marketing tips and learning how to market wisely will help you to reach your desired marketing strategy goals quickly. For more article marketing tips make sure to checkout Easy Article Marketing.

To Your Success!

Kate Wilber

The Marketing Momma