More on Article Submission

Posted on 14. Aug, 2007 by Nate Moller in Article Writing

I had a client today ask me for more information about article writing so I decided to do more research on the subject. As many of you that I work with know, article writing can really help us get targeted traffic to our websites and build link value on other sites. Questions many clients ask:

What am I supposed to write about?

If you are a client I’m working with, you’ve heard me say it a thousand times – keyword research is so important, not only for helping us narrow down the niche, but also for marketing later on. Our articles need to be specifically about keywords we want to be found for on search engines.

How long does my article need to be?

250-500 words is fine for an eCommerce Blog.

What if I don’t like writing?

Start to, you’re building your own business and writing is part of it. If you don’t like to write, there are options like www.elance.com and www.getafreelancer.com.

How will I know if my articles are being seen and working?

Track your stats. I use two tracking devices: www.statcounter.com and Google Analytics. Both will tell me important information: where my visitors are coming from, how they found me, and what they do when they get to my site. If you are submitting articles to a variety of sources and not getting any traffic from them, maybe it’s not the best use of your time.

Where else can I post my articles?

This article about eCommerce Blogging may help. I also like to look for forums related to my industry and blogs that relate to what I’m writing about. Use portions of articles you’ve already written as comments or threads on these sites. As people like what they’re reading, they’ll tend to go to your site.

What makes a good article?

Proper usage of keyword phrases that you want to be found for. Example: I have a client that is trying to move up the charts for a specific keyword phrase. He wrote an article and published it at ezinearticles.com. After a few days, his article was published. The interesting thing was that the article had the specific keyword phrase in the title. The very next day, when typing in that keyword phrase in Google, his article (not his site) showed up #4 out of over 900,000 websites. This means that he was 1 click away from being found for his brand new website by his target audience.

My top 6 quick tips to help you write compelling article content:

  1. Get to the point, be brief and be unique. Leave all sales & marketing hype language out of your articles.
  2. Be interesting, don’t ramble. Ask questions, provoke thought or insight backed with reasons why your ideas work.
  3. Write your article to be visually appealing for easy eye text scanning. This includes bullets, lists, bold text, etc. (see next point)
  4. Include generous use of sub-titles/sub-heads, bullets, numbered lists, and an occasional block quote.
  5. Create an easy to understand article title so that your reader knows upfront what your benefit promise is – then be sure to deliver in the article body the answer to the promise you just made.
  6. Know your audience. Write about things you feel need to be discussed by your potential buyers. Answer questions they may have that can back up their buying decisions.

If you’d like more information, email me at info at mollermarketing dot com.

21 Responses to “More on Article Submission”

  1. Patsy

    14. Aug, 2007

    Well said, Nate! Especially your six points about writing good article content–I read articles sometimes that don’t live up to the promised info in the title or subtitle and it’s always rather irritating. I usually don’t take the writer very seriously when that happens. People need to realize that these things ARE read, and not just a way to get your link out there–and if you don’t sound credible or offer some new insights, you may be doing more harm than good.

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  2. Newspapergrl | Internet Marketing | Affiliate Marketing | Business Blogging

    17. Aug, 2007

    [...] Top 6 quick tips to help you write compelling article content – from Moller Marketing [...]

    Reply to this comment

  3. fatma

    20. Aug, 2007

    Thank you Nate for the tips. Another one I am printing out and adding to my to do folder especially the 6 tips. I love writing for my blog and I am sure this tips will come in handy. http://www.loverawfood.wordpress.com

    Reply to this comment

  4. Holly Casabar

    20. Aug, 2007

    I’m not a writer, but am so excited about reaching my target audience…I may turn into one! It’s great to hear of the sucess of your client, Nate! What a great tool to market and get your site out there! What an exciting journey! Hopefully I will get http://www.babyshowercreators.com to the top soon!!! Thanks again Nate!

    Reply to this comment

  5. Gina Balducci

    21. Aug, 2007

    I printed out the 6 quick tips and posted them on my wall of success behind my monitor. Thanks for the great info.

