Chime School

Posts Tagged ‘article syndication’

There are plenty of places where we can learn about an affiliate marketing business.  Unfortunately, it is much harder to find someone to do the actual difficult work for you.  Well, I haven’t quite fixed that problem for you, but I have discovered what I think is the next best thing.

I do affiliate marketing, although I also sell my own information products and physical products.  My online business is made up of a number of traditional sites and blogs.  I rely quite heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) to secure traffic, but that is a long term strategy.  In some cases, I have used PPC for affiliate products with success, but more often I am lucky to break even. 

So, for me, as for all Internet marketers, traffic is a very challenging part of my business.  Especially difficult are those times when I have to pass on a new affiliate opportunity because none of my websites are optimized to bring in targeted traffic for the product, so I face the age old question:  How do I send my traffic to the vendor’s site?

My approach to directing traffic to the vendor’s site is just like many other affiliate marketers, I take them first to my own site, where I ply my skills of subtle persuasion.  Then I just hope that I have been sufficiently convincing to get them to click the link that directs them to the vendor’s site so that I have some small chance of earning my commission.  I would like to make that process a bit less involved and take the prospects to the vendors a little more efficiently.

I use article marketing extensively for all of my sites.  I employ that strategy primarily for its SEO value but also for the direct visitors that are sent my way.  However, especially for an affiliate marketer, there are two major problems with traditional article marketing.  First, the major article directories don’t allow contextual links within the body of the articles.  Instead the links stand alone in a section that they call the author’s resource box, but which screams, “Commercial!” to our readers.  Second, the major article directories do not allow affiliate links or even links to redirected pages or domains.

At last there is a content syndication service thall allows both contextual linking and inclusion of direct affiliate links.  Yes, you will be able to join the affiliate program of the amazing My Article Network once you become a member of the service.

My Article Network is like a consortium for article marketers and content publishers.  (The link goes to some specific information about My Article Network on one of my sites.) 

Since I am writing for affiliate marketers, I’ll cut short the presell message and let sales page of My Article Network speak for itself.  I’ve been using it for less than two months, and I am a complete convert to the system.  I joined it for the article distribution, but I became so enthused that I set up four new blogs to take advantage of the free content in some of my niches.  {(Go ahead.  Click the link, you know you want to.)(Do it!  You know you want to click the link.  Come on…don’t you think I deserve it?}

First a little context.  Fewer than fifty days ago, I made the smart decision to become a member of an article marketing service.  While I don’t actually know the guy that designed this remarkable tool for online marketers, I think he should let me borrow it for my next vacation].

Because of my past experiences with this guy, I was confident that the service would accomplish for me what it promised: An innovative way of distributing my articles.  Like any Internet marketer, I could always use more traffic, and is there anyone who isn’t on the look-out for a way to add external links pointed toward our virtual real estate?  In order to achieve both these objectives–traffic and improved SEO–I rely heavily upon article marketing.

This service has some advantages over traditional submission to article directories, though.  For example, I can now put my links directly into the body of the article rather than assigning them to a resource box.  That’s something that isn’t allowed in most article directories, but contextual linking offers greater benefits in terms of search engine optimization and traffic maximization.  Also, rather than being filtered through an article directory, my articles in this system can go directly to a website that is specifically related to my niche.  Once again, great for traffic and SEO.  I can also put an affiliate link directly into the article if I choose, another “no-no” with article directory syndication.  Perhaps the greatest advantage is this:  The system has a built in article spinner so that if I prepare my articles well, each website that receives my article can publish a unique version of it (essential for any SEO gains).

After almost fifty days, I thought that I would check to see what I had accomplished so far.  Here are just a few of the highlights of my experience with My Article Network.

You need to realize that the system gradually distributes articles to websites, so every article I’ve submitted so far is still yet to be published on some of its sites and other articles have just begun.  I have submitted 58 well spun article.  Unique versions of those articles now appear on over 1900 pages on the web.  I have between one and three links in each article, so my conservative best guess is that my sites singled out for promotion through this system have received somewhere in excess of four thousand links.  Obviously, it will require additional time for some of those links to be noticed by the various search engine.  Some of my links are actually pointed at other of my articles published on article directories and some of the sites in the system to give them a little more “link juice.”

About half the articles are directed toward my newest site, which I just started building three months ago.  Alexa couldn’t even find that site when I first joined this system, and now it has climbed in the Alexa rankings more than two million positions.  In fact, it gets more traffic than some of my sites that have been around for quite a while.  Indeed on the oldest site that I ever built (that I still own), has received no attention from me in months, but I entered nine articles into this system and that site’s Alexa ranking has improved by more than 120,000 positions.  I can’t attribute that traffic growth to anything other than those nine articles–and the system that distributed them.

Okay, if you like those numbers, take a look at this.  I didn’t even think of tracking the results of this program until six days ago–yeah, I know, I’m a slouch).  During that six day period, the eight sites that I have promoted using this distribution network have risen in Alexa a cumulative total of over five million positions.  I realize that Alexa is not the finest measure of progress, but I still think that’s a very strong indication of getting my money’s worth and then some.

I actually became so excited by the whole process that I have subsequently created four new blogs to join the over 10,000 websites that are eager publishers for the content that we writer-marketers provide.

I strongly suggest that you become a member of My Article Network.  Yes, you affiliate marketers out there, you can become an affiliate–after you join the article distribution service.

The amount of time, energy and talent that goes into creating content for an online marketer’s article marketing and distribution convinces some to contract with a writing professional. However, if you prefer to do your own writing and spinning, here are some tips that I can offer to increase the efficiency of your writing, always being mindful of the objectives of increased traffic to your site and improved search engine optimization (SEO).

* Dedicate a regular time at least once a week to write articles. With other writing commitments including my website, this sometimes is quite a stretch for me.

* Make a list of the special submission guideline of each of the article directories to which you normally submit. Include specific elements such as minimum article length, number of keywords permitted, whether or not an abstract or summary is required, and so forth. Make sure that your article meets all of the criteria of all of the directories to which you plan to submit your article.

* Write from your own personal experience People look to the Internet to find answers to their questions from people who have actual experiences. Share your failures and successes while you are demonstrating your expertise. Use the personal touch to begin to build a relationship and not to “sell” your product or service. Be real and respectful to each and every reader. Feel free to incorporate a bit of humor, if the subject matter allows it. Leave them wanting more, as the old show business cliche goes. After all, you want them to click your link to end up on your website.

* When you choose a topic, rely on your keyword research to direct you. If you have an exceptionally long article, break it into 2 or more shorter articles. I try to keep my articles between 400 and 800 words depending upon the topic or subject.

* Upon completion of your article, find a colleague or friend and ask them for their opinion. I currently review many of efforts with two close friends. Suggestions are freely given and changes are made. The end result is always a much high quality of article.

Hopefully, these strategies will not only improve your Internet marketing through increased traffic to your web site, but will also improve the quality of your articles and potentially start to build those relationships with future customers or clients.