Sunday, November 30th, 2008
The Internet is full of advertising opportunities and what is great about many of these advertising opportunities is that they are free. That’s right. You don’t have to pay anything. You do, however, have to put in some effort to ensure that it is done. You can’t exactly market your business without doing anything unless you hire someone else to do it for you. Nevertheless, it is sometimes easier to pay with your time than your money. Then again, you may choose to pay with your money instead of your time in order to get a job done right.
Whichever way you choose to do it, article submission directories are a great way to market your business. The correct name for this is “article marketing.” It is something that has picked up at phenomenal speed in recent years because people want to know things. People seek out articles for information and, when they find it, they will click on the website link at the bottom of that article to learn even more. This means that the article has to be interesting enough or contain enough valuable information to make them want to click the link at the bottom.
Making the article interesting
Speaking of making the article interesting, how is it you do that? How does a person make an informational article interesting? You may think it is a bit difficult, but, really, what you need to do is throw in enough information that says, “Hey, this is the article to read. If you don’t read me, then you”re not going to learn the ropes of this stuff.” You want your article to be “the one” to read for information.
So first, start out with an idea. Come up with an angle that excites you. If the angle doesn’t excite you, then you’re not going to be able to convey any type of excitement through your writing. You’re going to find an end product that is monotone and bland. Monotone and bland will literally make you think “yuck, what was I thinking?” Well, probably not much.
As you write the article, you can throw in bullet points and subtitles to make it easier to read. People love subtitles and bullet points because ideas are divided up in an easy-to-understand way. You don’t want someone to be reading and then keep losing their place in the article because they don’t have a point of reference. At the same time, be interesting. Think about what you would like to read. If you won’t read it, they won’t read it.
Writing the article yourself vs. someone else doing it
Here is a good question that businesses ask themselves when looking to embark on article marketing: “Do I write the articles myself or do I have someone else do it?” This is a good question because not everyone has a propensity for writing or they may not have the time. It is usually a time issue, so they may hire someone to write the articles for them. Hiring a writer to take care of it can be cost-effective because it is the difference between having the article written for submission and not having it written for submission. Obviously, it is better to have the article written and submitted.
As for other options, you can choose to have it written for you and just submit it yourself or you can choose to have the writer submit it for you too. It is up to you, but it is important to do what you can to get the job done when marketing through an article submission directory.
Is this type of marketing necessary?
Really, in a world in which the Internet is the way in which business is done, it is important to take advantage of all marketing methods that have been made available to you. Article marketing is huge and this is because it is successful.
One reason why article marketing is so effective is because people need information. When they search for something through search engines such as Google, these articles are peppered throughout the results. When someone finds your article, they will click on it for the information that they need and they will most likely read it in its entirety. When they reach the bottom, they will find your link for them to click on.
How the process works
When you have a written article that you want to submit, you have to make sure the article is within the guidelines of the article submission directory. If the article is outside of the guidelines, it won’t be posted.
Really, all you need to do is simply figure out which category your article fits in and make sure that particular article submission directory accepts articles for that category. If you haven’t already registered for an account, go ahead and do so. After that, go to the button that allows you to post an article. Make sure you fill in all of the fields and choose the correct category. Once you have done that, you can paste the article and the title into the provided box.
Now one of the most important parts of the article submission is the resource box. Most article submission directories will not allow any direct promotion within the article, but they will allow you to post a short bio and a link at the bottom in the resource box. This is where your reader is going to be linked to your website. This is why you need to make the article interesting or your reader is going to leave halfway through your article. They will never make it to the end, which means your time and/or money was wasted and their time was wasted. You definitely don’t want to waste their time or they will never follow a pathway to your website. However, many will and this is why you want to use this type of marketing. These people will follow your site and they will suddenly become customers, which mean even more success for you.
ArticleLeeg is an article submission directory in which you can submit your articles throughout a number of categories. Use your articles to market your business or to inform the world.
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Tags: Advertising, advertising opportunities, article marketing, article submission, Business, Directories, google, informational article, job, link, money, search, search engine, search engines, website
Posted in Advertising, Articles, Directories, Internet, SEO | No Comments »
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Jay Gaulard writes for a wide selection of websites on various topics. He is a veteran of the internet and has come to be respected in his many areas of expertise. This article was written on behalf of Experato, a popular website directory.
