Web Content Editor

by CJ John

(Disclaimer: This article is not about sex or even, necessarily, more money. It will, however, help you create better articles that will LEAD to more money. And more money ALWAYS leads to better sex… right?)

When you are researching a subject offline and you head to the library or even a local bookstore, what is the first thing you do? You head to the section that will likely contain the subject matter of your search. What happens next?

You start looking at book titles. Which ones do you pull off the shelf to investigate? The ones that catch your attention, right?

For instance, which would you choose, a book titled, Ten Ways To Make More Money or Better Sex And More Money?

The first choice is decent enough. If true to its title, it should give you 10 ideas, right? But the other one it has more appeal. At the very least, it piques your curiosity a bit more, doesn’t it?

My point, here, is that your title is the first thing your potential reader will see. It may be the only thing he EVER sees, if you don’t snag his attention with it. So, how do you do that online?

The average Internet user, when researching a given subject, goes to a favored search engine and looks at an empty text box into which he or she must type words that match his or her interest. An experienced search engine user will know that brevity is best and will type in words that pertain only to his/her subject and none of the extraneous fluff, like articles (the, a, etcetera) and adjectives (more, extra, etcetera).

Instead of How Can I Make More Money Online? - he or she will type, Make Money Online.

Instead of “How Do I Get Rid Of Fleas Naturally” he or she might type something like Natural Flea Control.

Once a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is returned, this virtual bookshelf, if you will, is where the searcher finds what he or she is looking for. Millions of pages have likely been returned for their efforts and now they must pick and choose which ones to look at.

Do you see where I am going with this? The most important thing you have to do right now, is choose an enticing title for your article. But to even make it into the SERP, it must also contain the pertinent keyword(s) about the subject.

While Natural Flea Control is a good title, it will draw thousands of readers, all of whom you must compete with for the attention of the reader. Something like, “Flea Control, The Safest Ultimate Weapon” will garner more attention AND because it uses words that pack a strong emotional impact, will entice the reader to take a look. THAT is your goal. That is why you must choose a title for your article very carefully.

About the Author
CJ John is author of this article and invites you to visit ArticleWritingNews.com for more in-depth articles on crafting the perfect article.

By Deb Allen

Article marketing is a relatively easy technique that will bring you more targeted traffic, increased sales and help to establish you as an authority will build your credibility. You get all of those benefits just by writing and submitting articles.

Although the process is simple there are some key elements to keep in mind. First of all you will want to write articles for a purpose. Determine ahead of time if you simply want backlinks, you want to educate your readers, or if your goal is to get traffic that converts into sales, or if you simply want to increase your page rank.

You can achieve all of the above with article marketing but if you have a plan as you begin writing you can gear all of your efforts toward reaching your goals. For example, if you are planning to use article marketing to increase your sales you will definitely want your readers to read all the way through your article and click on the links in your resource box.

If your article is too long or boring the readers may stop reading long before they reach the resource box. If the article is short and does not provide useful information they may again stop reading before they get to the resource box.

Before you begin writing you need to have a topic in mind. Additionally you should have a knowledge base on the topic. If you do not then you will need to do some research.

Don’t forget about keywords. You will want to use keywords that will be used in a search that will pull up your article. Add the keywords to your title, the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and sprinkled throughout wherever they fit naturally.

The first paragraph should be an introduction to what you are going to tell your readers about. Then you will present a problem and a solution. The solution will of course be the product that you are promoting.

Your last paragraph is a summary or conclusion. Here you will want to wrap things up and sort of remind the reader what you have already told them. This is done in a very concise manner and it pulls everything together.

Next you will add your resource box. Do not use this precious space to tell a lot about yourself. Your readers are there because of the information in your article. Keep that flow going.

The first sentence in the resource box should read as if it is a continuation of the article itself. Always provide a free offer or a discount of some sort to entice click throughs to your website. Once there you can collect email addresses and names in trade for the free offer. This is how you will build your list.

