Like most things with the Internet, the technology has converged to make online marketing with articles highly effective as well as very efficient. With print media, it was necessary to submit articles to publications for consideration. If accepted, the article may not appear for weeks, or even months, depending upon how frequently the publication was distributed. The typical turnaround for an article published on the Internet can be a matter of hours.



An Internet based strategy involves writing one or more articles on a given subject. Each article is submitted to one or more article directory web sites where it can be read by visitors to that site and syndicated by other web site owners, bloggers, and e-zine or newsletter publishers. The article's author is typically not compensated monetarily, but is permitted an author's byline.

It is in the byline that the author can promote herself and inform the reader about the product or service they happen to offer. A very effective technique is to offer the reader additional information on the subject of the article, providing an HTML link to a landing page where they are asked to provide their name and e-mail address so that the information can be sent to them. The reader, now an e-mail list subscriber, can then be contacted for possible sales at a later time.

Another benefit of publishing articles in a directory is that the HTML links contained in the byline, or the article body itself, can serve as back links that will be followed by the search engines. This can assist in having your site quickly indexed by the major search engines. Effective use of anchor text can also help the site rank well for particular keywords and keyword phrases.

Before embarking upon an article marketing campaign, it is important to determine your overall objective. If your goal is to obtain a large number of back links as part of a search engine marketing strategy, then you need to utilize your byline to effectively link to the target pages on your site. You must also consider the potential for duplicate content penalties undoing the benefits of your article writing campaign, and perhaps opt to release multiple versions of an article.

If the primary objective is to appeal directly to the reader, the article must be sufficiently engaging that it will command the reader's attention long enough so that they actually reach your byline which is typically at the end of the article. That byline must also be crafted with an appropriate "call to action" asking your reader to make use of any linking present or otherwise engage in the desired action.

Article marketing is being used effectively to market affiliate products, build opt-in e-mail lists, and grow membership web sites. Focus upon writing quality content that readers will find worth reading and be clear about your strategy. If you follow those basic rules, you are likely to see an increased flow of traffic to your web site and with a well designed sales approach that traffic should convert to a meaningful cash flow.