Isn't Article Marketing Just one Giant Leak & Energy Suck???

[jcorkern]

The biggest advantage is links, and they are sweet, I have used them on hundreds of sites to get ten's of thousands of keywords.

And even with average articles, you can gain loads of traffic, take a look at the numbers here. http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...e-optimization-super-advantages-articles.html

 

[dangregory]

I agree with you Linda. Although it can be helpful getting some initial links from articles directories there are so many opportunities to lose visitors through the Adsense ads and other distractions that you also need to build content on your own sites where you have more control.

I do some article marketing but only as part of my overall backlinking strategy, not as a primary source of traffic. I always worry that ezinearticles and so forth will go down one day, and then what will people do? Or what if Google suddenly falls out of love with ezinearticles as they change their algorithm. Anyway, I hear you!

Dan

 

[oregongal]

Linda,

I have to say that the majority of my traffic to my sites has come from article marketing. And, yes, it is annoying that there are all those ads to compete with my articles. I have found an article directory that I now use that has no ads on the page. You can also add pictures or videos and your resource box shows up twice on the page!

I have started submitting to it just recently and am waiting to see what my click through rates are, but I think they will be better than at other article directories overall. I'm not sure if I can mention the name of the site, so I won't.

Great thought provoking thread tho,
Diane

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

While it's true article marketing can be time consuming the rewards far outweight the work. Yea there are some adds on there that you may have to compete with but if you are writing a good intriguing article and have a resource box that has a strong call to action you won't have to worry about those adds or the other 30 competeing articles at the bottom.

Here's just a few of the things you can do with one article to get traffic from it.

1. Write an article and submit it to ezine articles. Make sure you target your keywords and your resource box has a strong call to action. You get two links so make one your Keywords in "Anchor Text" and one that says Click Here or Find Out Now. Sometimes people will tell you to stay away from things like Click Here but I'm telling you it works! If your resource box is good you Will get clicks.

2. Take your author Rss feed and submit it to all the various Rss aggregators. Feedagg, Feedage and Golden feed are the ones that have given me the most results. No matter, the more you submit the more links you get.

3. Take that same article and rewrite it a little bit, now you have content for a blog post or a squidoo lense. Take the rss feed from the page you created and submit it to the Rss Aggregators. Remember to add your rss feed from your author account to that page as well. Now you have even more links and more traffic.

4. Take that article after it has been published at Ezine for a week and change the first paragraph and part of the last paragraph. Reword your resource box and then submit it to the top 10 other article directories. Go Articles, Amazines, Article Dashboard ect. Now you've got even more links

5. Take the origional article and create a one page blogger blog from it. Add your author Rss feed (only if you have more than just that one article puplished at ezine) and also the rss feed from your squidoo page or what ever other page you created with the rewritten version. Publish it and now submit the rss feed from that one page blogger blog you just made. On that one feed you now have feeds to everything!

6. Go to Dapper and create multiple rss feeds from the article as well as all the other pages you have created from it. Now you have more feeds to submit.

7. Go to Rss Mix and Feed Burner to create new feeds out of the feeds you already have by mixing them together. There are SO many things you can do.

8. Social bookmark everything you have done above at Social Marker.

9. Don't forget people will sometimes take your article and publish it on their page. So you can get traffic from it that way as well. Also your article is not going anywhere and you never know when someone is looking deep in the search engines and may happen to come across it.

10. With all the links you have out there for this article you have a good chance of getting it on that "list" that you are trying to avoid competing with. I can tell you that getting on that list is MONEY IN THE BANK!


With doing all this you can very easily have over 500 links floating around for just ONE article. If you have multiple articles pointing to your money site just think how much traffic you can get. Believe me it works and it works VERY well.

Now the good part. I know that sounds like a lot of work, and you may have to do it yourself a few times, but once you start to make a little bit of money in the niche you can OUTSOURCE ALL OF THIS!!

While you are paying a couple people to do all of this you start doing the same thing in another niche! Thats how you build up your business. So long story short....article marketing can make you A LOT of money.

If there is one thing I've learned about IM it's that it's not just going to happen. You have to put in the work just like any other job, but if you do and you treat it like a business and not a hobby, you will be rewarded for your efforts.

 

[r2steam]

Great point of views from everybody

As a newbie, one of the most talked about method is really on article marketing.

I tried to implement that method at the start, but sad to say it's really taking too much of my time contemplating on how to start and what to write, for I have never written articles before, or was never even fond of writing stuff to people for that matter.

