Article marketing tips – Q&A

I just read some really good article marketing questions from Ashique. I posted my summarized answers on Facebook but I thought I would expand on them a bit here:

Q1. What is your Number 1 strategy in generating more Page Views to each of your articles?

A1. I don’t have a #1 strategy to generate more article pageviews cuz I’m a total badass. Occasionally I’ll link to them from a blog post on one of my related blogs or I’ll mention it in a newsletter to my subscribers, but at the moment, that’s it. Let it be known that I suck at that!

Q2. How do you write the Title of your article to get more traffic?

A2. I have a file on my computer of all the article titles that I thought were great. If I can’t think of a compelling headline on my own, I’ll take a look through this swipe file of mine for inspiration. I don’t typically do keyword research when deciding on a title. Another badass move, but oh well. I write for humans. Not robots. Robotic beings don’t rule the world…yet.

Q3. How do you write the body (main content) of the article effectively so that it gets picked up by the publishers?

A3. My first rule of writing content is NOT to write for search engines. I write to ONE person. I define the problem they have, and I write about the solution that I have to offer. I write as myself. I write how I speak. I write in a conversational tone and I inject some humour in there if I can.

Q4. What is your Number 1 strategy behind writing an effective Author Resource Box to get more clickthroughs to the link that you provide?

A4. I write a custom resource box for each article. I continue writing about the topic and offer a link for more info. For example: “To learn more about [good anchor text link], visit my blog at http://myblog.com where author [yours truly] shares her tips and experience.”

I include the anchor text for SEO purposes and my main URL for tracking purposes. (I have a google alert set up for my URLs so I know when an article has been published or someone mentions my site – this is also a good way to catch those sumbitches who don’t make the URLs clickable. Jerks.)

Q5. Got any tips for the newbie article marketers? Please share.

A5. My #1 tip is to focus on really great content. Don’t rehash all the other articles that have already been published. Come up with a really unique idea and cash in on it. It’s hard and a bit time consuming, and you may not end up with as many articles, but it’s worth it because people actually read and publish those types of articles. They also get a lot of clicks. Most importantly, they establish you as an expert which solidifies your brand and garners trust in your readers.

How about you? Do you have any article tips of your own to share?

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