SEO Copywriting: How To Choose Article Marketing Topics To Achieve Maximum Exposure

Articles written for article marketing purposes are meant to be informative and useful.Articles that are overly or blatantly self-promotional will almost always be rejected.People reading articles want to learn something useful, not a marketing pitch.

One concern I hear from clients regularly is "why should I publish articles that don't promote ME specifically?" That's a logical question.It may seem counterproductive to expend energy writing generalized articles that aren't outright selling your product.

How Article Marketing Benefits You And Your business

There are many benefits of an article written solely for marketing purposes:

- Backlinks to your site in the "about the author" from every site that republishes the article
- Helps to establish you as an authority on the topic
- A well-written article on a general topic can "sell" the reader on need for the product.

Once a need for the product has been established, your is right in the footer to provide the solution

Choosing Topics For Article Marketing Articles

One of the most common mistakes I see companies make when writing articles for article marketing is their choice of topic.

Oftentimes, they choose to write articles about themselves rather than articles that are genuinely useful to the target audience.

In an age where search engines rule, the rules of marketing have changed.Search engines don't offer visibility in the natural search engine rankings to companies who are the most promotional.They provide greater visibility to those who are most useful to the population of search engine users.

Your article topic should be useful and informative to a general audience - and not outwardly promote your company or services.

Article topics can be:

- How To.

..
- 3 Ways To...
- Comparisons of 3 or more different products/solutions
- 3 Things to Consider Before.
..
- 4 Reasons Why...
- A Unique Solution for...
- A Guide to...
- X vs.Y: Which is Right for You?

Just because a topic is not outwardly promotional does not mean that is does not create a need for your product or service!A great article topic is one that builds up a need for the type of product or service that the client provides - without specifically mentioning the client in body of the article.

For example, I read a great article the other day about how to design an effective trade show display.Realizing that I did not have the skills nor the desire to learn the skills necessary to build a professional trade show display, I followed the link at the bottom to visit the author's website.

How to articles work great for this reason - especially for service businesses.Many web surfers think that they can do something themselves so search for a "how to" solution.However, after discovering how complicated or involved the process can be, they may decide just to hire a professional.And hey - there's a link to an expert right at the bottom of the article!

Writing The Title

Once you have chosen a topic for the article, it is important to write a title that is equally as effective.

The title should contain the keywords you are targeting in your overall marketing campaign whenever possible.Article titles often become the title tag or URL of the web page.This means that search engines are going to use them to determine the topic of the content and how to rank the page.

The title tag also often appears on a search engine's results page as the dark blue title of the page.This will essentially be what readers use to decide if they are going to click through and read your entire article or not.That is why it is important in article marketing to write titles that are compelling and attractive to readers as well as containing keywords.

Writing an article that is objective, informative and contains a captivating title will ensure that it's accepted by both distribution sites and readers alike.Article marketing as part of an overall link building campaign can be extremely effective -- when done correctly!

About the Author

Christine O'Kelly is co-owner of SEO Content Solutions, a leading SEO copywriting firm.

The company provides SEO press releases, articles, blog content and web content to resellers and end users alike.

Relaited Links:

• Efficient Ways To Promote Your Web Site
• Things to Remember When You Create Your Own Video Product and Other Related Internet Marketing Tips
• Various Forms of Internet Based Marketing

How Smart Companies are Opening New Multi-Channel Markets

The race is on.Brick and mortar companies are rapidly shifting to multi-channel markets primarily through e-commerce sites targeting customers locally, regionally and nationally.E-commerce is not eliminating brick and mortar stores but opening up new venues or other ways to sell products and services.

In the process these companies are eliminating ineffective traditional marketing and using search optimization and search marketing instead.These companies are searching for online solutions that automate the buying process and create 24/7 sales.

The relationship of online sales to offline sales is becoming more blurred and more complicated.For some products, especially high consideration products like automobiles, consumers research online to learn what they need to know and then purchase offline.

Other products are researched offline and bought online; this is a strong trend that many specialty stores are now seeing.The consumer will get the look and feel of a product and then buy it cheaper online.

Many of these specialty stores are finding it increasingly difficult to remain competitive as their cost of sales is greater than e-commerce stores.

Flexible entrepreneurs are now using their offline presence to drive online sales.Others are using their online presence to drive offline sales.Many companies are now doing both.

Companies now have these new options thanks to search technology and especially "local search".Companies can now target local, regional and global prospects and customers by using organic and pay-per-click marketing campaigns.

The initial beneficiaries of this new technology are those companies using local search; geocentric local search technology has now made it much easier to market across a region instead of just a locale.Many brick and mortar stores are finding innovative ways to leverage search technology to boost their brick and mortar products and services.

For 25 years Mike Fine ran Fineline Screen Printing before expanding into Cheapfasttees.Mike had been doing business only locally because marketing outside his immediate area was prohibitively expensive.

Using search technology and his existing screen printing facility, Mike now offers a discounted volume product he can sell throughout the United States.It all began as Mikes local market stagnated he began looking at ways to utilize the excess capacity of his equipment.

"When I looked at my equipment over a 24 hour period I found that most of the equipment wasnt being used most of the time," said Mike, "and since I was paying for it all of the time, it occurred to me that it wouldnt cost me more to use it more and expand my sales through an e-commerce website.Cheapfasttees was the natural business evolution for me."

