Internet Article Marketing - Does it Still Work?
I am sometimes asked if internet article marketing still works.
It does, although perhaps not in the same ways as before. In
the past, one of the primary benefits of distributing articles
through directories was the optimization value of the links created.
Since Google - and presumably other search engines - downgraded
or perhaps eliminated the value of these links from the directories
(we never really know the whole story when it comes to algorithm
changes), the value of those articles is reduced.
That's not the end of the story though. It made sense that
the links in the resource box of an article which you put in
a directory should not have the same value as one that someone
else points toward your site. But you can still get that voluntary
link from another when your article is taken from the directory
and used.
In addition to that optimization benefit (however much it
may be), there is also the traffic you can get from the sites
that use your articles as well as the directories where you place
them. This can be significant if you have popular articles. For
example, let's look at the statistics EzineArticles.com recently
sent me.
As of July of 2011, the articles I have posted on their site
have been seen 3 million times. They have resulted in more than
175,000 clicks through to one of my websites. Of course Ezine
Articles is the best of the best, and even there my clicks are
down to about 700 last month. Given the low revenue-per-visitor
of many of my sites, that suggests only about $25 in direct value
for the month. But that is one of the many article directories
I have been submitting to, and all those views (over 16,000 at
EzineArticles.com for the month) offer some name recognition
value as well. Clearly internet article marketing still has value.
It varies by the nature of the articles as well. My articles
on metaphors that link to my website on the same subject have
few readers and almost no clicks through to the site. But "How
to Get Candle Wax Out of Carpet" has had 162,300 readers
just at EzineArticles.com. These types of articles produce an
almost 10% click-through (about 5.5% of readers click through
to my sites from all my articles there, on average), so that
one has likely resulted in 16,000 visitors to my site - just
from this one directory.
More numbers: with a visitor value of about 3 cents on HowToRemoveCarpetStains.com
this suggests that that one article has made me $480 so far over
the years. I believe I spent about forty minutes writing it.
Second best is an article I wrote called, "Cheap Homes for
Sale in Great Towns." It has had about 120,000 readers at
this directory (and the site it links to has a much higher visitor
value).
It is true that I have article there which are almost never
read, but this can be avoided more than you might think. I choose
to create websites and articles on topic of interest to me regardless
of the keyword demand or general interest. I don't expect much
of a financial result from these. If you stick to writing useful
and entertaining information on popular subjects, using provocative
titles, with proper keyword optimization, all of your articles
should get some readers, and your internet article marketing
efforts will pay off.
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