You will then be able to send those people offers for this and other products. Your list will continue to grow as long as your article is working for you. Article marketing is a great way to generate an online income. Your articles are like small ads that work for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week. My advice is to write as many as possible.

About the Author
Do you want to learn how to write effective articles? Get an informative free report at:
http://article-marketing-plus.blogspot.com/

Debbie Allen is the author and creator of Article Marketing Plus…

By Chris Simpson

One of the top heralded ways that you can expand your online reach today is by writing articles. However, you may not fully realize all the advantages that come with article writing and how it can work to enhance and expand your reach online. You’ll find that articles are a top way to bring in targeted visitors that are brand new to your site, and they work quickly as well. Not sure they’ll be a help to your business? Take a look at some of the benefits you’ll enjoy.

Establishing Yourself as an Expert

First of all, writing articles allows you to establish yourself as an expert, and you’ll be able to start making your name more popular by using it on all of the articles that you write. People will begin to recognize the name, and if you have quality articles, they are going to keep coming back. The quality content that you provide will also show that you are an expert in your field and that what you have to say can be trusted as well, which is extremely important.

Quality Links Enhance Search Engine Rankings

You’ll be able to expand your online reach with articles because they help to provide quality links that enhance search engine rankings. When you put up articles on article directories, they will contain links to your site in them, which builds up quality links that go back to your site. This is an important way that you can build up your search engine rankings. The better your rankings are with the search engine, the more people you are going to be able to reach online.

Great Articles Will Be Shared with Others

If you write high quality articles, you’ll find that they will be shared with others as well, again helping to expand your online reach. Often they’ll get picked up by ezines and blogs, helping to get your name out to a whole new crowd. People may also begin sending articles they like to friends and family members. So, there is a lot of potential for you to draw in people to your sites that are brand new prospects.

Build Up a Reputation

Writing articles can also help you to build up a reputation online as well, which is important if you want to draw in new and targeted traffic to your web site. Once you have a good reputation, people will begin to look for your name. They’ll trust your name, and this means they’ll probably trust your company too.

Articles Literally End Up Everywhere on the Web

Last of all, you’ll find that the articles you write can literally end up everywhere on the web. They can be posted on websites, blogs, in newsletters, ezines, and more. This means that you’ll be getting amazing exposure just from those articles that you have written. This will take your name, the name of the company, and the link to your site all over the web and you’ll draw in people that you could have never reached any other way.

About the Author
Chris Simpson is dedicated to helping people find honest and legitimate work from home jobs and home based business opportunities. Find legitimate work at home opportunities and learn how to start working from home today at: HomeNetPro.com

by Bob Sommers

There are several key ways to construct your web marketing articles to increase your chances of publication and readership. Being knowledgeable in your industry gives you the expertise to write the article, but if you don’t follow basic publisher formatting rules, your articles will be rejected.

Following a few basic formatting rules will help you get more articles published, and of course, more traffic to your website.

Rule 1 - Format your article to be visually appealing and easy to scan.
Publishers are scanning hundreds of articles for publication. Readers are searching thousands of sites for information. When readers and publishers open your article, your topic and major points should be obvious. Format your text in sections that provide a quick visual scan. Highlight important points. Your goal is to immediately catch the publishers’ attention before they lose interest and jump to the next article search.

Rule 2 - Get to the point, quickly.
Your first sentence should let your reader know what to expect. And your first paragraph should reinforce that first sentence. Your first paragraph will further define your topic and lead your reader into your article. Your article content must be consistent to what you promised in your title. The article title and content work together to convey your message. And your article content must bring value to readers, search engines and publishers who are searching for specific content related to your topic.

Rule 3 - Keep your sentences simple.
As you write your article, consistently remember your reader. Your content should consist of short, easy to understand, simple sentences. Also, remember that not every reader of your article knows your industry lingo and terminology. Keep industry acronyms and abbreviations to a minimum or provide an explanation. Plan that your article can be read and understood by anyone that picks up the article, not just someone specific to your industry.

Rule 4 - Short paragraphs are easier to read.
Short paragraphs break up large blocks of text and adds to the ability of the reader to quickly understand and scan the text. Short paragraphs can also help you emphasize a topic by making it stand out from other text.

