Why Articles Are So Effective?
The truth is that articles not only work, but it would be difficult to get another online marketing tool that is as powerful.

When you think about it, most people come online to get information (and not to be advertised to). So if you can supply the kind of information that they are looking for, then you have their full attention. We cannot quite say this for any other form of online marketing. The closest form of online marketing that comes close are search engine PPC (pay-per-click ads) text ads which have mainly thrived because of the clever idea of emphasizing on relevance. Is it any wonder that PPC services like Google's Adsense are so successful?

Those who read your article online will contact you through the information you make available in your resource box at the end of the article. Things start to really get interesting when other websites pick up your informative article and decide to use it at their websites or ezines. The rules are that they have to keep your resource box intact. So it is not uncommon to start off with an article posted in a handful of sites which within a short time virally finds its way to hundreds and even thousands of other sites. This viral effect continues almost forever.

In other words, a single article can bring traffic to your web site for years to come. An article that cost you virtually nothing but your time to post at a few high traffic sites and article directories. That is if you wrote the article yourself. But even if you did not the small price you aid to get it written is an investment that will continue to pay for you for years to come.

Now just try and imagine a situation where instead of posting just a single article, an online entrepreneur decides to embark on a program where they write and post a set number of articles every week. It is possible to build up traffic tremendously over a short period of time using this free tool.

There other longer-term benefits your articles will have. For example the steady increase in links pointing to your site will improve your search engine ranking and coupled with a careful use of the right keywords, can lead to significant traffic from search engines.

Are You Getting All That You Can From Your Articles?
One of the reasons why some online marketers do not find articles effective enough is because they do not have a strategy to maximize on the traffic that their articles receive. Just like every webmaster is careful to ensure that they try their best to trap email addresses of those who visit their websites, in the same way you should ensure that you capture email addresses from those who read your articles, even if they do not end up visit your website.

How do you do this? It is simple really. Use your resource box to promote a free report or online course available via email. This will ensure that apart from directing traffic to your site, your articles will also be helping you build an opt-in email list, which you can use to promote your site further and also to sell your products and services directly to your target audience.

Your Article Has To Be Useful To Work
Remember that for your articles to be effective, they will need to be informative and as useful as possible. The more useful the article, the more effective it will be as a marketing tool for your business.

It is a good idea to track all your articles. You will quickly realize that some articles pull in more traffic than others. Sometimes certain subject automatically tend to attract a much higher readership than others. Tracking your articles will give you this useful information that you can use to improve on your strategy and articles.

Remember that whatever subject you cover should be reflected in the headline. Make your headline as attractive as possible. This will ensure that you attract the right kind of readers whom you are looking for and are actually your target market for your site.

In Conclusion
Well-written, informative articles related to the subject area of your site, is the most effective marketing weapon any Webmaster can use. And what is more is that, if you can write your own articles, it is a form of marketing that is completely free. But for it to work for you, you will require a clear strategy designed to maximize on the huge audience good articles usually get online.


Article by David Callan. David is an Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation expert. He is also the webmaster of http://www.akamarketing.com. Visit his site for free articles, tutorials and advice on these topics.