By Bob Speyer and Justin Delos Reyes – Web Success Team

Article marketing is one of the most powerful search engine optimization techniques that your brand can incorporate into its online marketing strategy. It can put your content in front of thousands of readers and it can bring traffic to your website in a cost efficient way.

The reasons why your brand should refrain from article marketing are almost non-existent. But you should know beforehand that quality is of the utmost importance – not just on your part, but in regards to the directories you submit to as well.

Own Your Articles
The first step in article marketing is to own the articles you submit. This means you should post articles on your blog or website before you submit them to article directories. You have little control over what a person does with your article once it is in their possession. Posting articles on your blog first will give your website some authority over it.

Choose Directories Wisely
There are several article directories (or article distribution sites) that will make your articles available to readers and webmasters who need content for their own websites. The best marketing strategy for your brand is to submit articles to popular directories first.

Popular directories such as Go Articles, Ezine Articles, and Article Dashboard, carry weight on search engines. Articles that are submitted and approved by these websites have a good chance of being viewed as valuable sources of information by Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

If you want to go beyond the directories mentioned above (which you should), spend a few hours researching other distribution sites or consult with an online marketing team to help you. An online marketing agency can help you identify directories that are appropriate for your brand’s industry or niche.

Utilize the Resource Box
Every article directory gives authors an opportunity to complete an “About Me” section – or what is commonly labeled as a resource box. The resource box is typically positioned at the end of your article when the article is submitted (it also appears as a header on some directories).

It is the perfect place to embed multiple links that direct readers to your website.

Be sure to use anchor text for your links that include keyword phrases. These hold more power and are more informative than URLs alone. Adding links in the resource box improves the quantity and quality of link juice your website gets (especially if you submit articles to reputable distribution sites)

Submit Valuable Content
Brands that are currently harnessing the power of social media know that valuable content is the key to achieving web success. The same is true for article marketing. The SEO benefits of article marketing will come if you focus on providing articles that are worth reading. You typically have 400 words or more to get your message across. Make the most of it by weaving keywords into your content and being helpful at the same time.

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