Before Submitting Your Articles Use this 5 Step Check List
There are lots of article submission tools you can buy to make the process of submitting articles easier. Although this is invaluable in getting the most exposure the fastest for your article marketing campaigns, it is only half of the story. Here is an article check list of common mistakes that are often made when writing articles. Before submitting your articles, use this check list to be sure your article is ready for submission to article directories.
1. The Article Must Be Informative
The main reason for writing articles is to inform your readers. If you are not informing anyone in an interesting way, nobody will read the article or click the link in your resource/bio box. Make sure you are writing an interesting, information article.
2. Correct Ratio of Keywords and Keyword Phrases
No doubt about it, articles will get you backlinks, but you can also get more visitors and better search engine results if the same article has keywords inserted at strategic places. Just don’t overdo them. A good rule of thumb would be to figure on a 1 – 2% ratio, leaning more towards the 1%., so say 1.5% is good. If, your article has 500 words, then figure 5 to 10 keywords for the body of the article.
The title should have one of the key words and another should be placed in the first paragraph. Your ancher text link should have a keyword. Not all directories will allow anchor text, so use it when you can. When peppering your keywords into the article, make sure that the article is still an interesting and informative article that flows when you read it. You are writing for a human to read. If the article doesn’t make sense or read smoothly, remove some of the keywords and replace them, so that the article flows smoothly when being read. Another keyword should be in the last, or summary, paragraph.
Hint: Using long tail keywords, or keyword phrases, works better for the search engines rather than broad term keywords that are over used by millions online. For example, “tax attorney in Plattsburgh NY” will work better than “tax attorney”.
3. The Article Should Solve a Problem.
Inexperienced marketers often think the only reason for writing an article is to get the backlinks, so they write garbage that isn’t going to help anyone. Not all article directories will accept your garbage, oops, I mean content, automatically. Often, there are specifications that must be met. When you edit your article, ask yourself if your informative article is actually solving a problem for the reader.
If you want your article marketing to work, then write articles that publishers want in their publications and that will help the reader solve a problem. Make sure that the article meets the guidelines of the article directory you wish to submit to. If they don’t allow articles about using PLR, then duh! Don’t write an article about that topic.
4. Edit the Article.
This should be a no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how many people rush to publish without editing their articles. Make sure that every thing is spelled correctly. Auto-spell checks won’t catch all errors. Make sure the words “there”, “they’re” and “their” are used in the proper context. Another common spelling error is “witch” and “which”, as is “weather” and “whether”. If you don’t know the difference, look it up now to prevent these types of errors.
Even though you don’t have to use the King’s English, make sure that the grammatical composition and the punctuation is correct. Put the commas and quotes where they belong.
Beware of using run on sentences. Run on sentences are a common writing error. If a sentence is too long, look for a way to rewrite the sentence by turning it into two sentences instead of one. Break up a large paragraph into two paragraphs. Writing an article online is different than writing offline. It must be easy on the eyes, so try not to go over 5 sentences per paragraph.
5. Link in Resource/Bio Box
Remember to have a short resource box at the end of your article with a link back to your website. Include in the paragraph that the “article may be used as long as the content and links are not changed in anyway”. Even though that should go without saying, you would be amazed at how many will try to use it as their own if that statement is not made.
It is a matter of choice as to what you write the article about, but think about your choices before writing. You can get a little exposure from increased backlinks by submitting the article to a lot of article directories. Better, is to benefit from massive exposure through the search engines, by taking a little extra time to write a quality article.
Answer To: “How Do I Submit Articles to Article Directories?“