Build a Name for Your Website with a Website Directory
You’ve built a brand new website for your business and you’re really excited. However, you have to do something to get the word out and you’re not sure what to do. You know that you can post flyers all over your town or simply tell your friends, but that’s not going to do much for you. So what are you going to do?
Well, you’re going to start with a website directory. The website directory is an effective way to combat the always changing algorithms of search engines and to really get an edge on the competition. Basically, you need to do all that you can to ensure that you are marketing your site correctly and a website directory is going to help you do that. You’re going to be able to battle some of the hardships of Internet marketing is you use a directory to get the word out.
Using the directory
Another thing that is special about submitting your website to a website directory is that you get a free back link to your website. The back link is very important because the more links you have on the web, the better off your site is. This means it is going to be indexed by search engine spiders.
You see, search engine spiders follow these links to your site and then they index your site. The more links you have out there, the more your site is going to be indexed. This means that you’ll show up higher in the search engine results when someone searches for what it is you are offering your customers and potential customers.
As for how the directory works, it is a place in which the websites are compiled into categories. They are also divided up into subcategories to make searching easier. Because these categories are divided up into subcategories, the search engine spiders recognize them. Needless to say, these directories are visited by search engine spiders more than many other sites. This is because of the quality of the back links. The back links are of a high quality at these sites, which is why you need to utilize a website directory.
Choosing the right website directory
Choosing the right website directory doesn’t have to be difficult. There are some things that you have to look for in order to make that determination. Those things are:
To pay or not to pay - There are pay directories and there are free directories. Determine which is best for you. Free directories still provide you with that back link. It is true there will be a lot more sites posted there, but they are effective.
Check the page rank - Check the page rank of the website directory. That way, you know that it is a popular site. You can also check into sites to see how they are growing. If a site is growing, then that is a sign that it is a popular directory that is emerging. You definitely want to get in on that.
Look at both general and specific directories - You want to do this because both can be effective. You can post on a specific directory and post on a general directory. This will broaden the exposure that your site gets.
You don’t have to be restricted to just one website directory. You can use all sorts of website directories. This is important in getting those high quality back links that will make your site successful. There is not a rule anywhere that says you’re only allowed to post your website to a single website directory. If there were, then it would be impossible for a lot of sites to be successful on the Internet.
Submission options
You also have submission options. These options are manual, using submission software, and using a directory submission service. The directory submission service may use software or do it manually. However, there are article directories out there that will not accept submissions from software. They want to ensure that real people are doing the posting. Many of these directories have real people approving the submissions, so it is hard if they have to approve thousands of submissions submitted by these software programs. It happens, but it is a good idea to do it manually. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, look into the directory submission service.
How to maximize the benefits
It isn’t enough to simply post your website link up on a website directory. There are ways in which you can maximize the benefits. It will be worth your while to follow these tips so that you can make sure that you profit from your efforts:
If you’re submitting to more than one website directory, you need to vary your description. Don’t use the same description for every directory.
Make sure the text that accompanies your website link is really good stuff. That means you want it to draw people in. You want them to click on your link. Believe it or not, people browse website directories, especially if they’re looking for a website that focuses on certain material.
Make as many submissions as possible to website directories. Make sure they are directories that you can track back easily. Make sure they are easy to manage as well. You don’t want to go for directories that are hard to follow.
Make sure that you choose directories that will also allow you to submit the links to your inner pages. This allows for better indexing and will also allow more people to find you.
After this, you might as well give your website a pair of running shoes. This is because it is going to take off like wildfire. It is going to run like the wind. It is important that you be prepared, because the moment you start submitting your site is the moment that it enters the race of website popularity.
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Tags: algorithms, Business, custom, Directories, experato, free website, link, new business, search, search engine, search engine results, search engine spiders, search engines, subcategories, submissions, website, website directories, website directory, Websites
Posted in Directories | 3 Comments »
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
Jay Gaulard writes for a wide selection of websites on various topics. He is a veteran of the internet and has come to be respected in his many areas of expertise. This article was written on behalf of BizLeeg, a popular business directory website.
