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
