The Joys of Yahoo Site Explorer: Getting the Low-Down on your Website’s Progress

My Terminal Binoculars
Originally uploaded by Jim Frazier

Chances are the reason why you started article marketing go something like this:

* You want to drive traffic to your website

* You want to leap-frog up the search engine rankings 

* You want to establish yourself as an expert in your niche

Those are a few of the most popular reasons, but at the heart of pretty much every reason why folks do article marketing is the need to build links. 

I always recommend that folks keep some sort of "stats tracking journal" so that they can get a clear view of their progress.

Now keep in mind–when you're doing article marketing you will likely not see a huge difference in your stats for about 4 months, but it's nice to get that stats tracking process in place from the get go (for more info on how to set up a stats tracking system so you can see how your article marketing is impacting your website's progress, see this post: 5 Things To Do Before You Start Article Marketing)

I've told you before about how you can use Google to see how many sites are linking to your website, but I've found that the Yahoo Site Explorer actually provides more information.

Let me walk you through how to use Yahoo Site Explorer…

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Do You Give Your Articles A Cool Off Period?

Cooling off… Detroit RiverWalk
Originally uploaded by NoneOther… {Captured In Lights}…

In the online world where publication can take place immediately, it's easy to overlook one of the most important parts of the writing process–the cool off period. 

What's the cool off period?

Well, after you write your article it's a great idea to set it aside for at least a day or so before you submit it.

What should be happening during that cool off time?

When we're in the heat of the writing process we can get so used to looking at our article that obvious mistakes escape our eyes. We also get used to reading and re-reading our article to the point where awkward sentences and phrasing may start to sound normal to us. 

Taking a step back from your article gives your mind a chance to rest.

Really, you may leave your article thinking, "This one is perfect–I'm absolutely certain that I've proofread it backwards and forwards and there are no mistakes here!"

Then, after being away from the article for a day or so you look at it again, and it's like you're seeing it for the first time.

You say, "Where did all these errors come from? I forgot to put a conclusion to my article! Can you believe that embarrassing typo in the title that I almost sent out to publishers?! Thank goodness I caught these before submitting!"

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Reader Survey! What Do You Want To Learn About Article Marketing?

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I think of Creative Article Marketing sort of like a school where folks who are interested in article marketing come to learn how to get the best results for their time and effort. 

In my mind, I have ideas of what I think are valuable things to know, such as:

• Beginner stuff–the basics of how to write and submit a first (or second, or third) article
• Ways to take things up a notch–this is intermediate and advanced article marketing techniques
• Productivity–How to organize your writing time so you get more done in less time
• Understanding basic SEO stuff having to do with article marketing (such as keywords and the SEO benefits of article marketing)
• Writing and editing tips–including resource boxes, titles, article content, and figuring out what to write about

 These are topics we've been covering since the get-go, but what I really want to know is:

What do you want to learn about article marketing?

This blog is here to serve you guys, so please chime in if you have any sorts of posts you'd like to see or anything you'd like to see explained in more detail.

Also, if you have any point of confusion or an area where you think you could definitely improve if you had the right educational info, please share those ideas!!!!!

I can't wait to hear your thoughts

ArticleTrickle now launched at SubmitYOURArticle.com

After many months of development and testing, we have now launched our brand new technology, ArticleTrickle, further enhancing the functionality offered by SubmitYOURArticle.com's article distribution service.

This technology allows articles to be 'trickled' out to our distribution network in a far more natural fashion than the all-at-once approach - the effect would be very similar to if you were distributing an article manually, and only able to distribute it to new potential publishers for say an hour or so a day.

Members can choose the length of time over which they want their article to be distributed - for example, articles can be trickled out over 7 days, 30 days, etc. This helps ensure links generated from article submissions are built up more gradually, which may be more search engine friendly.

In addition, members can now also schedule when they would like articles to be distributed in advance. So members can for example log into their account at the start of the month, set up all their articles to be distributed over the course of that month, set it and forget it - and we'll take care of the rest.

So how do you use it?

Members just need to click the Submit button to submit an article for distribution in the usual way - you'll then see different distribution options allowing you to take advantage of ArticleTrickle and the scheduling capabilities.

Not yet a member? Click here now for more information.