Almost Free Ways to Market Your Business Online
If you have a website, chances are pretty high that you spend a lot of time looking for ways to market your business online. Paying for advertisements can be quite expensive, and today’s Internet user is so desensitized to online banner ads that advertising in this manner can be highly ineffective. However, there are many ways that you can advertise your business online without paying much or without paying anything at all! You just need to know where to look.
Develop an Online Newsletter
Do you have an online mailing that you send to your customers? If not, you need to develop one. When your customers make a purchase online, have them sign up to receive “future offers” or an informative newsletter. You can also leave a form on your website for them to sign up to receive your newsletter. You may want to offer something free for this, such as a discount code, free tip, or a free gift.
Once you have your customer’s email address, put it to good use. Make your newsletter as good as it can possibly be. If you already have an online mailing in place, make it better. No one likes spam, so make the newsletter informative, helpful, and interesting. Throw in a coupon or two from time to time to keep the customer interested in reading the newsletter. Avoid using too many graphics, as this can keep some users from receiving the letter depending on their spam folder settings.
Become an Expert in Your Industry
Chances are you already are an expert in your industry. Use this to your advantage as you market online. Join forums that relate to your industry. Then, post useful comments. Do this often. Soon you will have a small online “following” that comes to you for advice. You can then point them towards your website for more information.
As you post in forums, make sure you follow the posting guidelines. Some forums will allow you to link to your website in your signature line. Others will allow you to link in actual discussions. Others do not allow any links at all, but may allow you to put a link in your profile. Since your time is valuable, choose forums that allow links, at least in your signature.
No matter what the forum rules may be, make sure that your posts do not sound like an ad. Give genuine, helpful advice to the people on the forum. Become a part of the community. You will be surprised at how much your bottom line increases with this strategy.
You can use this same rule to market using blogs. Comment on blog discussions relating to your industry whenever you can, and make the link take the reader back to your site. You can insert a link in your name field, but do not say, “you can find out more at my site.” That will be a turn off to most readers, but if they like what you have to say they will be willing to click on your name and visit your link.
Create Your Own Blog
As you are working towards making yourself an expert in the field, you might want to set up your own blog. You can discuss newsworthy items that relate to your industry, and you can include a link on the toolbar to your ecommerce site. You can link to your blog in your forum posts and blog comments as well. If you do not have time to write blog posts on a regular basis, you can hire someone else to do it for you.
As you work to create your blog, make sure it is interesting. People who read blogs are looking for entertainment as much as they are looking for information. Do not be afraid to discuss something a little controversial. The more people that link to your blog from theirs, even if they are saying how crazy your idea is, the more traffic you will eventually generate for your ecommerce or business site.
Use YouTube
Believe it or not, the popular video site YouTube is a great way to market a business, and posting a video is completely free. Now, like your forum and blog posts, you do not want to post a blatant advertisement on YouTube. However, you can create an informative “how to” that relates to your industry, and then link to your website at the end of the video.
The key to successful marketing with YouTube is not creating a fancy video full of special effects. It is making a video that is appealing to people. You want people to want to watch your video, email it to their friends, and post it on their blogs. Do not be afraid to do something a little crazy and fun, but make sure that it does not detract from your business.
Use Online Business Directories
Online business directories are another way to market your business online. Keep in mind that there is a wide range of prices for these directories. Some charge high fees for listings, while others have free or low-cost listings available. Choose a directory that gets plenty of traffic but does not charge too much for your link. Make sure you can have some control over what is said in your listing. Also, make sure the directory is well laid out with an easy to understand organizational structure. Remember, your potential customers are not going to stay on a business directory site that is confusing or difficult to navigate.
That being said, list your business in as many free business directories as possible. After all, if the listing is free, it cannot hurt your business, and it will probably draw some traffic to your site. Some of these directories make money off of other types of ads, such as pay per click ads, so they allow businesses to create listings for free.
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Posted in Advertising, Business, Directories, Internet, Websites | No Comments »
Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Jay Gaulard writes for a wide selection of websites on various topics. He is a veteran of the internet and has come to be respected in his many areas of expertise. This article was written on behalf of ArticleHub.US, a popular article directory website.
