How To Develop Article Marketing To Raise Your Profile And Drive Traffic To Your Site

By Sumi Olson

Many professionals wonder how article marketing can help them as a business strategy. They worry about finding topics to write about, finding the time to write, and whether after all the effort, any of their pieces would be read. For others, writing for public consumption can seem a daunting prospect and leave them open to ridicule or criticism.

Yet article writing can be a very powerful way of promoting your personal brand and products & services. If article marketing is done well the very exposure that initially seemed so intimidating can be the mechanism to drive traffic back to your destination websites. This article looks the main benefits of article writing and its value to professionals and business managers in building profile and driving traffic.

Creating high-quality, original content which is of value and relevance to your niche helps you build your reputation and standing within your subject area. Drawing from your wealth of experience and knowledge, you can offer your own perspective and insights on a range of topics and interests. Using themes drawn from questions that your niche frequently asks, you can show that you understand the concerns and issues that motivate them.

It's important to remember that you are promoting your skills and expertise through article marketing. It's not an overt sales platform where you blatantly sell your services and products. Articles are not sales pages but a way of communicating valuable wisdom to your target audience. They serve as a showcase from which your niche will see how you are qualified to help them.

Develop a routine to produced new articles on a regular basis so that you build momentum and a body of material to showcase your proficiency in your niche. Select an article directory which has a good reputation and receives high visitor numbers accessing their article database. If you produce excellent articles which receive attention, then you can be assured of a regular volume of visitors from the directory to your own sites.

Don't make your articles over-complicated - instead create a series of shorter, simpler articles which cover specific aspects of the main topic. One useful technique is to use the top ten questions in your FAQ (frequently asked questions) list as the basis of ten topics from which you can develop a series of articles. Articles word counts range from 400 to 1,200 words and with practice you can create focused articles within this framework.

Increase your viewing figures by giving your articles titles which include strong keywords. This means using popular words and phrases which appear in search engine searches. If your target audience is searching for information on dealing with a particular topic or theme, then using the same phrases or keywords means your article will appear higher up in search results.

Free tools such as Google Keywords will help you see what words are being used and gives you an insight into the mind-set of the community needing help. Using keywords within the body of the article will also help with search engine rankings but avoid over-using them at the expense of intelligibility.

Picking topics that matter to your niche and then using sensible search engine optimisation techniques (SEO) will help your articles find an audience. If your content then is engaging, interesting and delivers then it increases the chances of your articles being used in other websites. If you can create well-crafted articles that have a strong appeal to a niche, other content providers will happy to use them to add value for their own readership.

This is why your articles must be focused on the topic and not your services - few external sites will be interested in pushing a sales pitch. Having found a wider audience through these third-party sites, you'll significantly raise the numbers of viewers who'd be inclined to connect with you if they were given the opportunity.

As with books and webpages, articles also have an "about me" section, often called a resource box. This allows you to add a small biographical piece where you describe your appropriate skills and experience and offer opportunities for your audience to contact you. You can include URL links to your destination sites such as your blog or main website, as well as your online and offline contact details.

Depending on your article directory host, you will have a number of resource boxes in which you can create bespoke pieces that emphasise different elements of your background and skills, and different calls to action. This can be very useful if you're writing on different fields as you draw on relevant experience relating to each field. Use the opportunity to reinforce the sense of value and benefit you can offer your niche so they see the usefulness in connecting with you.

Connecting your social media platforms to your article profile page will help you promote your writing to your wider community. Each time you publish an article, a tweet is posted to out to your network so if your Twitter account is connected to your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, this is an excellent opportunity to consolidate your identity as an article writer.

Sumi Olson (author of the Amazon five-star rated, "How to Manage Your Social Media Marketing in 30 Minutes A Day"), is an author, speaker, diamond-rated article writer, consultant and trainer on social media, content creation strategies, and business development.

With 25 years' experience in book publishing, business development, online selling, sales & marketing, Sumi is committed to reducing overwhelm and turning insights into implementation. Through speaking events,books, programmes & workshops, she helps you further your publishing or writing aspirations, meet sales, marketing & management objectives, or master social media & online branding.

As a working mother herself, she's passionate about helping people create a great work-life balance so that they can spend more time on the things that matter in life - hobbies, friends, and family.

Connect with her on Twitter (@sumiolson), LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sumiolson or visit http://www.learningbusinessskills.com to sign up for her free fortnightly newsletter.

(You are welcome to use my articles but please credit for my work and include the information contained in this resource box. I appreciate your support on these points - thank you for your interest in my work. I hope you find it of value)

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