Article Writing: Tips on SEO, Article Marketing, & More

Article writing can be a huge part of your content marketing strategy. Done right, article marketing has a lot of benefits. Article writing can:

• build your expertise and reputation in your industry
• flood your website or blog with traffic
• increase brand awareness and recognition

Article writing can also be an important component in your off-page SEO strategy by pointing quality, one-way links to your site. Because articles focus on the reader, not the link itself, these links are much more valuable, especially when you publish your articles on directories with high PageRank.
To help you make the most of this type of content marketing, we’ve compiled a list of the best article writing tips to get you started.

Article Writing Tip #1: High-Quality Article Directories

Where you publish your articles is just as important as packing them with valuable information. There are hundreds of article directories on the web, some paid and some free, but you want to stick with sites that have a good reputation with search engines, high PageRank, dofollow links, and good traffic.
Some of the top article directories include:

• EzineArticles.com
• GoArticles.com
• IdeaMarketers.com
• ArticleRich.com
• Triond.com

Another option is to publish your articles on web 2.0 platforms. These directories offer rich features to make creating and reading more enjoyable, just as photos, videos, polls, maps, and quizzes. Many of these sites are also profit-sharing platforms, meaning you can insert your own AdSense code or get commissions from text ads.
Some of the top web 2.0 article platforms include:

• Squidoo.com
• HubPages.com
• InfoBarrel.com
• Tumblr.com

While these resources are at the top of the list, there are plenty of others you can use. This article lists high-PageRank article directories, and this article lists web 2.0 sites by PageRank.

Article Writing Tip #2: Writing Guidelines

Writing articles to build your business can be tricky. You want to write them quickly so you can do other profit-generating tasks, but you also want to convince readers that you are a reputable, trustworthy resource.
Use these article writing tips to help you create expertise-building, engagement-promoting articles.

• Keep articles between 400 and 600 words. This length is short enough to be quick and easy to read (and write) but long enough to show readers that you know what you’re writing about. Here are some additional tips on writing articles faster.

• Write about a very specific topic. The more specific the article topic is, the easier it is to write. Narrowing down the topic also helps build expertise in a short article.

• Use data and multimedia. Where possible, support your topic with evidence: tables, charts, and percentages build trust and show expertise. Incorporating photos, videos, infographics and other types of media makes your article more engaging and seem more useful.

• Read and follow the publishing guidelines. These guidelines stipulate the length of an article, disallowed topics, how many links you can include, and more. Not following the rules will get your content unpublished and may get your profile banned.

• Cite your sources. Telling people where you got your information builds trust. It’s also an easy way to link back to an article, blog post, or product on your site.

Article Writing Tip #3: SEO Your Articles

Your articles can do a lot more work than provide backlinks when you make sure they are optimized for search engines. The good news is, making your articles SEO-friendly is easy. Use this simple checklist to optimize your articles.

1      Use the keyword phrase in the title.
2      Use the keyword phrase and synonyms occasionally throughout the article.
3      Use the keyword phrase in the summary, meta tags, and image alt tag.
4      Write naturally and offer as much valuable information as possible.
With these article writing tips, you can create value-packed content that will spread your message and build your expertise in no time.