If you’re going to market online, it’s all about the content. Web content is much more than simply what exists on your Web site. It’s really anything that’s shared anywhere online that represents your business. Article marketing used to be a necessary part of an online content marketing strategy, but its effectiveness has been put into question now that black hatters have given it a bad reputation. Article marketing has become known for spammy tactics like spinning and duplicating and has resulted in Google cracking down on article content as part of the Panda update. Does this mean that article marketing no longer matters? No, and here’s why.
Article marketing still matters because it’s a great way to position yourself and your company as thought leaders and experts within an industry. Before the Google Panda update came along, many online article writers lost sight of what was really important, which is writing high-quality articles to educate and inform the target audience in hopes that they will eventually turn into clients or customers. Article writers became so obsessed with writing for the search engines and getting links that actual target audience members got lost in the shuffle and were sometimes forgotten about.
While it shouldn’t be the main priority, article marketing still matters because it still has SEO benefits. The Google Panda update might have changed the game, but that doesn’t mean that you should ditch your article marketing strategy–you just need to tweak it.
Previously, article marketers focused on quantity. They’d try to get as much out of one article as possible and submitted it to numerous sites in order to get as many links as possible. While that strategy might still get you some links, they don’t hold much value. Now, the focus has shifted to quality. Instead of submitting an article to twenty article marketing and document sharing sites, it should be submitted to one high-quality, relevant site that attracts visitors from your niche. Obviously, it takes a little bit more effort and time to find industry sites and blogs that accept guest posts than to simply submit to a huge document sharing site, but the payoff is worth it. Think about it. What is more valuable to your business? A link from a “content farm” or a link from a Web site that gets actual traffic and visits from your target audience members?
Article marketing is absolutely still effective; it just needs to be done properly. Think about your target audience first, and search engines second. Remember that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to the actual article content and the places to submit to. Article marketing is most effective as part of a diverse online content marketing strategy. In addition to article writing, don’t forget about e-mail newsletters, blog posts, blog comments, social media posts, videos, press releases, business profiles, and directory listings. Each of these inbound marketing strategies is one more touchpoint to be noticed.