Rule 5 - Make spelling and grammar a priority.
Your spelling and grammar should be nothing less than perfect. Simple, grade school grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are unprofessional and ruin your creditability as an article writer. Article distributors will not correct your errors. They will either reject your article, or they will publish it with all the errors for the entire world to see. Once your article is published, it’s published.

Rule 6 - Break up your content.
Another way to break up large blocks of text is to highlight major points with numbers, bullets and subheadings. You can also take advantage of font styles by bolding words, subheadings, titles or phrases. If your reader quickly scans your article, do your main points stand out?

Rule 7 - Use keywords early.
Use your keywords early in your title and your content. Search engines only search your title and the beginning paragraphs of your article. But don’t overload your article with keywords. Article distributors are quick to notice an abundance of keywords and may refuse to publish your article. The best place for top keywords is in your author block or resource box at the end of your article. Those keywords will prompt your reader with a call to action and a link to your website.

Rule 8 - Review, review, review.
Review your article for readability, meaning and flow. Read your article out loud for flow, logical order and understanding. Ask a friend for a critique. Scan your article like you’re reading a submission from another author.

Review your article for punctuation, grammar and spelling. Then review it all again. Use spell check software, but don’t assume that it will catch all spelling mistakes. Reading your article backwards will prompt you to look at each word individually, rather in a sentence structure, providing another way to check your spelling.

Review it all one more time. Remember your article represents your knowledge, your business, your brand and your professionalism. A good article with grade school mistakes won’t represent your business well, nor will it be picked up a publisher.

If you’re regularly writing and submitting articles, writing for your reader and following these basic article publisher rules, you’ll increase your chances of publication. You’ll produce well written, easy to read, professional articles that publishers will want to add to their newsletters, ezines and websites.

About the Author

Join Bob Sommers at the Recognized Expert article marketing forum and participate in our lively article marketing discussion. Learn how to write articles that compel readers to act from a Saint Louis copy writer and professional writers from around the world.

by Kerry Thomas

One of the absolute best ways to improve your search engine rankings and directly promote your products and services is by submitting articles to quality article directories.

Search engines find and index relevant content. What exactly is relevant content? Ideally you should be able to search for a specific keyword or phrase and all the search results returned should be related to that search term. Right now, articles offers the web promoter a widely accepted method to gain traffic to their site.

Some of the past web promotion techniques did not always deliver the results that visitors were looking for. Link exchanging was one such technique that has lost favor with search engines.

I do not recommend using link exchanges and bought text links. Webmasters were all too eager to swap links with other sites even if both sites were completely unrelated.

As you can imagine,link exchanges simply diluted the search results and allowed some non-relevant sites to be returned in the search results.

The search engine’s job becomes easier to do when a website–your perhaps–has lots of textual content that is linked to from other related sites.

Search engines look at links and the content around links to determine how relevant the web page would be to to a particular keyword search.

Article writing gives you the perfect way to deliver exactly what the search engines are looking for and in return you generate traffic for your website.

One should avoid the excessive use of keywords and simply write for a human audience. Please note that this method of marketing will require that you regularly submit content.

Keep the information flowing and always try to keep new and fresh content available. Remember that once your work is published you may develop a loyal bunch of followers that will be looking for more of your information.

Your writing can and should be targeted to a specific niche that fits your purposes and stands an excellent chance of getting indexed into the search engines.

Once the web page with your article is indexed then you will have a link pointing to your site that helps your search rankings. Another perk to this method of marketing is the fact that you will generate direct traffic to your site.

Don’t struggle to optimize your website with methods that don’t work. Relevant content is what it takes and quality articles will get your site noticed.
Article Republished From: Liberated Press Releases a web site that DOESN’T use Google Adsense text links in or around articles.

About the Author
Kerry Thomas is active in article marketing and writing. He owns the following article directory.

By Debbie Allen

The basic idea behind Article marketing is the use of articles as a means of promotion. This method can be used by almost anyone regardless of what it is that they are promoting.

