Article Writing 101

Writing and distributing articles online is a very powerful method of openly promoting your business and driving traffic to your website.

There are many different methods of advertising your business on the Internet, but most can be ineffective due to competition and pricing of those advertising methods. Writing and distributing articles in your niche and about your content is a dependable way to get your website noticed and a great way to freely generate income with less competition.

Writing isn’t Rocket Science

While writing articles doesn’t mean you need to be an expert writer, you merely need to put in print what your views or experiences are. Don’t think of it like writing an essay at school. That was probably too traumatic for most of us. Think of it in terms of speaking to a friend. It may be difficult to force your thoughts into an article, but if you write your thoughts down like you’re talking to your friends the content will flow easily from your fingertips and your article will be complete in no time.

For those of you who really have a hard time with this, there are writers for hire out there from sites like guru.com and elance.com. But if you’re willing to persist, writing will come easier over time and effort. Before long you’ll be surprised how effortlessly the articles will come. It’s especially important to work toward submitting your own unique content. So don’t fall into the trap that many online marketers do. A lot of article writing focuses on the rehashing of existing content that’s been distributed several times over. This method will only result in unforeseen competition and your frustration in the lack of results.

The Nuts and Bolts

 

Give article writing a try. Keep writing your content as it comes to you… in a free-form series of thoughts… much like your conversations. With continual practice, the task will become easier and easier to accomplish. Eventually, you’ll begin to see that the articles you produce and publish start to generate traffic to your site, which turns into an income. That, in itself, is a huge motivator for you to keep going. You’ll see the effect of your writing on your business, discussion forums and blogs as you build a name for yourself as an expert in your field. The object of writing articles is always to draw attention to your website, so be sure to give your site a plug in the process of writing it.

 

The keys to maximizing the exposure you can receive when publishing your completed article are as follows:

 

• Start your article title with your keywords. You always want what the search engine spiders index up front in your article. Ensure successful indexing of your content by making it easy for them.
• Keep you articles 500-600 words in length. This is the nominal article length and might make it easier for you to generate more on a consistent basis. No need to knock yourself out by being too lengthy.
• Use various keywords throughout your articles, but don’t make it obvious that you’re trying to manipulate the search engines. Writing naturally, lacing keywords throughout your articles, will be better bait for the spiders than riddling your content with obvious keyword placement.
• Use the AIDA structure to create your articles. For those who slept through the writing course, it’s pretty simple. Start with an introduction; then, introduce a problem; next, give the solution; finally, lead them to your signature box at the end of the article. Here you’ll lead them to your site for more information
• Create and publish at least two articles per week. Constant exposure to your work will lead others in your business niche to accept you more readily as an expert in your field. Additionally, the more content you produce online, the more traffic will be generated to your site to check out what else you offer.
• Submit your articles BY HAND to top article directories like ezinearticles.com. Avoid auto-submission software. Remember; keep things as natural as possible to maximize your chances of getting indexed and not being overlooked by the search engines because you use a service.
• Create some Google Alerts with your name, your domain and the title of your articles. You’ll be surprised in where you’ll find your articles. No worries, you want your article as far spread on the Internet as possible.
• Don’t add the article to your website for at least 90 days. You don’t want to run the chance of the search engines picking this up as a duplicate and tossing it to the Internet black hole where it’ll never get indexed. You want other sites to generate back-links to your website. The more links, the higher in the page ranking you’ll get. When you do add the article to your site, make sure to post it to a sub-page.

Noodle out Your Plan

Trying to figure out what to write about can be a stumbling block to many. Sit down somewhere quiet and think about things that you know, things that you’ve learned in the process of getting your business established, or simply what information you think could be of good value to others. Your business online is not a sprint, but a marathon. You’re not planning on establishing a short-term presence online… you’re planning to be there a good long while. Take your time, practice writing articles and become good at it. Helping others will help you. In the process, you’ll be richly rewarded with increased traffic to your site and a big boost in your income.

Yours for Bigger Profits