Article Marketing for Small
Business Owners
Article
Distribution is out and Article Marketing is in - here's
why
It’s
2007, and increasingly we are all hearing about the
death of article marketing as a useful tool to build
backlinks and Google page rank.
Does
this mean the end of articles that start with “3 Tips
to…”?
Article
marketing has been around longer than Google and it’s
not going anywhere. In fact it’s more important and
meaningful now than ever to the success of an online
business or small business and in the quest for search
engine optimization.
Article
distribution, on the other hand, might be a bubble
that’s ready to burst.
Article
Distribution vs Article Marketing
Article
distribution
is the act of creating a short, informative article on a
topic related to the content of your website and then
blasting it across the vast reaches of the Internet in
the hopes that other websites will post the article,
thus creating a backlink for your site.
This
activity is growing less effective for a number of
reasons, including key search engines like Google
granting less credibility to low quality backlinks
(quality over quantity). Where your article ends
up matters as much or more than how often it is
picked up.
It
is not article marketing, since there’s no
“marketing” involved in blanketing article
distribution sites with a generic article.
Article
marketing
is an entirely different practice, which predates the
popularity of the Google (yes, they had articles before
Google!).
Back
in the day when people printed things on paper, a writer
or marketer couldn’t afford the time or money that it
would cost to blindly distribute articles to
publications. So they were very selective as to where
they sent their articles, and they did so with an
understanding of the publication’s readers and
preferences for editorial submissions. Editors placed a
value on targeted submissions, and were much more likely
to review them and publish them. The result was fewer
placements with greater credibility.
We’ve
seen this before…
If
the effectiveness of article distribution is declining,
it’s simply another example of a market correcting
itself.
Remember
that period back in the late 90’s where Wall Street
fell in love with .com companies? The stock market had
always valued profitability, revenue streams, stability,
etc. However, for a few years there it seemed that any
company with a .com after its name defied fundamentals
– stock prices skyrocketed for companies based solely
on their potential, not on the quality or sustainability
of their business model.
A
market correction came soon enough.
For
a while, the Internet community (and key search engines)
placed a very high value on the quantity of backlinks to
a site, making distribution a key tool in driving SEO.
Like
the tech market on Wall Street, however, the bubble
looks like it’s bursting and this market is going back
to fundamentals – quality content delivered to a
targeted audience is once again emerging as more
valuable than raw distribution of moderately valuable
material.
Some
Article Marketing Tips
Forgotten
what it’s like to be back in the “old” world of
article marketing? Here are a few tips to establish a
strategic approach to article marketing:
-
Re-frame
an Existing Issue – Readers and Editors value
perspective. The next time you are tempted to write an
article on “3 Tips to Get Web Traffic”, step back
for a moment try to give readers another way to view the
issue. This article was an attempt to do just that, by
sharing with you my perspective on Article Marketing vs
Article Distribution, and comparing the changes in these
markets to trends seen in the investment community.
-
Write
for ONE site – create an article with one site
and their readers in mind. Focus on issues that are
popular amongst those readers, and present the
information in a way that’s consistent with other
successful articles on the site. Placement on a site
known for good content (with a solid page rank) will
provide a quality backlink for you.
-
Build
your Profile – there’s an old saying that
the one thing the media watches is other media. The more
you are featured as an expert in your field, the more
other sites and media outlets will be willing to feature
you and your small business. This applies to offline
media as well – get recognized, and the opportunities
for backlinks on some high PR sites will surely follow.
Times
haven’t changed, they’ve just corrected. Article
Distribution still has a place in some SEO plans, but
increasingly it’s looking like the good old
fundamentals of a strategic approach to article
marketing are back.