The key is to write an article that discusses the topic your product or service falls under. It is ideal if the article talks about a problem related to the topic being discussed and then leads to a resolution, which of course, is your product! The resource box will tell the readers where they can find this wonderful key to resolving their problems.

Internet marketers have successfully used articles to promote practically anything imaginable. The fact is that Articles marketing provides not only the advantage of increased traffic and sales but there are also less obvious benefits.

For one thing the writer is building credibility by writer the articles. He truly does become an expert in the subject matter via the research required to write a quality article. This establishes him as an authority in the area that he writes about.

Additionally, because the resource box will have a link to a website that website will gain backlinks. There really is a snowball effect then. That results in more traffic. It also means that the search engine will come to recognize the website. That leads to a higher ranking and the website will come up more often in search results. That in turn results in even more traffic. And we all know that more traffic means more sales!

Article marketing can be used to promote affiliate products as well as your own. Simply follow the same procedure that you would if the product was your own. Be careful about using affiliate links though. Some article directories frown on that so it may be best if you create a blog or a landing page of your own for the product.

That also provides you an opportunity to collect names and email addresses for your own list building efforts. I suggest that you write a short report or ebook to be used as a giveaway. Then in your resource box you can offer that. That should get your readers to click through to your site.

There along with information about the actual product you can have a webform that they can complete to get your free report. The report gives you an opportunity to build a relationship with the subscriber and to promote to him in the future.

Article marketing really is the backbone of Internet marketing. If you are not using it as part of your marketing campaign efforts then you are missing out on easy traffic and sales.

About the Author
Get a free report about article writing at http://www.articlemarketingplus.com.
To skyrocket your Article marketing profits visit http://www.article-marketing-plus.com.

By Karon Thackston © 2008, All Rights Reserved

I’ve been asked the same question at least a hundred times.

“If I submit my articles to other sites, does Google count this as duplicate content?”

I’ve gone by my own hunches about this issue for about a year with great success for both me and my clients. But, I decided to go straight to the source for a definitive (well, pretty definitive) answer. I emailed Google Webspam Head, Matt Cutts, for some insight.

Before I continue, let me say that this article deals with duplicate content as it pertains to writing and submitting and/or syndicating articles. These principles may not pertain to web copy that is duplicated from page to page and remains exclusively on your site.

I asked Matt if he would explain a few things since it seemed many people were now questioning their online marketing efforts due to the duplicate content filters. My questions included:

1) How can submitted articles count against me as duplicate content if they are posted on other websites? Duplicate content filters are generally on the lookout for copy that has been repeated within the confines of a site. Since articles were distributed to sites other than my own, I wondered about this point.

Matt’s answer: “Taking all your articles and submitting them for syndication all over the place can make it more difficult to determine how much your site [has original] content vs. just used, syndicated content.”

That makes perfect sense. After all, Google is looking for quality, original content to fill its search engine results pages (SERP).

2) Does that mean - from a search engine perspective - you advise people not to submit articles? I couldn’t believe that the answer would be “yes.” Whether offline or on, writing and submitting quality articles has always been a phenomenal way of establishing yourself as an expert, promoting your business and more.

Matt’s answer: “My advice would be to avoid over-syndicating the articles that you write, and if you do syndicate content, then make sure that you include a link to the original content. That will help ensure that the original content has more PageRank, which will aid in picking the best documents in our index.”

So, how do you avoid “over-syndicating” the articles you distribute about the Internet? Although Matt didn’t go into detail, my personal take would be to:

• Avoid using article-blaster-type software programs that send your piece to hundreds of article banks and email lists. Instead, use a service that handpicks a select few, quality websites and then manually submits your article.
• Only submit to websites that allow HTML in the bio/about the author section. A big part of submitting online articles is link popularity. You get a much bigger bang for your buck if you have keyword-rich anchor text links rather than plain http:// links.
• Place the article on your site and allow it to get indexed before you distribute. This way, you establish yourself in Google’s database as the original writer.

