Why Article Marketing Just Won’t Go Away

How you can benefit from this established marketing practice.

Article marketing isn’t about to go away. You probably knew that, but what you might not know is why this form of “getting the word out” still works.

Marketing Expertise

I consider myself an expert of sorts in article marketing. Beginning in 2005, I was hired by a client to write articles for his business and post those articles to various marketing directories, but especially to EzineArticles. “Ezine” is owned by Christopher Knight and if there is any one person who knows article marketing better than Knight, then I haven’t met him. Come to think of it I haven’t met Knight either. Moving on….

Seven years later, I have scads of articles posted to directories. At one point I was No. 10 on EzineArticles’ list, but eventually I shifted my sites to magazines, blogs and websites. Yes, I was paid to write for the directories and to post those articles. Maybe I should change my tense here because I still market articles on a regular basis. These days I write about a dozen articles each month for EzineArticles and other sites for my clients.

I thought article marketing would eventually fade away, but at this point in the game, I still see benefit from having original and interesting articles posted to other sites and picked up, with backlinks intact and posted elsewhere.

Article Marketing

Here is why article marketing will continue to thrive over the next few years:

1. It is free content — Even if an article is eventually posted to multiple sites, the people who are doing the posting are getting free content. Sure, you NEVER want to rely exclusively on content used available for use elsewhere, but with article directories you can find some good reads to include on your site. In exchange, you’re expected to keep the links in the “author’s resource” section in place.

2. Authors can build a name for themselves — If everyone knows who you are, then article marketing won’t matter to you. For people who want to make a name for themselves or desire to expand their base, then writing several quality articles and offering these to the directories makes sense. The alternative is to find a website to host these articles, but that doesn’t always work out. Besides, if you want multiple backlinks, then article marketing is the fastest way to gain these.

3. You don’t have to be a writer — Writing for the article directories is one way people who aren’t especially good at writing can hone their skills. Of course, that means some of the articles submitted to and accepted by the directories aren’t first-rate. Still, if you are looking for an audience and can’t afford the services of a copywriter, then the article submission route is a very good way to go.

4. Your article stays in place always — This is where you need to be careful about submitting your articles. Use a directory that isn’t proven or regularly updated and you’ll risk that your article will someday disappear. Personally, I don’t count who picks up my articles and where they get republished — I’m satisfied that the article directory has a copy and that copy will continue to send links back to my sites or my customers’ sites for years to come. Choose only an established directory and avoid those with little to no standards.

5. You’ll get new business — As a writer, I know my articles have brought in new business for me. As for my clients, they’re satisfied on two fronts: 1) backlinks are gradually built up and, 2) more customers find their websites. What they pay for my services is a cost they’ll need to recoup. I’m confident that my services are a moneymaker for them, otherwise why am I still doing article marketing?

Final Thoughts

One bit of advice that should be used is this: when you market your articles, submit what you write to just one directory. Multiple submits are a waste of time — find a directory or two or three that you like and send your articles there. Keep track of your articles including how many times each article is picked up and redistributed. Work on writing catchy titles, use your keywords wisely and put in place your sub-heads too.

Revisiting Article Directories & Their Usefulness Today

I recently started to go through some of the articles that I have posted to the article directories over the past three years by updating some, deleting a few, while deciding that I would renew my effort to post to directories again.

Unlike in times past when I would post one article to as many as 20 directories, I’ve decided to change my tactic and limit my distribution to just two directories: Ezine Articles and Article Sphere. I know both both owners, Christopher Knight and Larry Lim, respectively, and know that they provide a consistent and reliable service. I wish I could say that about most of the other directories, but I cannot.

With my current initiative each directory will start receiving fresh articles beginning in May, articles which will not appear on the other directory nor will they have been published elsewhere. I plan on testing the effectiveness of this approach, but I suspect that it will work: quite a few of my articles on Knight’s site have received PageRank, offering excellent link juice for me.

Speaking of link juice, this is the primary reason why I have decided to revisit the issue. I have built or am in the process of building or overhauling several sites and they could use some back links. Submitting articles to article directories allows me to place as many as three back links to three different URLs, a great way to empower any site.

I realize a number of articles will be picked up and posted elsewhere, therefore if the publishers keep my back links in place I’ll get additional link juice. If not, I’ll be content to gain the links from Article Sphere and Ezine Articles as they are both solid sources for this type of marketing.

BTW, both directories are featured on my side bar — the only two.