Article marketing is the starting point for many internet marketers. This is because it is an ideal means for building their opt in list and attracting traffic to their web site, because there is a huge demand for content which is what articles provide. Webmasters will scour article directories to find fresh quality content to use on their own website or newsletter.

If you feel that you can not write articles or you just do not have the time, you can pay someone to write articles for you. This has the benefit that the article will be original content, so there is a better chance of it being copied and published elsewhere. You need to ensure that you have complete rights to the articles that you commission. This means that you can modify, relabel, or combine them into an e-book. Elance.com is a popular place for hiring writers to do your articles.

You may decide to purchase the rights to articles that allow you to claim authorship. It may be that others are using the same content or variations on it, but all said and done your resource box is added to the foot of the article. There are a large number of directories that will allow you to submit your article, even if it isn't 100% original. This is fine for quick exposure but it is always better to write your own unique content if possible.

If you are using your article to promote an affiliate program, bear in mind that some article directories do not permit direct affiliate links. In any case it is a better approach to create a quality content page (also known as a landing page) on your website that is closely related to the content of your article. In this way you can pre-sell to your prospects by detailing the benefits and then afterwards provide a link to the affiliate program.

If your article is written to promote a product, or an affiliate program that is closely related to the content of your article, the likelihood of getting a click through are increased. Many article directories may delete your article if you try to promote an unrelated product and it will not help your standing in the search engines.

When considering the structure of your article try to avoid long paragraphs. The words have a tendency to get jumbled up in the mind of the reader causing confusion. Readers prefer articles that are easy on the eye whilst at the same time providing useful information. Numbers or bullets are a useful tool to keep the readers attention, as they make the information easy to remember and digest. Format you bullets and numbers with indentations so that the article does look like a single block of square paragraphs. Sub-headings are a useful tool to sub-divide your paragraphs in the page. Doing this will break each point into sections but still add structure to the article as a whole. This makes it easier for the reader to navigate from one point to another.

An often overlooked benefit of article marketing is the growing popularity of RSS feeds. If you can get your article syndicated on an RSS feed, with the correct keyword optimization, your articles will appear in the search engines. Because search engines look for fresh content and because RSS feeds are dynamic in their ability to frequently update, and with a suitable nudge from pinging services, the search engines will spider this type of content more frequently than Static web pages. This means that your articles should not take as long to get listed.

Many people struggle to produce quality articles which means that demand for content is huge. If you find that you have a talent for article writing you may consider combining some of your work into an e-book which can be sold, or just given away to promote your website or affiliate programs. Many people sell these types of products on sites such as Clickbank where affiliates will market the product for you in return for a commission. It is not necessary to write a massive amount of content as buyers are more concerned with quality than quantity.