And as what Linda was emphasizing, if ezine is more or less really benefiting from re-directing my traffic to other links then really the main benefit I'm getting for having that long and arduous effort in posting articles are just for backlinks.

If this is the case, then I think I am better off doing easy posts in forums and getting the job done doing increasing my backlinks in the process.

Then again, I am just a newbie.
Anyone please feel free to correct me If I am wrong.

 

[tltfaas]

Value of Article Marketing

I made most of my income from doing article submissions for clients but I do them differently than most services. I don't believe you should submit articles to dozens of directories anymore. It isn't worth it. I submit to ten directories with the highest page rank and then I submit the article to on topic sites, blogs and forums. For instance, an article about marketing to women can go on sites about women and sites about marketing. I do article marketing for myself this way and get most of my clients from my articles.

Great discussion, by the way!

Bonnie

 

[myfreeforum]

Look, you always have to pay for traffic in some way.

Is it better to spend a couple of dollars a click, which I have to do in my niche, or compete with google ads.

The thing is - I do get backlinks and steady traffic from article marketing.

Also, ezinearticles seems like it has the most ads, but also sends me targetted traffic for years after I post an article, AND seems to increase my own page's rankings.

There is always a price to be paid for traffic, if it is money for PPC, time spent on optimizing, or competing with other ads.

So, the article site has to make a profit too - and if in return, they are helping me promote - then that price may have to be paid.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

So, the article site has to make a profit too - and if in return, they are helping me promote - then that price may have to be paid.

Good point. Another point is if you write an article that captures the readers mind and gives the reader just enough information to really get their curiosity up, then they WILL click on your link in the resource box. If you can accomplish that then they really do not pay any attention to the adwords adds that surround the page itself.

 

[myfreeforum]

Good point. Another point is if you write an article that captures the readers mind and gives the reader just enough information to really get their curiosity up, then they WILL click on your link in the resource box. If you can accomplish that then they really do not pay any attention to the adwords adds that surround the page itself.

I agree with you. I think that people who are frustrated with article marketing have:

a>Not Done Enough (this is work)

b>Not studied copywriting. There are many good and free resources online, and they could even study other popular articles (not copy, but learn from). When I look at some of my older articles, I think they are terrible. I think I have improved through the years.

Copywriting for the internet means writing attention getting headlines, interesting copy with lots of breaks and subheadings, AND it also means writing for SEO.

OR

c> Just may be working a very tough niche. Maybe they should consider looking for a niche with, either less competition, or more traffic.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

a>Not Done Enough (this is work)

Well said! And that line right there just about sums it up. A big reason people get upset with IM in general is that they don't realize there is a fair amount of work involved. You hear all the stories of guys like Frank Kern and John Reese and how they make money hand over fist. What you don't hear is about how they struggled at first while they were learning how and what to do.

Just like anything else you attempt to do that is new, there is a learning curve to it. If you have never cooked before in a resturant, there is at least a months worth of training before you are able to adapt to how the system works, the frustration that comes along with ticket times and everything else that comes along with it. And thats working it 8 hours a day. How many people really spend 8 hours WORKING on IM. That doen't include reading in forums. The only difference is you get paid while you are training so you don't feel as bad.

With IM you don't get paid UNTIL you learn the "system" of what works, what doesn't and what is going to get you paid. The return on it is, once you DO get it and are able to stick it out long enough to see the return, your work week will no longer require 8 hours a day. It's more like 2.

 

[myfreeforum]

Well, I don't know about that 2 hour a day thing. It seems like the more I do, the more I want to do. Maybe that's just crazy and obsessive me though.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Well, I don't know about that 2 hour a day thing. It seems like the more I do, the more I want to do. Maybe that's just crazy and obsessive me though.

LOL! I said work, if you obsess about it then is it really work? Or is it something you enjoy? As far as the 2 hours a day.....it's called outsourceing!

 

[dave1]

I think with article submission it's a numbers game - submitting hundreds of articles to hundreds of directories over time - will lead to a great backlink benefit and a few clicks to your site and maybe a few sales. I think the articles have to be in the hundreds to see a worthwhile benefit. Aiming for hundreds of articles to submit I would not recommend writing them yourself - much too time consuming and energy draining - I would recommend you get elance to do it as cheap as possible or you use free plr articles and spend 1 or 2 minutes (max) re-writing them - then use a good article submission program to automatically submit them to hundreds of directories for you.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

I think with article submission it's a numbers game - submitting hundreds of articles to hundreds of directories over time - will lead to a great backlink benefit and a few clicks to your site and maybe a few sales.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. Article marketing is about knowing what your doing not about how many articles you can get out there. You can write 1000 articles but if you don't :

target the proper keywords
optimize the article properly
write it in a way to give just enough info to make them want to click the link
write a resource box with a call to action

then your results will not be consistant and yea, maybe you'll get a few sales that won't be worth the time. But if you do all those things and you know how to get your articles up on the front page of google you can make a lot of money for a long time to come.

