Articles, Articles, Articles!
If you pay attention to only one traffic generating idea, this
is it!
Articles are by far my number one traffic generator for my
sites at this point. I still work the other methods, obviously,
but writing articles is what I concentrate on.
Why articles?
Because they work so well, but so many are afraid of them.
That's right, afraid. Afraid to write an article because they
don't feel they know enough on their chosen topics, or that
their grammar won't be perfect, or that their English teacher
will pick apart their spelling.
If you feel you don't know enough about a topic you have the
most powerful research tool at your disposal...the Internet!
Spend time searching the Net and finding information to put
into your article. You're not looking to plagiarize anyone's
work but rather to learn more about the subject.
This research can reward you in many ways:
The knowledge you gain will enable you to write your article,
or several articles.
The more you learn about your topic the more you become a
trusted resource to your visitors and subscribers.
Keep a file with the links that you visit and find valuable
and you can write another article with just links to great
places to visit related to that topic. You can also use
these to create a links page on your site.
If you are worried about grammar and spelling just paste your
article into Microsoft Word and use the suggestions that it
provides. Better yet, have someone you know read through it
for you and make corrections.
Take your time with your article. There is no deadline for
getting your article ready so don't feel pressured. Work on
it a little bit at a time. The more effort you put into it
the more reward you will get from it.
Then again maybe you have no problems writing articles but
instead don't feel they are worth the time and effort required.
Writing articles is VERY MUCH worth the effort! Here are just
a few ways:
More content for your website
Keyword rich content to feed the search engines
When someone else publishes your article on their site or
in their newsletter you get more traffic, more exposure for
you and your site, and more links to your website
And once you put together an article you can benefit from it
for many months to come. I get email asking permission to
reprint articles that I wrote over a year ago!
The information is still just as relevant now as it was back
then, but the point is that the minimal effort I put into it
is rewarding me over a year later.
How many banner ad campaigns can promise that?
Also, many people don't realize that you can even benefit
from posting other author's articles on your site.
I'm not saying pretend they are yours, that will get you in
trouble. What I mean is that you can pick up additional
search engine traffic because their articles will have
keywords in them. Add some good meta tags to the pages and
submit away.
I have a couple of articles on my site written by various
authors that happen to rank very well for certain keywords.
Since the articles are related to my site content, this is
free targeted traffic, and I didn't even have to go through
the effort of writing the articles.
So get over your fears, get prepared for writer's cramp, and
dive into one of the greatest traffic generators for 2001!
About the Author
Chuck McCullough is the owner of http://AffiliateMatch.com
offering FREE articles, tips, hints, and real-world advice
on how to make money with your website. Visit his site or
join his FREE newsletter, The AffiliateMatch Informer by
sending a blank email to
mailto:newsletter@affiliatematch.com