Caydel’s SEO Blog

This is the second part of the How To Promote Yourself Through Article Marketing series. Please also see Part I and Part III!

Write Your Articles

The most important part of Article Marketing is the articles. If an article doesn’t catch potential readers immediately and entice them to continue reading, none of the readers will feel compelled to visit your site.

Now, the scope of this post does not include lessons or tutorials on how to write an article. If you would like to know more about that, read Copyblogger. Still, I would like to make a few relevant points to help you maximize your success.

Write Something Unique

Do you want people to remember you? Than write something they haven’t read before. Take a new angle to a controversial issue, or discuss something that hasn’t been discussed before. You need to offer your potential readers something they can’t get anywhere else. You need to provide a reason for them to remember you, and this can be done successfully with unique views, opinions and content.

Headlines Are Your Best Friend!

On an article directory, your article will be mixed in with hundred or thousands of others, with only your headline to differentiate yourself from the rest. Write something that will grab the reader’s attention and steer them towards yours!

Make sure to include some keywords in your title for search purposes – a potential reader searching for a specific subject will be more likely to click on your article if they see exactly what they want in the title.

Headings Are Your Second Best…

Many writers do not use headings and subheadings in their articles. This is a mistake. Readers will often scan an article, and read the headings as a ‘Table of Contents’. It makes sense – what better way to get a feel for the contents of the article?

By breaking up your article into sections, you are providing some structure to it, and making it more comprehendable for the reader. Be careful – too many headings may be just as overwhelming as a large block of small text.

Make Your Author Bio Box Compelling!

Most article sites have an author bio box which you can use to write a bit about yourself, and perhaps include a link to your site. Think carefully about what you want to include in this. Of the following two examples, which is more compelling?

“Brian Vuyk is a blogger who writes about SEO stuff at http://www.caydel.com”

or

“Get the most from your websites! Learn how to promote yourself by reading Brian’s blog at http://www.caydel.com”

Obviously, the second is far more compelling. It contains a call to action, and should grab the reader’s interest. Seriously – would you really click on the first?

Look the Part in Your Author’s Photo

Another thing to consider is a photo. Many article sites will publish a photo of the author along with the article. It is a proven fact that people will remember and recognize the photos long before they will recognize the name. The photo draws people’s eyes, and creates an impression on them. I have often read an article, and recognized the author without recognizing the name or the site. I simply recognized the photo.

Take your photo seriously. Consider the image you are trying to present of yourself in the article you are writing, and the site you are linking to. For instance, a high-powered stock trader writing articles on stock tips will want to present a different photo of himself than the outdoorsman writing about techniques in bowhunting.

Link Back to Yourself Cautiously

In addition to linking to yourself in the Author Bio box, try to link back to your website once or twice within the body of the article. Be careful with this! Make sure that it fits within the flow of the article, and ensure that it is relevant to the specific context of the paragraph you include the link in. If the link sticks out too much, or points to an irrelevant page, you may risk rejection by some of the sites you submit it to. Use anchor text that fits into the sentence you are writing, but try to include some keywords for SEO purposes!

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