Gone are those days when you publish content on your website and BAMM you make money. After Google released the Panda update it got harder for the marketers to put links and make money easily. However Squido and other major article directories still work for many marketers. but if we consider google then its lot harder to be successful. But don’t worry there are still plenty of traffic to be squeezed out of it.
Here we will discuss one of the top 10 Questions to ask yourself before doing Article Marketing. Lets go deep into it one by one:
Why do you want to do it?
If you are trying to do article marketing because you want to make money just by putting links then STOP. It no longer works and it stopped working long time ago. however if you want to build reputation as an expert in your field by providing useful content to those in your niche, then keep going on. If you want to make money then you need to provide value to your audience before promoting any of the services of offers. you need to build trust first before marketing to them. If you look around big websites over the globe then you will notice that they provide massive value to their audience. As long as you are providing quality content to your audience they will come back to you again and again. So focus on their problems and ways to provide solutions to their problems. If you are providing solutions to their problems then you are in the game.
If you leave the links out, will you still get something out of it?
Internet is changing rapidly day by day. the value of back-links you build through article marketing has decreased dramatically. Don’t get discouraged thinking that back-link doesn’t work, it still works as long as they are of high quality. Meaning if you are building back-links from trusted websites then its okay but if you are building back-links from some random websites then it looks spammy and google will think that you are manipulating the back-linking strategy. so what is a quality back-link? say you have a weight loss website and you are building back-link from travel website then google thinks that its spammy because there is no relation between travel and weight loss. on the other hand if you are building back-link from a health related website then Google will think that its related to each other and google will not consider it as a spam.
Nowadays google puts more weight on social media back-link over the other back-links. so social media like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc can help you build links much more effectively. But if you do article marketing to consolidate your reputation online, the links don’t matter that much.
Ho much content should I create?
Don’t focus on lengthy content rather focus on quality of you articles. Or if you are unable to produce quality content yourself then hire a professional freelance writers. An article with 1000 words or more is ideal for providing quality content to your readers. wahtever topic you are addressing in your article make sure you are providing solutions to their problems. As long as you are doing this you are at good to go.
Do my competitors still do it?
Content marketing often works better for obscure niches because there are fewer big sites to provide the content/information-buyers require. Lets take an example say you are in weight loss niche then you know that there are lots of big websites around that topic providing content and quality information. On the other hand if you are in weight loss for women aged above 45 then there are fewer competition and you can easily dominate the market. Pick a niche which has less competition and you will do well in the long run. Also make sure that only few websites in your niche is doing article marketing.
Should I use keywords?
It is good to include keywords in your articles as long as you are not spamming your article with the main keyword. Including keyword in your article makes it easier for the search engine to discover your content when people search for that keyword. Use your keyword one or two times per article not more than that. In this way you are playing safe as search engine consider it natural not spammy. remember the best content is written for people, not for search engines.
Should I turn my articles into guest posts?
Guest posting is one of the best ways to build quality back-links for your content . it is like the golden days what article marketing used to be. It reaches new audiences, and it is one of the best way to establish you as an expert. Guest posting is also helpful in building trust and connections, it encourages discussions and boost your traffic tremendously. so it is advised to do guest posting on a regular basis.
Should I post the articles on my site first?
Google and other search engines doesn’t like duplicate content. So if you are posting your content on some other article directories and also on your website then it will not help you as Google will mark it as a spam and your site article will not rank well in the search engine. So it is advised that you put your content in your site first before publishing it on other article directories.
Must I hire professional writers to do it for me?
I you don’t have enough time to write the content yourself then its better to hire professional writing services. It takes some money from your side but it is worth it. There is an old saying either you spend time to create the articles yourself or you pay someone else to do it for you. For many people time is money so if you are not willing to invest time to create the article then you will have to pay to get it done. Sites like fivver.com, elance.com, upwork.com and iwriter.com has many professional writers but make sure you talk with them about their work and also look at their previous works before hiring them. But here is something else you might do: encourage your employees to create the content.
Can I publish the same content on multiple article directories?
Don’t do this. This practice alone can make your site penalized by Google. Google has slapped many websites before who follow this approach. so don’t post the same content twice on different sites, and don’t post content that already appears on your site on article directories.
Will it increase my sales?
Of course it can bring lots of traffic, connections and the the attention of the important names in your niche than direct sales. Your sales might also increase, but if you do it only for the sales then you’d probably be better off just using AdWords. The strategy is to provide quality content and and build trust and the sales will come automatically without being pushy. keep in mind article marketing is a long term plan and it build your audience base overtime if you are focused on providing value and quality content to your readers.
The Bottom Line:
Article marketing is still alive and it works, but it works for fewer people than it used to. It might work work for you or it might not . You won’t know until you’ve tried for a few months The key is to be consistent and keep creating quality content for at least 3 months. It is one of the best way to build your audience base and recognition in your community.