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Starting out in Article Marketing

by MissLizzie
5 replies
Hello Warriors!

I've been dabbling in internet marketing for a couple of months now, and I've decided that I need to focus on one thing and one thing only, and that's going to be article 'syndication' marketing! Currently, I'm planning to write and publish five 1000 word+ articles a week on my site first and then, somewhere like EZA.

Now, I appreciate that there have been hundreds of threads about this subject, and I've tried to read comments and ebooks as many as I can, but I'm still struggling to know how I should set up my own site for article marketing purposes.

For instance, is it best to aim for a domain with a broad generic area, like dog training, dating or forex, and then, use that site as a vehicle to promote different affiliate products? Or would I be best to aim for something more specialised that really narrows the topic down and go for more "targeted traffic". I was also wondering whether I should be looking at making my site attractive, or will great content be enough to make sales and get people to click through?

Sorry if all of this sounds silly, but I know that if I was looking for content from somewhere like EZA, then I'd want to check out that the author was well-versed in their chosen topic and I'd be looking at their site too!

Thanks in advance for all of your help - it's really appreciated.

Best,

Lx
#article #marketing #starting
  • Profile picture of the author tokaje
    Hi Lx
    You will probably find it hard to rank for the more generic keywords, as there a many competitors out there...., so you will have to do your SEO, in order to find the best keyword to optimize your pages for.
    The name of the domain isn´t really that important, if you do your SEO good, and therefore you can go for a broad domainnaim but you will have to rank for other keywords probable in order to get to page 1, for the different products you plan to promote
    So therefore longtailedkeywords is more easy to rank for, to get the SEO traffic.
    Great unique content is king, and Google loves it...... but it sure doesn´t hurt that the site looks attractive to your visitors :-)
    I don´t know what niche you are going for, or what keywords, but if you need help picking keywords, youre welcome to PM me :-)



    Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author webapex
    The value of exact keyword domain names (like DogTraining.net) is being discounted by Google, if you go for highly focused domains you will probably run out of things to write eventually and need to get more sites. There are plenty of trademark domain sites doing well (Yahoo, Amazon)

    I would think about a slightly more open ended name, like MyFreeTimeQuests.com that works with a family of topics.

    Do look into producing short videos as well, they are still being given some search results preferences.
    Signature

    “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field” Niels Bohr

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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by MissLizzie View Post

    I'm still struggling to know how I should set up my own site for article marketing purposes.
    You shouldn't, really.

    The article marketing is the way of getting traffic to your site.

    Your site should be set up to attract and serve your potential customers and ensure that you build your list, not so much "for article marketing purposes".

    Originally Posted by MissLizzie View Post

    For instance, is it best to aim for a domain with a broad generic area, like dog training, dating or forex, and then, use that site as a vehicle to promote different affiliate products? Or would I be best to aim for something more specialised that really narrows the topic down and go for more "targeted traffic".
    Either can work well: both are perfectly viable business models (I have some of each).

    Originally Posted by MissLizzie View Post

    I was also wondering whether I should be looking at making my site attractive, or will great content be enough to make sales and get people to click through?
    I always think that most people put far too much emphasis on "appearance" and not nearly enough on "content", so I'm biased on this subject. I think appearance is relevant only in so far as ...

    (a) it's consistent with the purpose and function of the site, i.e. list-building; and ...

    (b) it doesn't put people off (a lot of considerations about "appearance" are to do with "avoiding mistakes and bad things" rather than "trying to attract people". Once they get there, you've already attracted them: what you need to do is "not lose them" - so "bland" and "neutral" and "an appearance that nobody can object to" are pretty good things. You're there to build a list and make sales, not to win website design awards.)

    Originally Posted by MissLizzie View Post

    Sorry if all of this sounds silly, but I know that if I was looking for content from somewhere like EZA, then I'd want to check out that the author was well-versed in their chosen topic and I'd be looking at their site too!
    Almost everyone with whom I'm in touch because they've syndicated my articles from EZA has told me that they'd already checked out my site before I contacted them. I don't know to what extent that really matters, though: it seems to me that a large part of it's probably just "natural curiosity", and that if they want the article, they want the article?

    The articles originally published on all my own niche sites are there more for Google to see them than for visitors to see them, to be honest. People who stay long enough can find them all: I'm not "hiding them away", but what I want people to see, when they get to my sites, is the opt-in, the "featured post" on the landing-page and a product-review (or two).

    I want them to know that it's a content-rich site, but I don't necessarily want them spending a long time there actually reading all the content.

    Good luck, Lizzie. It's always nice to see someone starting off in article marketing with a viable business model rather than just "depending on article directories for traffic and backlinks".
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  • Profile picture of the author MissLizzie
    Thanks everyone (and Alexa in particular! ) - that's really helped me to get a few things straight in my head. Somewhat stupidly, I'd forgotten about some simple IM 101 points that I'll need to address on my site.

    To start off, I'm going to try and focus on one broad domain, and hopefully, if that goes well, I can expand from there. But more importantly, I'm going to draw up a business plan first, together with a list of articles that people might like and might want to syndicate. While I'm a fan of 'taking action', it's sometimes good to know what action you're going to take and why!

    L x
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    • Profile picture of the author netoptions
      My take is not to start with a broad niche. I say this because my first meaningful site was just that. It is coming along and ranks well (first page) in the search engines for many terms against giants in terms of competition, but I have slaved five+ years to make that happen.

      I'd focus in. Instead of dogs for instance, I would choose a specific area in the broader dog niche. Maybe focus on behavior, or some specific type of training etc. Much easier to sell to the search engines if you choose a more focused area.

      Just my experience. I find that a more narrowly defined area is easier and gets results much faster. A broad niche has too many niches inside it. Selling your site to the search engines is a grueling task when you go broad.
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