Article Marketing Builds Momentum and Traffic When I started submitting articles to ezines and directories I was happy just to get an occasional article written and widely posted online. I assumed that was
point. But I've since learned about equally important considerations--like Page Rank of site where it appears.Each article was written to inform and appeal to human readers. Search engines were incidental in my mind. I wasn't systematic about submitting new ones on a regular basis so they built momentum. Nor was I careful to emphasize my website's keywords and principal theme. But I do now--it matters. Despite that, articles already posted have been hard at work for me.
My list of places for submitting keeps expanding. And it's further refined with every article posted. After a year and a half, that's a large list (nearly a thousand). And I'm a known quantity with sites and ezines that consistently post my contributions. My best-received article to date shows 181 Google mentions (with their related incoming links).
Starting from Zero Online Visibility I launched a new website mid-June, 2004, using article marketing as primary traffic-building strategy (Yellow Page Sage, getting your Yellow Page ad and website working together). The first article was a strong one, getting 135 Google cites.
Over next three months I wrote and posted seven articles related to Yellow Pages or Local Search. The website also provided extensive information about Yellow Page advertising by other authors--making it very sticky and content-rich.
Creating an Article 12-pack After they were submitted to my list, I combined those seven articles with five of my prior marketing articles - twelve in all (with a link to each article). Instead of offering them as onesees, I now send whole batch (letting receiver pick what they want).
I prepared a letter offering 12-pack, asking if they want to receive similar future ones. That letter is only sent to websites I've visited. I'd never offer it to a site unless there's a good fit. Sending out 12-pack is an ongoing activity, and another way to expand my list. Some websites have posted whole set - twelve return links from one letter!
Surprise! Google Noticed me! Since I was busy getting site polished and launched, it caught me by surprise that in two months my Google Page Rank was 3/10 (the first time I checked). And following month it had climbed to PR 4/10 - without doing anything but post seven articles. I didn't yet realize it was getting extra mileage because of strength of my list. So moving to PR 5/10 can't be too far off, can it?
