When most internet users are seeking information, they will go to a search engine, type in a few keywords and then choose from the many results that show up. Gone are the days when websites can pack keywords into their Meta tags, fooling search engines into thinking they are something they aren’t while frustrating customers. Today’s search engine results are based on the quality of information provided by a website, based on the search terms entered by the user.
Article marketing has grown into one of the key methods companies use to provide the relevant information search engines love. Internet users also appreciate the fact that when they type in a search term, the information returned actually pertains to the terms they entered. Businesses are finding that happy internet users tend to spend more money and by using article marketing they get a bigger return on their investment.
In order for article marketing to be effective, the articles you submit to informational sites need to be related to your business. With many article repositories, information about the company can be included at the end of the article, known as the biography section. In this section, a link to the company’s home page can be included and when visitors like what they read, they can click on the link and head straight to the site.
Many businesses also provide information directly on their website, using article marketing to attract visitors directly to their site. The key here is to have quality articles that directly relate to the content of the page as well as containing a sufficient number of keywords to attract search engines. Typical articles will be between 300 and 500 words, with a keyword density of between two and three percent. Translation: a 400 word article will contain the keyword between eight and 12 times. Anything less may not be considered worthwhile content and anything more may be seen as spam.
Articles published on you site also have to be completely original, meaning you can’t simply copy articles from somewhere else on the internet, which also be a violation of copyright laws, and needs to be relevant to the information or products on your site. For example, if you have a website related to travel you could offer articles with information about luggage, rental cars, travel companies and just about anything else pertaining to what people might need to go on vacation.
Don’t be discouraged if the number of hits doesn’t take off right away. As it is often said, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are successful websites. Article marketing will help the search engines tie the information that the human users are searching for to the quality information contained in the articles on or about your site.