Are Writing Articles and Article Marketing Dead? - By: Pete Nisbet

Many believe that article marketing and writing articles to promote their website or product to be dead, particularly after the Panda algorithm update, also known as the Farmer algorithm modification, that was introduced to certain areas by Google in February 2011. There is no need to go into the details of this algorithm update other than to note that it was designed to weed out poor articles.

Article marketing dead? In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth! This is a myth spread by those that either cannot write, or would prefer you to purchase their SEO products rather than utilize the very simple technique of writing articles. They even used the term 'bum marketing' in order to denigrate a very valid and generally successful technique that can be used to drive traffic to your website and enable you achieve high Google listings with no more than a good writing ability.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Naturally, those that cannot write take umbrage that so many people can force their web pages into the top echelons of Google's web page listings with a minimum of effort, and no knowledge other than an ability to write and an understanding of their niche or subject.

This will not end, at least not in the foreseeable future, unless Google decide to punish genuine content in favor of manufactured back-links and 'spider bait' hidden in the murky depths of their HTML, CSS or Java script. Those of us that simply write about our topic with all the experience we have would have to be ignored for this type of subterfuge to take precedence, and the Google technical people are well aware of the fact.

So how exactly can article marketing help you to get more traffic, and by definition, sell more product? Simply by providing those interested in your product or the niche it represents with interesting information on that niche. You cannot use article marketing to directly market goods, and writing articles should be restricted to providing useful information to those that read them, and who may be interested enough in the topic to visit your website link in the resource section. That's where you market the goods.

Using the Resource Box

For example, if you are selling a book explaining to people how they should write articles in a way that they attract visitors to their website, you may offer information on the best way to write articles: how to link the opening paragraph to the following sentence, and how to use your resource box. However, for that article to be published, you must not mention any product you are selling - simply provide a link in the 'resource' section that readers can click to get to a selected page on your website.

That's where you make your sales pitch! That's where the gloves are off, and you focus on selling your product or service. Not in the article, or it will be declined by the directory or ezine. There are other publications that permit this, but not genuine article directories. Article marketing can be defined as marketing by means of published articles. It can also be defined as marketing your article: if you market your article well enough, then it will be read and the reader may be persuaded sufficiently by your arguments to click to your web page for more.

Article Marketing Lives!

Neither writing articles nor article marketing are dead. In fact they may be the one constant throughout the history of internet marketing. People will always read good, informative and interesting content, but not always boring websites full of nothing but adverts.

The latter is one of the targets of Panda - to delist web pages that do not contribute to the Google users' experience in terms of information on the search term they employ to find information. Writing articles is an excellent way of contributing to that experience and attracting the interest of readers, and article marketing is how you use that interest in order to achieve the objective you had in mind when you built your website.

About the Author

Pete is an Honors graduate from Edinburgh University, and runs an Article Services website where you can employ his highly respected ghostwriting services, or learn how to do it yourself by means of his eBook on article marketing, Article Czar.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Pete-Nisbet/37304

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