Providing publishers with essentially free content and advertisers with effectively free advertising is the role of online article marketing. You can attract new clients as well as increase your business’ credibility by releasing content articles for free distribution. Information for contacting the business or author originating the article is contained in a bio box and byline. 

Historically, professionals have been providing article marketing for publication as long as mass print media has been around. A newspaper, say, would print the business’ contact information with an article provided by a local business to the paper free of charge. This arrangement worked because newspapers and other traditional media are expected to provide a variety of content at low cost. 

For writers, article marketing can increase your exposure by reproducing your content around the Internet. If you are struggling to keep a regular email newsletter going or need to fill out a blog, website or any type of publication, article marketing is a source of cheap content. 

EzineArticles.com is the market leader, which allows writers to publish articles that include a special area at the end called a resource box. Writers can supply a link or two along with a couple of sentences in the resource box. The article can be reprinted by other webmasters and publishers on their websites, newsletters or blogs, provided they keep the resource box intact. 

Posting your articles

Authors post articles on a website known as an “article directory.” Directory owners’ generate income by selling advertising on each article page, which makes it possible for the author to post an article without cost. The more articles posted, the more gains the directory site has in search engine popularity. The title of an article often has the most impact on how often an article is read. 

Besides EzineArticles.com, other popular sites for article marketing include Isnare.com, Zongoo.com, BusinessKnowHow.com, Amazines.com, IdeaMarketers.com and ArticleFinders.com. There are also submission services that will submit your article to multiple article directories for a fee, such as ArticleMarketer.com. 

Short articles in the 350 to 600 word range generally generate the most traffic. People with short attention spans, especially when reading on a computer screen, prefer short, easily absorbed tidbits rather than in-depth, detailed articles. Statistics show that short articles will get you more exposure and more traffic. 

But quality content will do more for your credibility than sloppy writing and research. Also, there are penalties for duplicate content, so you have to be careful about posting your articles on more than one site. The way around this is to modify your article when submitting to different Web sites so it is not exactly the same each place it can be accessed. 

Article marketing can be time consuming in the beginning, but gradually you should be able to establish your reputation as an expert in your field, which will tend to make article marketing easier as you progress. Unless you are already famous or can pull off a major media stunt, article marketing may be the best way to incrementally improve your reputation and the reach of your business.