Friday, April 20, 2007

The Ultimate Article Marketing Cheat Sheet


Article Marketing Glossary of Terms

Even my most seasoned article marketing clients have a few terms and phrases about the industry fly over their heads every now and then. So I've created a cheat sheet, so-to-speak, or a glossary of terms.

Article (Ezine, Content-Rich or Quality) ar ti cle [ahr – ti – kuhl] - noun:


a written composition in prose – usually nonfiction,


500 to 700 words (optimal length) filled with easy-to-read advice,


its purpose is to draw targeted sales leads into businesses, to be distributed throughout the Internet in article directories (see definition below), Web sites, blogs and ezines (e-mail newsletters).


Powerful tool that continually brings targeted, consistent traffic to Web sites.



Article Directory: ar ti cle di rec tor y [ahr – ti – kuhl] [di-rek-tuh-ree] – noun


Web site containing an index of content rich/quality articles.


Usually articles are listed by category


some are free, others aren't


see www.EzineArticles.com and www.IdeaMarketers.com for examples



Article Marketing: mar ket ing [mahr-ki-ting] - noun


the process of writing, distributing and profiting from content rich articles


popular way of getting free traffic to a Web site and to generate targeted sales leads at a fraction of the cost of direct mail



Article Creation: cre a tion [kree-ey-shuh n] – noun


the act of writing and formatting content-rich articles


skill that can be developed quickly with the proper guidance/instruction



Bulleted List: bul let ed [boo l-it] [list] – noun

Associated phrase: numbered list


a series of key pieces of information in a content-rich ezine article


usually this information helps the reader solve a key problem


an important part of any quality ezine article because it creates credibility for the author



Hed or Headline: head line [hed-lahyn] - noun


title placed at the top of any article to draw the interest of readers


most important part of any content rich ezine article


sometimes challenging to write but the payoffs are huge, huge, huge



Keyword: key word [kee-wurd] – noun


a word or group of words placed in an article to draw traffic from article directories and search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN


very important not to overuse these terms in an article just to get traffic – the quality of the article is much more important



Numbered List (see bulleted list)

Resource Box: re source [ree-sawrs, ri-sawrs] [boks] – noun


second most important part of an ezine article.


the final section of the content-rich article


tells the reader about the author


usually includes a link back to the author's Web site


offers a gift or incentive to visit the author's site



Subhed or sub-headline: sub head line [sub hed-lahyn] - noun


used in long articles to break up the content so that the article is easier to read


usually tells a story and leads the reader through the article


very useful if an article is more than 500 words



Boost traffic, get more leads and increase sales by learning the secrets to writing well and writing fast. Get Lisa Sparks' no-cost special report on the secrets to making article marketing work for you by visiting: http://www.ArticleSecretsRevealed.com


Thursday, April 12, 2007

Article Marketing - What's The Best Formula For Massive Traffic?


There are many schools of thoughts as far as article marketing (generating traffic through the distribution of articles) is concerned. Some say it is better to post 200 articles on one directory while others say it is better to post one article in 200 article directories. This should help you decide which is best for you...

If you write very easily, it will be a wise idea to keep writing and submitting to just one very good article directory. You'll get a lot of benefits from your core skill -- writing.

However, if you can afford it or have someone who can help you out, you can submit to a few more select directories. If you have enough resources, you can push the envelope and post to as many as make sense.

But bear in mind the fact that if you choose to post in so many article directories, you may end up being your own worst enemy. Webmasters will not like to pick an article that is already on 200 other pages. I guess that's common sense.

So here's what will make it work for you: Do unique rewrites of each of those articles. By unique rewrites we are just talking about making them search engine unique.

All you have to do is alter up to three words or phrase per sentence. The key is to make sure that you don't have continuous strings of 8-10 words. Copyscape will easily pick those as duplicate content. But if you break the sequence with new synonyms and phrases, you'll do just fine.

That's more work I guess. But then you choose what's best for you. Posting on just one or on so many. And did I mention that there are tools and strategies that will help you do more of this with less effort?