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What's the shelf life for an article?

by James12C
12 replies
Hi - how long do articles "hang around" before they are lost for ever?

My impression is that an article gets a lot of views 48-72 hours after being published, but then fades away?

Is that the case?

Best - James
#article #life #shelf
  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    Originally Posted by James12C View Post

    Hi - how long do articles "hang around" before they are lost for ever?

    My impression is that an article gets a lot of views 48-72 hours after being published, but then fades away?

    Is that the case?

    Best - James
    James,

    If the keyword research is done correctly (I use Market Samurai), and an effective backlinking strategy, your article(s) 'should' 'hang around' for a very long time.
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    • Profile picture of the author dbarnum
      Articles can send traffic your way for years. Focus on popular long-term topics, not just keywords but certainly those as well. For example, on about any niche, people will always want to know:

      - glossary of terms
      - How To ______ (start a biz with it, grow a biz with it, use it, etc.)
      - reviews about it
      - resources for it
      - tutorials / instructional content about it
      - What to avoid
      - Popular features
      - Tools of the trade

      Articles can then be timeless.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matthew Duggan
      Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

      James,

      If the keyword research is done correctly (I use Market Samurai), and an effective backlinking strategy, your article(s) 'should' 'hang around' for a very long time.
      Agreed. Yes, there is a flurry of views when you first upload the article, as it will appear on the front page of whatever directory you use.

      However, as x3xsolxdierx3x said, if you create an article using keyword research as the starting point for your subject, you'll find the article will get ranked and start receiving more and more views, not less and less.

      There's also the chance for it to be featured on other sites, which helps the traffic flow. Dbarnum's ideas for titles are a good starting point when applied to your niche (and researched).
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      • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
        Originally Posted by Matthew Duggan View Post

        Agreed. Yes, there is a flurry of views when you first upload the article, as it will appear on the front page of whatever directory you use.

        However, as x3xsolxdierx3x said, if you create an article using keyword research as the starting point for your subject, you'll find the article will get ranked and start receiving more and more views, not less and less.

        There's also the chance for it to be featured on other sites, which helps the traffic flow. Dbarnum's ideas for titles are a good starting point when applied to your niche (and researched).
        There is an element of growth, of the actual directory itself that you use, that is directly related to how well an article does, in terms of visibility and search. One thing I've tried to get convey is that, any directory you submit to is dynamic in the sense that it is in some phase of it's growth and development. The tricky part is trying to determine where the safest place is to actually host your content, because, even still, many directories and Web 2.0 sites are STILL trying to learn and adapt to what Google actually wants. In the name of quality control, I bet that few forsaw that Squidoo would be slapped by Google, and that eHow would do a massive site wide purge/article sweeps of the content that took originating authors months/years to create.

        It is imperative to KNOW the directory/site you are submitting to, in terms of both it's TOS as well as it's future growth potential. I'd also go so far as to contact ownership and ask them pertinent questions as well. As an IM'er, I want to make sure that my time and effort investment is safeguarded for at least 5-10 years out.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          I've got articles that are 5, 7 and more years old, and they still bring in traffic.
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          Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

            I've got articles that are 5, 7 and more years old, and they still bring in traffic.
            Ditto that...
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Duggan
    By the way James, the link to your Listbuilding Course doesn't work. There's an extra http:// in front of the address and the second http// is missing a colon. Let me know when it's back up as I'd like to take a look.
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  • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
    I see articles about video games that have been around for 10+ years. Awhile back there was a game on sale for like $3 - it came out in 1998 or 1999. When I did a search for a review of the game, an article from 1999 came up as 1 of the first results.
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    Country Lifestyle Network
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  • Profile picture of the author BigDaddys101
    I am still getting commissions on the first campaign I ever attempted back in 06, even though they were crap article's and really a crap service.

    Its only 5-10 dollars a month but the money is still coming in.
    Just wish I knew exactly where from so I could update it
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
    Originally Posted by James12C View Post

    Hi - how long do articles "hang around" before they are lost for ever?

    My impression is that an article gets a lot of views 48-72 hours after being published, but then fades away?

    Is that the case?

    Best - James
    Forever, more or less.

    I haven't done any article marketing since 2008, and even my oldest articles still get some clicks each month. Not many, mostly, but some.

    I had two articles that actually got to be number one for their respective keywords, and although they have since fallen in the rankings, they still get a couple of hundred or so a month.

    If you get enough articles out there, this can add up. If you were to get a thousand articles that got a view each every other month, it's still six thousands views a year.

    You should also keep in mind that once you've written an article, you can do a bunch more with. Turn it into a video, turn it into a podcast, turn it into a PDF for distribution, compile them into an ebook, use them as a blog (actually, you should probably do this first) have them rewrite and used again.

    Most people don't get anywhere near the use out of their content that they should.
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  • Profile picture of the author James12C
    Thanks everyone - really interesting. And, woe - embarrassing broken link! I'll fix it. Shame......Grovel! - James
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    It depends on the article and where you get it published...

    I have one article that I wrote in 2002 that consistently sends me 40-50 visitors per month: Autoresponders Are a Publisher's Best Friend This one has been producing for me consistently for 8 years, and I see no reason why it would stop delivering prospects to my website... Other than the fact that I have always considered it one of my lesser-quality articles...

    I have several more from the same time period that are also sending monthly visitors to my site...

    So, the specific answer to your question is that its life-expectancy depends on the article itself, and where it finds publication...
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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