Making Money with Articles: Free Article Content

by Bob on July 9, 2009

I really appreciate that you keep coming back to my site, it's loyal people like you that make what I do worth it. If you have any questions feel free to email me. Oh and since you obviously like our site it'd be great if you could share it with a friend... They'll love you for it!

Some webmasters try to use articles from free content directories to get visitors to their site and make some money. This is mostly important for those who have just begun working as an affiliate for several companies and do not yet have any funding, yet need to built small niche websites to visitors to their site so that they can begin making revenue.

Although this can sometimes be the only option for those who are running on a non-existent budget, it is not a way that will effectively build your website or revenue. There are a few potential reasons why this may be detrimental to your business building efforts.

Problem #1 – Search Engines

Search engines will only look down upon your site if it has the exact same duplicated content than other sites. The more sites that share your content, the less it will help you achieve good search engine rankings.

Good search engine rankings are essential in getting visitors to your sit so that they have a chance to click on your affiliate links. If you cannot even get visitors, then will never make an revenue. Working on the search engine optimization of your site so that you will eventually be high enough in the results to get customers, should be priority one.

Problem #2 – Getting visitors to click

Although getting your site high on search engine result pages and acquiring site visitors is hard work, unfortunately this is only half of the battle. You must also be able to convince those visitors to click on your affiliate links. If your visitors see the same content they have seen on a multitude of other sites, they will be least likely to click on your links. This is because most people want to buy things that are recommended by people that they trust or whom they feel like are an expert on the subject.

If your content is just duplicated from other sites, you will be exposed as someone who does not really know what they are talking about and therefore will not look heavily on your product recommendations. This will reduce the number of website visitors who will be willing to click through.

Problem #3 – Author Bylines

Most free content is only given to you if you agree to place the authors byline under the article (you can get into trouble if you try to use it without following the stipulated rules). This poses a problem because most author bylines include links. When a reader gets done reading a really intriguing article, there is a strong possibility that they will click on the author’s byline link rather than your affiliate links. This is the entire reason why these authors offer free content to begin with, so that they may get their name and links out there to the public. Using this type of content may mean shooting yourself in the foot and losing possible profitable website visitors.

Once you put these three problems together, you are looking at a serious decline in revenue simply because you used free website content from article directories. Although it may be the only option for some, if you have the funds to buy your own original content, then you should go this route. If you don’t have the finds, however, you may be better off writing your own content and then hiring professional services once you have made a profit to work with.

 

Bob

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How To Write An Article Resource Box For Successful Internet Marketing

by Bob on July 1, 2009

Writing the article for your article marketing campaign is only half of the battle. If you want more people to click through to your website from the articles that you write, you should make sure that your resource box at the end of your articles is doing its job. You can write a perfect article and still never get any click throughs if your resource box is lacking. If you are not getting your resource box right, in other words, you are simply wasting your efforts. If you want your article to sell exactly what it is that you are offering, then you need to know how to craft a great article marketing resource box. This is the author biography box that appears below your body, or a signature file that you can create and append to the bottom of your submission articles.

Here is what you need to include in your resource box:

- Your name. You would be amazed at the sheer number of people who do not include this information in their resource box. Mention your name at the end of your resource box.

- Your website address. Use an absolute URL, like http://www.thisismywebsite.com.

- Your unique proposition for selling. Use a few sentences to capture the true essence of what makes your offering unique from everything else that is out there. Focus on providing a single specific call to action.

- Your eZine subscription address. Give your readers a way to keep in touch with you by urging them to join your eZine or newsletter. This will give them a way to keep in touch, and to keep in touch with them, so that you can build up a trust factor between yourself and your potential customers.

- Anchor text. Use a keyword or a keyword phrase that you are looking to build SEO strength for, like ‘article marketing’ if you are trying to build search engine strength for this and similar topics.

Your resource box should be started in the article body, meaning that one should flow seamlessly into the other. This way, your readers will read your resource box without even realizing it. The article marketing resource box is not actually a box, but is rather the last passage of information in your article. When you put this section together, you should write in a way that your readers are likely to respond to. Don’t incorporate too many links, but stick to a single website address, and do not bother listing your qualifications because your readers are not going to be interested. Above all else, your resource box should be concise, short and to the point.

One of the important things to know is that your resource box is not actually meant to be about you, but rather about what is in it for the reader. Make sure that your resource box passes what is known as the “so what” test by giving your readers a real reason to click through to your website.

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How To Use An Article To Drive Traffic To Your Internet Marketing Site

June 30, 2009

If you are looking to increase the amount of traffic that is visiting your website, then the key is article marketing. Are you looking to attract additional visitors to your website? One of the most powerful ways that you can achieve this is through article marketing, which will allow you to generate a significant traffic [...]

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