While some people stress out about where their articles rank in the search engines, I, personally, never have. If another site that has reproduced my article (and done so legally) ranks higher than I do for an article, so be it. In the end, a link to my site is provided in the “about the author” section, so readers can find me if they want more information. However, if you prefer that your articles outrank those who reprint your material, then the above tips may help you accomplish that goal.

Above all, don’t let the engines dictate how you run and promote your business. If submitting your articles brings you business, then do it. A diversity of marketing efforts has always been the best way to promote. Writing articles is no exception.

About the Author
Discover the proven methods for writing powerful PPC ads with Karon’s latest ebook “How To Write Successful PPC Ads”. This quick-read has easy, tested ways to create PPC ads fast that get higher click-through rates. Learn PPC copywriting today at http://www.WritePPCAds.com.

by Andy Eliason

Writing and publishing articles as part of your Internet marketing campaign can have a significant impact on your online endeavors.  The possibilities for lead generation and building traffic are well documented, and it is a traditional way of gathering links.

The concept of marketing your website or product through articles is a classic one.  It’s been around for years.  So does that mean that it is an old and outdated method and ought to be excluded from your Internet marketing campaign?

Not in the least.

If you research the subject on the Internet, you are likely to discover a number of dissenting opinions on the matter.  Some of them are going to say that they are, in fact, out dated and that the links they provide aren’t valuable enough to justify the effort.  Others will swear by the system and claim that not only is article marketing a good thing to include in an Internet marketing campaign, but the best thing.  Of course, many of these people will then offer to sell you the knowledge to make Internet marketing miracles.

The truth probably resides somewhere between these two extremes.

Is article marketing still a valid practice?

Definitely.

Is article marketing alone going to make you a fortune on the Internet?

Probably not.

As an SEO practice, is it worthwhile?

Yes.  And this is the point we are going to dwell on for a while.

SEO has been evolving steadily since it was first recognized as an actual industry and necessity.  Some practices have come and others go.  Some are outright banned.  People are always on the look out for the newest trick or the previously undiscovered loophole.  This may or may not work, and this may or may not even be ethical.  But through it all there are some practices that you can rely on because they provide a foundation for other practices.

Article marketing is one of those foundational activities.  The reason you can be sure of this is because the principles behind it are as valid in off-line marketing as they are in Internet marketing.

Whether you are writing an article for a newspaper or for distribution in article databases, you are trying to accomplish the same things.  One: establish yourself as an authority in your industry or field.  Two: provide potential clients with useful information that they will appreciate even if it’s only in some small way.  And three: give them the means to get in touch with you or find you.

Did the practice get diluted once it hit the Internet?  Most definitely.  Did that cause the search engines to devalue those links because of it?  A bit.
Enough to warrant giving up the practice?

Absolutely not.

The proponents of article marketing would tell you that articles generate buzz about your site or product.  They say that it will be picked up by lots of other sites in need of good content.  This will, they say, create countless new contacts and generate leads.

Well… sort of.  But it’s probably not as efficient as all the guys selling their special systems would have you believe.  But, at it’s core, it does do what they claim.  At least to some extent.  (After all, you’re reading this, aren’t you?)  And while the links are supposedly not as valuable as others, they are still valid and valuable.

Recently there’s been a lot of talk about how a certain search engine adjusted its algorithm in such a way that caused a lot of large websites to loose their previous ranks.  The reason for that was because of their links that they paid for.  The search engine prefers natural links, which articles can develop for you.  Heavily weighted links?  No.  Links that will stand the test of time?  Yup.

Like many things in SEO and Internet marketing, it will take time and effort to achieve.  But, when it comes right down to it, most things that are worthwhile always do.

About the Author
Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. They can develop a strong marketing campaign that involves article marketing and other strong foundational aspects.

by Chris Simpson

Writing articles and submitting them to article directories is a strategy known as article marketing and is designed to do two things. The first is to create massive back-links to web pages in order to increase their position on search engine results pages. The second is to attract targeted visitors to your website.

