It’s no secret that when you want to bring in FREE targeted traffic to your site free article marketing is one of the best methods to date. However, only a slim number of super affiliates are actually bringing in the big bucks through this marketing vehicle.
So, if you want to play with the big dogs, you gotta think like the big dogs and understand that there’s a strategy behind this game. Here are 5 tips for you to study and implement while laying out the foundation to your article success.
Tip #1 – Keyword Research
Before you even think of writing an article, you need to do some research on what keywords people are searching for to begin with. If you skip this step, then all of your efforts will be obsolete! Data analysis and research is the key element for you to either become a super affiliate or not.
The keywords you are looking for are long-tail keywords (4-6 words long) that have about 500 – 1,000 web pages competing for them in Google.
Here is a link to a FREE keyword research tool provided by Google:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
You don’t want too much competition here. You’ll get more targeted traffic if you write 10 articles on keyword phrases that are getting around 1,000 searches a month rather than writing 1 article on a keyword phrase getting 10,000 or more searches a month.
Why? You’re competition is not only less, but your article’s more targeted to what your audience is looking for which gives you better odds in either making a sale or obtaining a lead.
Tip #2 – Keyword Placement
Select anywhere from 5 – 10 keyword phrases using the guidelines I’ve just stated above. Choose the one keyword phrase you want to write your article about and put that keyword phrase in your headline. This step is extremely important!
Then, throughout the rest of the text just sprinkle the remaining keyword phrases. One helpful strategy:
1-4% keyword density is the key. Example: a 500 word article should have anywhere from 5 – 20 keywords. My recommendation is to keep the limit somewhere closer to 10 keywords max.
Also, you need to distribute the keywords evenly throughout the text. Don’t group them together! Rule of thumb… 1 keyword per paragraph.
Tip #3 – Affiliate Link Placement
This is one of the reasons why I love article submission. Depending on the directory, because not all abide by the same rules, you can directly link to your affiliate site. This is a perfect marketing vehicle to those who have just started out because you don’t need your own website.
GoArticles.com is an article directory that allows you to use direct linking. It’s also a Google favorite ~ BUT who knows for how long since Google is really starting to frown on direct linking. So, keep your eye out on this one!
Here are some other popular, google friendly article directory sites ~ but DO NOT allow direct linking to affiliate links:
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Recommended:
You can easily submit your articles to hundreds of other article directory sites and save tons of time using this article submission tool.
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Now, for those of you who do have your own site, you’re better off NOT direct linking with your affiliate link and instead link to your own website. The idea is to link to the exact page where you have the same article posted, or ad displayed of whatever it is you’re promoting via the article.
Let’s move onto the correct placement for these said links. Choose up to 3 keyword phrases (but no more than 3) to use as an anchor text and sprinkle them evenly throughout the text. The ideal is to place them at the top, middle, and bottom of the article.
Here’s an example of an anchor text:
<a href=”http://www.yourdomainURL.com”>your keyword phrase</a>
Using keywords as an anchor text helps you get a boost in your SEO ranking as well as link to your offer.
You also want to take advantage of anchor text/link placement in your author bio and resource box. It’s best to use the same rule of thumb: No more than 3!
Tip #4 – Popular Article Styles
To put some more icing on top of the cake, here’s another hot tip to better optimize your article marketing strategy. Make use of these 3 most popular article styles that people respond the best to.
* Tips: Provide an x amount of tips to your audience. Example – 7 Tips to Online Business Success, etc.
* FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions): Go and check out the website for one of your affiliate programs. Check out their FAQ section and write an article answering some of the most popular questions.
* Review: Write a review about an affiliate product you are promoting.
Tip #5 – Article Submission
This is where the going gets good. You can either manually submit your article to the many hundreds of article directories, or you can use article submission software to do the leg work for you.
Some of the benefits of using article submission software are:
- It’s Easy!
- It Saves You TONS of Time!
- You’ll See a Huge Increase in Results, FAST!
Well, there you have it folks! Hope this article came in handy for you.
Best of luck,
Drea Tosta
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Learn about the new software program that is being secretly used by top ranked websites in Google, Yahoo, and MSN! Click Here!
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