Resource Box Mistakes Uncovered: Almost 50% of Authors Hijack Their Article Marketing Efforts. (Do You?)

There are lots of guides and reports about how to write an article, how to publish your article and even down to how to format it and what to include in your author resource box.  Writing articles and article marketing are very popular online promotion tools.

Given that all this information is so readily available, would it surprise you that many people writing articles still make common resource box mistakes and hijack their article marketing efforts?

I investigated the front page of a popular article directory where the latest published writing is displayed.  There about 75 articles there to choose from.  I wasn't really scientific – I closed my eyes and opened 15 recently published articles at random.

I found that people were writing articles on topics ranging from talking with angels to getting your ex back.  I was quite surprised at the range of niches selected at random, no two were the same.

After opening the articles, I scrolled down straight to the author resource boxes.  Almost half of the resource boxes just did not do their job.  Seven of the fifteen (or 46% if you prefer), showed that common resource box mistakes are still sadly evident.

Of course, of the thousands of articles published, fifteen articles is a very small sample.  The quick investigation can not possibly make an accurate judgment of all articles published.  But, these were the most recent publications and it shows the point I am making:

Almost half of the recent article authors were not making the most out of article marketing.

Let's look at the results a little more closely.

Common Resource Box Mistake #1 – The Ego

The main aim of writing articles is to get people to click through your link in your author resource box.  When people read your article, they don't care who you are, what you do or who you work for.  They just want to know can you answer their question and how can you help them right now.

So, if you feel the need to include your personal information for branding purposes, do it AFTER your initial call to action.  Why get people pumped up about your product or service to then put a mental block or stop sign in front of them before they click your link?

Of the article sample taken, 20% of authors stroked their ego first in their author resource box.

Common Resource Box Mistake #2 – Irrelevant Links

A classic resource box mistake!  I think a lot of this is down to default author bio options.  It is well worth checking and tweaking your default author resource box before you publish your article.  Even if you think your bio box is relevant, stop and think like your reader.

If they find your article for your tips on how to paint a wall then the reader is not looking for a general DIY site link.  They're looking for information on how to paint their wall.  So tell them where to get that information about painting walls.

The worst resource box mistake in this category though has to be totally irrelevant links.  You've just spent a couple of hours writing articles about interior lighting.  Why would your reader want to know about your sunglasses site?  Your time and theirs has just been wasted.

Once again, of the article samples taken, 20% of authors did not include relevant links in their bio box.

Common Resource Box Mistake #3 – No call to action

The whole point in writing articles is to give people information they're looking for and to tell them where to get more i.e. go to your website.  The key word there is TELL them.  Yes, give them a call to action, tell your readers to click on your link.

Of the article samples taken, 6% of authors did not include a call to action in their resource box.

Want to know more about writing articles and how to write a resource box?