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Opinions Needed! Is Article-Marketing Ethical?

by delfinparis
3 replies
This is an unusual situation...

I have a relationship with a Marketing Director of a top Fortune 500 company who makes consumer products.

They are the top leader in their industry (have the largest marketing share by a WIDE margin) for many consumer products - their products are primarily sold in retail stores. But they also want tons of traffic to their own site for informational purposes, and to sell products through their online store.

Anyway...

Their SERPS suck - I mean, in many cases, some of their most important keywords, they're on page three of Google.

So, I told her about buying backlinks and how JC Penny just got busted HARD for doing blackhat stuff.

But, as I was thinking about it, I told her one strategy might be to do some article marketing, using Unique Article Wizard and other article spinning and distribution services.

Clearly they're not going to buy backlinks, but she said I could do some article marketing and see what happens for a few keywords.

My question is this...

Could I damage them in any way with Google? Obviously, we know G is not putting as much weight behind article links as they once were, but it still should help a bit.

I don't want to do anything that would create a news story that could hurt them (e.g. JC Penny).

I don't think there's anything inherently "wrong" with this, as I'd only submit these articles to sites that are related to that industry, and they can decided to publish them or not.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
#articlemarketing #ethical #needed #opinions
  • Profile picture of the author Joyful Thiek
    Personally, I think article marketing is perfectly ethical. Consider it as broadcasting your message to the world. The more article directories you submit to the better chances of getting people to hear your voice. But since posting the same articles over and over again is against the system, you obviously have to spin or rewrite the articles.

    And by doing this, you also link back to your site. This is the bonus. Getting the word out about something, whatever you're writing about, is the primary focus.

    At least that's what it is in an ideal world.

    In the real world, opinions differ on the issue. Some people say it's wrong to do article marketing because that's a dirty way of getting backlinks. But if we consider what the main purpose of writing that article is - it's that we want people to read what we write. And if Google realizes that, and I think it does, there's no harm in doing so.

    But it's good to limit our activities within Google's safety zone. Spinning articles and posting it all over article directories will surely look like a cheap shot, spamming if you will. My point is: if you're posting quality articles and linking back to your site, I think it will do you more good than harm.

    Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author vilnwv
    I honestly would not see anything wrong in your strategy. As stated above just make sure that everything remains on the up and up. It seems to be as long as the quality is high, thought provoking and useful, the backlink is just a bonus.
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