Article Marketing is the New SEO – Part Two

In the previous article, “Article Marketing and SEO” – Part One, I reviewed the basic theory behind article marketing and showed how Search Engine Optimization has evolved to today. In this second part, I want to look at exactly how you can make this basic Article Marketing SEO strategy work for you.

Building Trust and Credibility Articles

We already recognize the power of Google and other major search engines in building trust with users. Again, this is exactly why we use the search engines we use. Your goal as an article marketer is to build trust and credibility using this simple search ranking strategy.

The process is simple:

If you learn to master the article writing and article submission process, you can leverage these directories like www.EzineArticles.com to achieve high rankings for your content. Once readers discover your content, read it, and click-through to your website you have already achieved a high level of trust and credibility. This is a process I refer to as “pre-qualifying” your traffic.

Here’s an overview of how a searcher will behave on your website – let’s pretend it’s me doing the searching.

1. I search for a specific phrase on Google, Yahoo, MSN (Bing), or any search engine.
2. I discover your article – ranking high because of its relevance.
3. I read (or even skim) the content and find it relevant and “persuasive.”
4. I click through to your website and become a potential client, buyer, etc.

At this point of arrival – step four – I am already fairly convinced of your credibility or the reputation of your company. This depends, of course, on how well your article marketing strategy is designed. If you write great content (or hire article writers) and make use of basic conversion strategies, this process should be very effective.

Why Content Marketing Works

When we’re talking about article marketing, we’re really talking about “content marketing” in general. Content marketing can include anything from articles, blogs, press releases, email newsletters, autoresponders, and even – perhaps especially – the very content on your website.

Content marketing works for one very simple reason: the primary reason anyone uses the web is to get information. Even if an individual is looking to make a transaction – book a hotel, buy a book, etc – it all returns to content at some point.

• If I am ready to book a hotel in London, I need lots of content to motivate me to make the purchase I am going to make. Hotel reviews, London travel info, etc.

• If I am ready to buy a book, I need content to persuade or reinforce my purchase. Book reviews, seller ratings, author blogs, etc.

This is exactly why article marketing is so effective. If you create strong, informative, interesting content based around the subject areas relevant to what you’re really selling or promoting, you can enhance a searcher’s interest and pull him or her into the final purchase.

At first glance, this may sound manipulative or underhanded. Truly, it’s basic selling psychology at work in a new age. Old selling strategies (“push marketing”) simply do not work online. If you have professional integrity, a quality product or service, etc etc, the content marketing effort is designed merely to establish genuine trust and credibility with your buyer. We’re not selling snake oil here, folks!

How to Get Started with Article Marketing

Although the nuts-and-bolts are out of the scope of this discussion, I don’t want to leave you without some basic tips for getting started.

1. Create a free account with a reputable directory like www.EzineArticles.com
2. Write 5-10 articles to get started (or hire an article writing service).
3. Submit your articles to the directory and wait for them to hit the search engines.

Again, these are very basic “getting started” steps intended for the novice article marketer. There is much more to the advanced process, but you must start somewhere.

For now, get started with article marketing before your competitors do. It’s the new way to beat the search engines!