I have two different niches that I have less than 15 articles for and they both make me multiple sales every week. Best part is I don't have to do anything to them unless I want to go after another keyword. All I have to do then is build a few links until it reaches the top as well.

Here's an example of one article that I guarantee this guy cleans up with. This is NOT my article but is it a good example:How to Get Your Ex Back - The Simple Guide

this guy dominates almost every top spot for any keyword combination that has "get ex back" in it. It's only one article and he gets traffic to it everyday and a lot of it. If you look at his author page he only has four articles written total.

Thats not a lot of articles at all and it gets tons of traffic. So yes it is a numbers game until you can get one to stick a little. That shouldn't take you more than 10-15 articles if you are writing them correctly. After it sticks, even at page 5 for your keywords, it's time to get to work on moving it up with all the normal seo tactics.

 

[myfreeforum]

I also disagree that you need 100s on posts. When I see traffic sagging, I'll get up on Monday morning and churn through 5 articles with targetted links, and by Wed. (when they are approved), I always see an increase in traffic. Google will bounce you quickly, but I think the day you have new articles, your profile will also rotate to the front page.

You need to research your backlinks though. You can't expect to rank number 1 for "cars" with 5 articles, but you might rank well for something more specific (and useful) like "compare toyota sienna prices"....

Of course, over time, when you have 100s of posts, that is good too.

 

[jcorkern]

Bryan, you stated that you have 2 out of 15 making sales each week, so what if you wrote 10 articles a week? How many more sales would you have.

The internet is about playing numbers and you are happy with a canoe when you could have a cruise ship! makes no sense, right?

I play the numbers and then my bank account see's increased numbers. Now, i agree that quality articles, but the methods you use can be as different as the the amount of articles you write.

I know I can write articles for over 40 different reasons and get a specific results for each one.

You may think this is crazy, but I put out over 200 articles (new) each week, and there is a reason for it. I also use many pen names, so you may not know hopw many this guy really puts out since you are looking at one author account.

So stating that article marketing is limited to one use is just not correct.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Bryan, you stated that you have 2 out of 15 making sales each week, so what if you wrote 10 articles a week? How many more sales would you have.

I said I have articles in 2 NICHES that I have written less than 15 articles for not 2 articles. That are making me money every week. 10 articles a week? I write almost 10 articles a day. But they are for 10 different niches. Yea if I blasted 200 articles a week I would have more sales but how much long term gain would I have? Yea I'd have some just by sheer volume, but if I spend my time getting my articles to rank in the top of google for the keywords I've chosen I will eventually be able to walk away and still get tons of traffic from just one article and that article will stay where it is. I don't have to rely on volume to do this.

You may think this is crazy, but I put out over 200 articles (new) each week, and there is a reason for it. I also use many pen names, so you may not know hopw many this guy really puts out since you are looking at one author account.

Yea lol. I do think this is crazy. Just my opinion, but that definatley doesn't make me right. If it works for you then go for it. The goal for every marketer is to rank high for their keywords and get organic search engine traffic. This is how you can walk away from a project and still be profitable. If you think that blasting out 200 articles a week does that for you then keep doing it. Yes you are going to get search engine traffic because you have so many, but how many people are going to honestly put out 200 articles a week? Either you use Dragon Speak, type really fast or outsource them. But most people starting out do not have the money to outsource 200 articles a week.

As far as the article I made reference to, how many articles he has out had nothing to do with it. I was showing what could be done with ONE article if you do it properly. Actually that guy doesn't need anymore articles for that niche since he is smart enough to know how to get them ranked in the top of google for almost every keyword possible. Many of the keywords he ranks for get 50 searches a day and he's at the top of every one of them. So with that one article he makes a killing! If he's smart he moved on to dominate another niche the same way he does that one.

I know I can write articles for over 40 different reasons and get a specific results for each one.

Yes, there are many different reasons to write an article but I only use them for 3 reasons. To build a back link (mass submission to other directories, press release, guest spot on someone elses blog etc), to add content to a site and to make money.

So stating that article marketing is limited to one use is just not correct.