Why You Should Use Article Directories to Promote Your Website
If you are online and are not already using article directories to promote your website, you are missing out on a free and highly effective marketing option. Article directories are great ways to draw traffic to your site without paying for advertising. However, to get real traffic to your site using an article directory, you must know how to use them correctly.
What Article Directories Are
Before you can use an article directory, you have to know what one is. Article directories are websites where thousands upon thousands of articles on just about any subject are posted. They are generally categorized to make it easier for readers to find information they want. They are also linked together, so a reader reading about “Hawaii travel” will naturally go from article to article on that topic. People can use the articles they find in the directories on their own websites, either for free or for a small fee. Authors pay nothing to submit to article directories.
How Article Directories Benefit Online Businesses
You are probably thinking, “Sure, that’s great. But how does an article directory help me promote my business? Doesn’t giving away free content defeat my purpose as an online business?”
These are great questions. When you submit an article to an article directory, it will contain a bio with a link to your website. Since you are the author of the article, you are allowed to include this information.
This means that anyone who is searching online and comes across the article directory will see a link to your site. Not only that, but the people who use the content on their own websites are required to keep it exactly as it appears in the directory. This means that your link could show up on hundreds of websites.
Article directories are generally large websites. This means that the web spiders are attracted to them. Having your link on these articles is a crucial part of an online linking campaign.
How to Make Your Submissions Effective
If you are going to submit to article directories, you need to do two things. First, you need to learn about proper keyword usage. You need the right percentage of keywords in your article, and they need to appear naturally within the content. This will draw the search engine spiders to the article, thus exposing people to your link at the bottom.
You also need to make your content unique and helpful. If your article is the same as thousands that are already online, other website owners will not want to use it. Also, if the information is not helpful, people will not read the entire article. Your goal is to have them read the entire article so that they will click at the link on the bottom.
Having helpful information in the article also helps the reader view you as an “expert” in the field. This is important, because you want them to have a reason to click on the link. If they are reading useless information, they will have no desire to visit your site. Also, proving that you are knowledgeable about a particular topic will show that whatever product or service you are marketing is worth buying.
What to Do if You Can’t Write
At this point you are probably wondering what you can do because you can’t write. You are an entrepreneur and business owner, not a writer. The good news is that you have options.
You can hire a freelance writer to “ghostwrite” the article for you. Ghostwriting means writing the article in your name. Instead of placing his or her name on the article, the freelancer uses your name and your business link. You will need to pay for this service, but the amount you will pay for a quality article is far less than the amount you would pay for an advertising campaign, and a well-written article placed in the right article directories will draw more traffic to your site than just about any other form of advertising.
Where can you find ghostwriters? There are a variety of online classifieds where you can post your job requirements or search for available writers. You can ask for quotes to help you learn what the going rate for a writer is. Keep in mind that you will pay more if you have detailed information that needs to be researched or if you are working on a tight deadline. You can also hire a content creation company to help you if you require numerous articles that would be too much for one individual writer.
If you do use a ghostwriter, be sure that you proofread the article before submitting it. You may find that the writer did not approach a particular topic as you would have wanted. You can ask the writer to rewrite the material, but posting something that is inaccurate or does not sound well written will detract from your goal of drawing traffic to your site.
Risks of Using an Article Directory
There is only one main risk to using an article directory, and that is that someone will download your content and use it on their site without including the link. You can do some work on your own to check for this, but it is hard to police. However, the occasional unscrupulous website owner who uses your content incorrectly is a risk worth taking for the many users who will give you a link on their site.
Post Much and Often
Once you get the hang of using an article directory, post many articles, and post them often. The more fresh, relevant content that links to your page, the more traffic you will receive. Be sure to continually research your keywords, because the keywords that people search for constantly change.
Also, submit your articles to a variety of sites. The most popular article directories may not draw certain demographic of people. The more places that have your article and your link, the better your traffic results will be. Since these sites are free to use, you might as well submit to as many as you can.
One such article directory is ArticleHub.US. On this site anyone can submit content and links. Be sure to check out their current articles and learn more about how to submit your content to their site. It’s free and easy and will draw the traffic you need to your main site.
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Tags: article directory, Business, Directories, effective marketing, keywords, online business, online businesses, promote website, promote your website, search engine, submissions, web spiders, website, Websites
Posted in Articles, SEO | 1 Comment »