Unless you purchase submission software or submission services such as Article Marketer, article marketing is free and if it is done consistently, can dramatically improve traffic to your site.

Before writing, you need to have a marketing purpose clearly in mind as well as understanding directory guidelines. In other words, write with both your target audience and the publisher in mind. It is a good idea to read the publishing guidelines at the article directory you’re going to submit to.

Briefly, the articles need to be original, between 500 and 700 words (recommended) and submitted either in text format or using Word with ’smart quotes’ disabled. You also need to be very careful that you put your article in the right category otherwise it will be rejected. It will also be sent back for editing if there are errors.

The whole point of writing articles for article directories is for the potential advertising benefit. You are submitting articles to directories so that web publishers can download and use your articles on their blogs and websites free of charge.

In return, they must agree to keep the resource box at the end of the article intact with a live link to your site. This is your payment. However, to really benefit you need to specifically address the needs of your target audience and to do it well. This way, readers will be far more likely to click on your link to see what else you have to say on your website.

Once you have an interesting, relevant and well written article that conforms to directory guidelines, you will need to decide which directories you wish to submit to. If you want a blanket approach for maximum initial traffic, you may wish to consider using a submission service such as Article Marketer. <

However, if you are seeking to improve your search engine position, there is a possibility of being penalized by Google for a lot of potentially low quality links. Google is constantly altering its algorithms to maximize benefits to their users and having a page of the same article come up in search results because of mass directory submissions isn’t good for users.

If you decide to manually submit to a few of the better sites, make sure you include ezinearticles. You can do a search and find a list of directories recommended by other people.

The actual submission process is easy. You simply register as a user, click on ’submit article’ (or equivalent) and paste your article in the space provided. The publisher will get back to you in a few days and let you know whether or not the article is accepted.

More than anything, however, you will influence your results by the quality of your writing, your subject matter and by creating a resource box that entices people to click on your link.

About the Author
Chris Simpson is dedicated to helping people find honest and legitimate work from home and home based business opportunities. Find a legitimate work at home opportunity today at: www.HomeNetPro.com

By Janet Simpson

For me, article marketing has proven to be very effective in driving traffic to my website and developing relationships with my clients. I have also noticed that over the last few months, article marketing has become more and more popular with website owners. There is a particular reason for that. Article marketing is very cost-effective. If you write your articles well and with quality content, you should be able to write articles that are of little cost or free. If you write your articles correctly, you will find that it gets read by thousands and thousands of subscribers over time. And again, if you write your articles correctly, you can get your website quite high in the search engines rankings and maybe even at the number one spot.

So the things you need to remember when you are adopting article marketing as your marketing method is only to write about subjects with which you have intimate knowledge. Only write about things that you know quite well, things that you have expertise in. Whilst you are writing, give as much detailed information as you can to your reader so that they will learn something from reading your article. And whilst you are writing, do not jump around from one topic to another. Just stick to one particular topic.

Other things that you should try to remember are to only use titles over the Internet that have not been previously used. That way, you could monitor your particular articles on a regular basis to find out how popular they have become and how many websites have downloaded them. Don’t try to signify your expertise by using large words. Just use plain and simple English so that everyone will be able to understand the message you are trying to convey.

Ensure that your article has a minimum word count of 400 words. That is a number that most article directories prefer. And one of the most important things about your article is to ensure that you have a link that takes your reader to your website. After all, you want your reader to visit your website to find out what other services you have available.

Although I have used other methods of marketing over the Internet, article marketing is the preferred method for me. I know that when readers read my articles, by the time they get to the end of the article and click the link, they either like what I have to say or they don’t like what I have to say. And if they click on to my website and register their name on my squeeze page, then I have the opportunity of developing a long term relationship with them.

Ensure your articles are of good-quality content and ensure that every article you write is teaching your reader one small aspect of your niche. If you haven’t used article marketing before, try it for at least one month and monitor the amount of new traffic that it develops. I am sure that like me, you will find that article marketing is the best way forward.

To download my new free ebook click here: Up & Running In 14 Days

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janet_Simpson
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