I never stated that article marketing is limited to one use. Where did you get that from? I never said it was limited to anything. If you go back a few pages you'll see I was on only a couple people who totally disagreed with the title to this whole thread. Article marketing is a great way to make money. For someone starting out I think it is the best way to learn.

I also believe that doing it properly is vital to success. You cannot just start submitting articles without having it properly optimized. That would just be a waste of time. That means finding proper keywords, putting them in the right places within the article, having a great resource box with a call to action.

If you do that properly you have a much better chance of getting your articles on the front page of google for the long term. It not only gets you long term consistant traffic but it also teaches you to learn SEO which is a skill that will serve you very well throughout your IM carreer.

There are only a couple article directories that get any amount of serious traffic anyway. Ezine obviously takes the title and then maybe Go Articles, Article Dashboard or Buzzle after that. Most articles submitted other places are not much more than just a back link. Nothing wrong with building backlinks this way though, but that goes right along with what I was saying.

 

[jcorkern]

On the first one you stated you have a couple article out of 15 (assumed 2 as a "couple") articles, so I was speaking of articles.

Second and 3rd, I run one field, but over 100 sites, so the volume is needed to stay where I am as it is competetive, this is not counting other methods used for seo. I do not outsource, I have a full staff here in the US, nothing outsoruced as most think of it, they are all on the payroll and here in the states.

4th, no, I do not think it works for me, I know it works, and bigtime. And yes, most can not start this way, but really, how do you think I got to the point I am at? I started just like everyone else here, probably worse, I was hurt in an accident and had no other choice but to make this work. This is why I state anyone can do this.

Next is that you may only get one click a month on any given article at a smaller directory, but when you have 500 other directories, it tends to ad up, it also gives a branding effect. Kinda like band-aid. everyone knows the name, and once people have seen your name so much, they start to trust you after a while, so this is huge. do you recognize names like cnet? Youtube? you may not frequent these sites or sites like them, but you know about them.

I have never played WOW, but it is common online. The point is that a steady supply of articles into your field can do a lot more than most think.

 

[Bryan Zimmerman]

I do not outsource, I have a full staff here in the US, nothing outsoruced as most think of it, they are all on the payroll and here in the states.

If you are not doing them yourself then you are outsourcing.

4th, no, I do not think it works for me, I know it works, and bigtime.

I have no doubt it does. I know this works, but for most people just starting out, there is no way they could do something like this. Even when you do get to that point, paying for 200 articles a week cannot be cheap. I think there are other ways to be just as effective and will put a lot more money in people pocket by not paying for that many articles a week. But again, I do not know what you pay and it is just MY opinion. That does not make me right.

You are right in that anyone can do this. It just takes a little "want to" and work. Both methods you can do and grow just the same.

I'm on your side here as far as article marketing. The title of this thread and most of the posts within it are about how it is a drag and doesn't make much money. I think we both know how well it works and how you can make a lot of money by doing it. We just have two different views as to what we think is most effective. There is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't matter though, either way is going to still make you money. And making money is what it 's all about.

 

[jcorkern]

I have hired staff, look up the definition of outsourcing. They are legal employees of mine, taxes, insurance, the whole deal. By your definition, the news media is outsourcing their local news writing to independant journalist. not so!

When you talk to one, they say I work for kdux tv your town , your state.

I hire writers that work solely for my company, so it is not outsourcing. Outsourcing is hiring another company or independant contractor outside of your company. I also have developers, IT personel and designers on staff, and they have no other job. not outsourcing. They are paid labor, not a per task price, but on salary.

And yes, it does cost a lot, but in 2 years time, you can be at that level and making good money doing just what you said, "want to". That is all it takes.

You will have to bust your hump for a year , then you can have a full time staff to bust it for you.

Anyone can be at my level in 12 to 24 months with proper knowledge and management.

But most will never do the same, I have offered help to over 70 people, and only one to date has stepped up to the pump and stuck it out to make the mark.

Now, most niche's will not need 200 a week, and I started with one website and wrote 20 a week. For most, you can do 20 a week and dominate just about anything you want as long as that is not the sole method. 4 articles a day is not hard to write for anyone. and that still leaves you plenty of time for building pages, building other links and other nessary things to make your site soar.

I have played on the smaller end and I would be willing to bet that the bottom line is tremendously different between the two.

how do i know? I have been there, past that stage and chose to keep growing a bit further.

Now, if it is just a personal preference to stay at any given level, then that is fine, but without increases in resources, there is only so much you can do within any niche.

I could still expand from where I am now, I am just at the point that I am beginning to like more time off and do not want more people to manage, so I settle for where I am at now, but the sky really is the limit.