    Reply to this comment

  6. Janie Baer

    24. Aug, 2007

    Thanks for all the good information about writing articles. I know you have encouraged me to write articles and I can see good results from my articles. Some results of my articles were I found all the articles I have written posted on someones site alone giving me credit and also have found them on other sites bringing more traffic to my site http://www.godswordalive.com. My articles alone have brought many hits to my site.

    Talking about keywords, I have found the statcounter.com to be very benefical for finding more keywords to bring people to my site. I have gotten many keywords lately from the statcounter and am in the process of writing new blogs for my blog and also writing new articles to submit to article directories. With your information about Google Analytics, I will now use this as well. Your information is truly important for our successful websites.

    Reply to this comment

  7. Kevin O'Donnell

    30. Aug, 2007

    Great info Nate. The six tips really help in writing a good article. I will print them out and refer to them often.

    Reply to this comment

  8. Dwaine

    31. Aug, 2007

    As I am not a writer your six tips give me some guidance to become one. I see the importance of writing articles for my website so with a little practice and some good ideas, I will become one. Thanks for all your guidance Nate!

    Reply to this comment

  9. Lisa Herbik

    26. Sep, 2007

    This article is good. I need to look at my analytics more. Writing articles comes easy for me, but keeping your tips in mind will make them do more of what they are intended for– drive traffic to my site for sales! Thanks, Nate!

    Reply to this comment

  10. Kath

    08. Oct, 2007

    I TOO DECIDED TO PRINT THIS OUT INSTANTLY as I can use it to review my articles when I’ve put them together. Once again Nate hits the mark.

    Reply to this comment

  11. Justin & Cynthia Fitzpatrick

    09. Oct, 2007

    Thanks for the great information again Nate.The 6 tips are an excellent guideline to keep non writers like us on track and help us write blogs and articles that are relevant and interesting.We also will print this this out and add it to our growing collection of Nate’s work.

    Reply to this comment

  12. stephanie bollinger

    14. Oct, 2007

    great info nate, thanks. I actually feel confident that our article will rock!

    Reply to this comment

  13. Liza Lowe

    18. Oct, 2007

    These pointers are great for writing articles, just a few tricks that really make a difference.

    Reply to this comment

  14. Oleta Young

    23. Oct, 2007

    This is helpful–especially the six quick tips. It shows what you mean by lists, and subheadings in the form of questions. This makes it easier to read, and gives me a pattern to go by when I start writing. I printed them for future reference.

    Thanks for ALL of the help!

    Reply to this comment

  15. louie z

    30. Oct, 2007

    I will definately use your tips and info. to help me write a article. I am not that great of a writer so all the info. will help me help a great deal. Thanks again Nate.

    Reply to this comment

  16. Jerry Stout

    02. Nov, 2007

    Article writing is like everything else you need to do is “just do it”. Once you get over the inital hurdles, it will get easier. Also content is the key.

    Reply to this comment

  17. laverne

    03. Nov, 2007

    Hi Nate, Thanks for this info and especially the 6 points to good article
    writing. This will help me get started on writing articles and blogs,
    that are interesting and helpful to others. Thanks again Nate

    Reply to this comment

  18. Andy

    11. Dec, 2007

    Thanks Nate!,
    I definitly agree with you, i thinks that one thing thats going to help me the most is your 6 point to a good article writhing. Once i start wrighting my article i keep looking back to this site for these helpful tip Thaks.

    Reply to this comment

  19. Karyn Maxwell

    13. Dec, 2007

    Hi Nate

    Another great article with 6 useful points, I’ll also be printing it out.

    Reply to this comment

  20. Gary Skrobot

    18. Dec, 2007

    Good, practical advice. No job is as easy as we would hope. I can see that writing articles is an important discipline to drive traffic to your business.

    Reply to this comment

  21. Don Holt

    22. Dec, 2007

    This article answers a lot of questions I had about this important aspect of ecommerce. Thanks!

    Reply to this comment

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