Traffic Techniques: Article Marketing Part 3

I’ve decided to opt out of doing a video for this installment to my Traffic Techniques Series for two reasons – I have a lot of content I would like to cover, and I want to focus on getting a SocialMarker tutorial up in the next few days.  I recently acquired Camtasia Studio 5 and need a day to get the functionality grooving.  As Flava Flav would say – Yeaaaaaaaa Boiiiii.  If you’re just tuning in and haven’t had a chance to go through the last two videos, you can view part one here, and part two here. Let’s get cracking…

Now that we know why article marketing works, and what the key factors are to writing an article that will perform, it’s time to touch on one of the most important elements to this technique – Article Distribution.  If you don’t know where to get your article published, or how to turn those clicks into subscribers, then it won’t matter how well you know your market or how much keyword research you do – your results will not be as spectacular as we know they can be.

How many different ways can I publish my articles online?

The first and most common way of publishing articles online would be to submit your articles to high traffic, high ranking article directories.  This has proven to be an effective medium time and time again, and a technique that many a bum marketer have exercised for two reasons – it costs nothing, and article directories get crawled often which means your submissions will get indexed very quickly.  I strongly believe that there are people who make a living simply writing how-to style articles and submitting them to high traffic directories, with an affiliate offer redirect in the resource/author box.

The key to making this technique work for you is you have to treat every directory as an individual medium and test accordingly.  Each directory will perform differently from the next because they attract different visitors – while one article may convert great on Directory A, it doesn’t mean it will perform well on Directory B or C.  This same rule applies to your resource/author box – you might get more clicks on Directory A when you have your “about me” blurb before the “call to action” section, whereas in Directory B it’s the complete opposite.  Making money online is all about testing, and article marketing is no different.

***Tip – Don’t be afraid to display your personality within the resource box.  Being funny and quirky has always worked well for me and I’ve surprised myself quite a few times when I’ve gone completely off the wall and thought “people aren’t going to take me seriously” and then the article ended up getting a pleasing amount of clicks to my offer.  Be fearless and unique and you’ll be rewarded.

I’m sure some of you are thinking “what do I put in the resource box?” or “how do I know if my call to action is good enough?”  It’s important to include information about yourself within the resource box because you want to be known as a professional or expert within your niche.  List any relevant credentials you may have as well as where you’re from and your professional status.  To put it simply, your call to action should do nothing more than tell the reader what to do next.  Below is an example of a resource box I might use:

“Elijah Vieau is an accomplished Music Producer and Composer from Toronto, Canada.  He is the founder of Basement Theory Productions, where he provides development and consulting services to independent recording artists across the globe.

Head on over to www.Virgostratus.com to hear a free sample of his latest groundbreaking album.

Also, quickly visit www.MrBlueReviews.com to download his free report “Music Marketing On Crack” that shows you how to market and sell albums online using the viral power of social networking.”

***Tip – When it comes to your call to action please try and avoid the “if you would like more information on this topic please feel free to visit www.yoursitehere.com” method.  This is article suicide.  It does not sound confident or convicting.  To me this type of call to action sounds like it belongs in a pamphlet giving information on the Ryan Phelps Foundation for Android Swimmers.

But Elijah, which article directories are the best to use?

I hate to say it, but “the best” is completely subjective.  All I can tell you is that there are 3-5 top directories which most successful internet marketers use because of their page rank and traffic, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t find success with a smaller more targeted article directory.  If you want to scope out this route just type into Goolge Your Niche+Article Directory and you will find results for smaller niche directories that you can add to your submission list.  Below I have listed my personal top 7 list of high traffic article directories that I currently use – in no particular order:

1. www.EzineArticles.com
2. www.GoArticles.com
3. www.IdeaMarketers.com
4. www.ArticleDashboard.com
5. www.ArticleCity.com
6. www.SearchWarp.com
7. www.MagPortal.com

I also found a great resource listing the top 50 article directories by traffic/page rank here.  It was last updated on August 17th, 2008.

Originally I had planned to cover Article Distribution and Monetization Methods in one post, but it seems there was so much content that I will have to add a part 4 to my Traffic Techniques Series – so in my next post/video I will discuss the various ways you can monetize your traffic from the article directories to maximize your efforts and hopefully build your list and put some money in the good ‘ol Paypal account.

Cheers,

Elijah