Many companies already have a good infrastructure in place with fully operational phone and computer systems.

Only minor changes in inventory tracking and bookkeeping are needed to accommodate new online business.

Strangely the biggest challenges many of these companies face is psychological.

E-commerce and search marketing have advanced so quickly many companies have found the necessary mental adjustments difficult and at times impossible.E-commerce requires some degree of computer sophistication but the biggest challenge is implementing effective search marketing campaign strategies.

This requires a change of mindset or a shift in the Gestalt as managers and owners are faced with the new realities of search marketing.Search marketing must be developed and implemented internally and old style managers often resist taking on these new tasks.

But many entrepreneurs now realize that if they dont take control of their search marketing strategy their competitors will and beat them to it.This is because the markets are unforgiving of those that decide search marketing is optional.

Even local businesses are discovering they are losing business to competitors that are able to run effective local search marketing campaigns.

"Its simply a matter of being found by those that are ready to buy," says Mike of Cheapfasttees.
About the Author

Jack D.

Deal owns JD Deal Business Consulting, Carmel and Santa Cruz, California 95062 831-457-8806.Related articles, ideas, strategies, tactics and tips can be found at

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• Networking Your Work at Home Opportunity: More Money, More Friends
• "Finally...The Free Internet Marketing Guide. After 3 Years and 40,000 You Now Have it"
• The Secret Marketing Weapon

Higher Price Or Lower Price?

Robert Kiyosaki On The Coming Stock Market Crash.
CanadianMedsWorld.com

Dear FSB: I own one of the largest electrical companies in the state. Our uniformed workers respond to customers' homes within one hour of each call, with guaranteed service 24 hours a day. As a result our overhead is about 40% more than our competitors', and our prices are higher. How can we offer top-notch service and still stay profitable? - Bill Augustynski, Owner, August Electric Dudley, Mass. 

Dear Bill: "Make sure there's a market for deluxe services in your area," cautions Michael Simonetto, who heads the pricing and profitability practice of Deloitte (deloitte.com) in Atlanta. Simonetto, who spent 15 years in construction before becoming a consultant, urges you to take a closer look at your costs. "A 40% premium is too high and indicates you've got some inefficiencies. Even for premium service, your costs should be at most 25% higher."

To decide what to trim, Simonetto suggests you try to figure out which customers want extra service and what they need. "You're probably assuming that everyone cares about stuff that isn't important to some of them," he says. Keeping your entire staff in uniform is expensive, he notes, and not always worth it. "Someone home alone may be reassured by the uniform, but at a construction site, customers don't care if your people wear tobacco-stained overalls as long as they show up" - and do good work.

Likewise, he says, "it's very costly to offer one-hour service, and it's usually not necessary." Here again, you could segment the market: Have one basic, relatively low fee for routine service calls, plus one surcharge for speedier service and another for late-night calls.

For a clearer picture of what customers want, Simonetto suggests you contact the marketing department at a local college and see if a professor might be interested in assigning students to perform market research that uses a customer questionnaire with an either/or format. This type of study will allow you to ask key questions such as "Would you rather have a uniformed electrician or a lower price?"

Look for revenue boosters that could offset the cost of the extras that you provide, Simonetto adds. Training your repair team to sell annual-service contracts on each call could make these trips far more profitable, he notes.

[Via - FSB] 

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Higher Price Or Lower Price?

CanadianMedsWorld.com

Dear FSB: I own one of the largest electrical companies in the state. Our uniformed workers respond to customers' homes within one hour of each call, with guaranteed service 24 hours a day. As a result our overhead is about 40% more than our competitors', and our prices are higher. How can we offer top-notch service and still stay profitable? - Bill Augustynski, Owner, August Electric Dudley, Mass. 

Dear Bill: "Make sure there's a market for deluxe services in your area," cautions Michael Simonetto, who heads the pricing and profitability practice of Deloitte (deloitte.com) in Atlanta. Simonetto, who spent 15 years in construction before becoming a consultant, urges you to take a closer look at your costs. "A 40% premium is too high and indicates you've got some inefficiencies. Even for premium service, your costs should be at most 25% higher."

To decide what to trim, Simonetto suggests you try to figure out which customers want extra service and what they need. "You're probably assuming that everyone cares about stuff that isn't important to some of them," he says. Keeping your entire staff in uniform is expensive, he notes, and not always worth it. "Someone home alone may be reassured by the uniform, but at a construction site, customers don't care if your people wear tobacco-stained overalls as long as they show up" - and do good work.

Likewise, he says, "it's very costly to offer one-hour service, and it's usually not necessary." Here again, you could segment the market: Have one basic, relatively low fee for routine service calls, plus one surcharge for speedier service and another for late-night calls.

For a clearer picture of what customers want, Simonetto suggests you contact the marketing department at a local college and see if a professor might be interested in assigning students to perform market research that uses a customer questionnaire with an either/or format. This type of study will allow you to ask key questions such as "Would you rather have a uniformed electrician or a lower price?"

Look for revenue boosters that could offset the cost of the extras that you provide, Simonetto adds. Training your repair team to sell annual-service contracts on each call could make these trips far more profitable, he notes.

[Via - FSB] 

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