Is Article Marketing the Best Way to Make Money Online?

Have you been looking for a way to make some extra cash online? If so, I'm sure you've heard a lot of people talking about article marketing these days and how easy and profitable it is, but is article marketing the best way to make money online? Well, let's take a look at the steps involved and you be the judge.

Article marketing is nothing new. It has been around for a long time and people have been using this form of advertising successfully since the introduction of mass print. Online it has proven to be an excellent way to attract readers to your website, blog, product or service. It provides a way to advertise your product or service absolutely free.

Step 1 – Market Research

The first step you are going to do is market research. This is where you will be using keyword research tools to see exactly what users are looking for and what keywords and keyword phrases they are using. If you are wondering how this is done, have no fear, there are tons of free tools available that you can use to help simplify the process.

Note:

Keywords and keyword phrases are simply the word or words that users are typing into search engines to find their specific information. For example, if you were looking for “healthy dog treats” you would open your favorite search engine and type “healthy dog treats” into the search box. These words are considered keywords or keyword phrases.

Step 2 – Identify Problems Your Market is Having

Next you will need to identify what problems your target market is currently having. There are several free places you can visit to find this information. For example, you could visit forums dealing with your particular market and see if certain questions are being asked over and over. Chances are they have been searching for this particular question in search engines, but have failed to find the right answers. Remember, your main focus should be to identify common problems that people in your target market are having.

Step 3 – Find Your Product

Knowing what market you are going to target and having identified their problems, it's now time to find a product. If you already have a product or service that you provide then you are ready to proceed to step four.

If, on the other hand you do not, you will need to visit places like Clickbank, Commission Junction and PayDotCom. There you should be able to find a product that will meet the needs of your target market.

Step 4 – Write Your Article

With all the research done, problems identified, and product located, it's time to write your article. At this point simply write an informational article (which contains between 250 to 700 words) on your chosen topic. Keep in mind though, articles that are short and to the point have proven to produce better distribution rates than longer more drawn out ones.

There are also several guidelines that you must consider when writing your article. I will not go into the details for each article directory in this article, but make sure you read their submission guidelines. This is a very important step because if you fail to follow their guidelines your article will get rejected.

Keep these key points in mind when writing your articles:

1. Keep them informative
2. Provide original content
3. Keep them short and to the point
4. Follow directory guidelines