Newsletter publishers turn to article directories to find much needed content. These sites allow ezine publishers to reprint any listed article in their newsletter for free. All they have to do is give the author credit for the article and include a link back to the author's site. They do this by including a resource box at the end of each article.
The resource box that tells the reader about you and includes a link back to your site is just the starting point for ways you gain traffic through article marketing. Other ways include:
1. Being a published author boosts your credibility. Just because you don't receive direct monetary compensation for your articles does not mean you can't refer to yourself as a published author. If article directory sites are posting your articles online, you are an author. When you're an author, you're considered both an expert and an authority figure. People trust published experts more easily than they would an unknown source.
2. Unexpected traffic spikes can occur months after you publish your article. On many directory sites, your article remains in the active database for six months to a year after you post it. Then it's moved to the archives but still accessible to those searching for content in your niche. An ezine publisher could come across your article months after you publish it, send it to his list and consequently send lots of unexpected traffic to you.
3. Steady streams of traffic can come your way for years. Others in your niche may like your article so much that they post in on their websites and keep it there for years. Because you have that resource box, you get recognized as the expert author and have a perpetual link that feeds you a steady stream of targeted prospects.
4. You are able to utilize the highly trafficked directory sites. Millions of visitors search directory sites every month. This gives you massive exposure to a wide audience of traffic you didn't have to pay for.
5. You can advertise your site for FREE. If your marketing budget is zero, this is a great way to get the word out about who you are and what you have to offer. The articles cost nothing to post, and that free post comes with an ad for your site.
6. Expand your market reach. Each article you post gives you a chance to reach people who would otherwise never hear your message. This can come from newsletter publishers sending your article to their lists or just regular people searching for information about your topic in the directory database.
7. You get to pre-sell your products. With an informative article, you can turn skeptical readers from cold to sold. Had these people seen a regular advertisement for your product, they might have ignored you. But since you've given them a taste of who you are and what you know, they're willing to at least listen to your sales message and perhaps even respond with a buying decision.
8. Articles help you attract new joint venture partners. Ezine publishers who find your articles may want to partner with you once they read your information. So instead of just emailing their list your article, they would endorse your products. And that means higher conversion rates and more money in your bank account.
9. You increase your link popularity. Every article you post in a directory gives you a free link to your site. As others pickup your article and publish it on their sites, you get more links. The more links you have, the more popular you are with the search engines. Especially if those links come from sites with high page ranks. A link from a site ranked six on the Google 0-10 scale is worth much more than a link from a site ranked two.
10. You improve your search engine rank. When you combine your increasing link popularity with the keyword usage in your articles, you gain importance in the eyes of the major search engines. Your own page rank grows, as does your place in the ranking of the searches for the keywords you use.
11. Your perceived value and prestige in your niche grows. You can have your article published alongside the gurus in your niche. This automatically makes your information appear more valuable and brings with it a sense of prestige no other form of marketing can deliver.
With article marketing, the traffic power just keeps on multiplying.
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How important is link building or back-links in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
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What other "user generated marketing" sites do you know apart from www.spreadfirefox.com?
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how do you begin set-up for a odyssey of the minds club for a small private elementary school. we think it will be best to "test" pilot with a small group of interested 5th & 6th graders. suggestions on mtgs, frequency, volunteers, parents, cost, etc. would be of great assistance.
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