How To Customize Your Resource Box In 3 Steps

Roberto Clemente Bridge
Originally uploaded by michaelrighi

Lately we've been going backwards and forwards over how to craft a really strong resource box.

We've established that first off, you need to have a really great basic text resource box.

Once you have a strong text resource box, you can create an HTML resource box that is just as effective pretty easily. 

But what about customizing your resource box? 

If your article is what lures reader's in, why not capitalize on the momentum you create in your article and tailor your resource box to perfectly suit the subject matter you've just been sharing with the reader?

Customizing your resource box is the final stage of Resource Box Evolution.

The trick is to create a bridge between your article (which is educational) and your resource box (which has some info about yourself, your website, and a call to action to visit your website).

Let's take a look how it's done…

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

5 Essential Ways To Build Credibility Through Your Articles

Believe, Love, Fly, Watch
Originally uploaded by *BlueMoon

When you start an article marketing campaign you'll often hear advice on ways to improve the technical SEO oriented side of article marketing, but there is one very powerful aspect of article marketing that folks commonly overlook:

Building credibility with readers

What is credibility? 

According to Dictionary.com, credibility means:

1. capable of being believed

2. worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy

Remember, as respectable business owners we're not just trying to "drive traffic to a website"–we also want to form relationships with our readers where trust and confidence will grow over time and where the reader/potential customer would eventually say,

"I believe him/her. I think I can trust him/her. I have confidence in his/her abilities to provide me with what I need." 

But how do you build credibility, trust, and reader confidence through your articles?

I think there are 5 crucial make-or-break areas where an author has the chance to start building a healthy relationship with a reader:

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

How To Write A Killer HTML Resource Box…The Easy Way

Easy Button
Originally uploaded by Bravo213

 I see this more times than I'd like to admit:

An author has an absolutely gorgeous text resource box, but their HTML resource box is just a skeleton of what it should be with just their keywords hyperlinked. 

I think that the thing that trips most folks up is they know that the perk of the HTML resource box is getting to hyperlink their keywords, and it seems like they think that if their keywords are hyperlinked that that's all they need to do.

Wrong!

Your HTML resource box should be every bit as descriptive and informative as your text resource box. Your resource box is a piece of marketing content for your website, so you need to take special care when putting it together. 

Doing the HTML resource box can seem a little tricky because you may think you can't say "for more info, go to => www.mysite.com" You may think that you need to totally rephrase things so that the HTML resource box makes sense with the link appearing as hyperlinked keywords rather than as an action statement ("go to my site here =>").

I'd like to share with your a little trick I have for making a stellar HTML resource box the EASY way:

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

How to Drive Traffic to Multiple Sites with One Article!

Photo Fireworks of nature

Alright, so we all know that by submitting articles you can drive traffic back to your website.

Here's how that works:

For every article you submit, you will include a resource box that has a link to your website. Each time that article is picked up for publication, you receive a precious one-way backlink to your site.

But what do you do if you have more than one site associated with your main site? 

Let's say you have a main website, a blog, a Squidoo lens, and you also want to deep link to specific pages on your website and blog–what do you do? 

You know I recommend having a single link in your resource box, so does that mean you have to write a different article for each web page you want to drive traffic to? 

Definitely not, if you get a little clever and take advantage of the free ArticleLeverage™ tool we offer our members at SubmitYOURArticle.com. 

Let me walk you through how I use this tool for my own article submissions:

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

How To Write A Killer List Article in 10 Easy Steps

Image by Helle V

From a reader's perspective, list articles are very attractive–there is something about a good list that just draws readers in.

A list is basically like providing a built in road map for your readers to navigate your article (and it's true that we usually skim content that we read on the web, isn't it?).

A list makes it easier for a reader to grab the basic facts and to take away a few points of value, so if you haven't tried this article writing technique, I encourage you to give it a go! 

But how do you write a great list article?

It's actually not that hard, but it may have more elements to keep in mind than you imagined.

When you're writing a list to use in article marketing, here are some key steps to follow:

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

How To Calculate The Keyword Density Of Your Articles

We've been all over this keywords thing backwards and forwards–yes, it's good to know your keywords when you're doing article marketing, but depending on how you use them things can either go very right or very wrong.

How can things go right?

Well, whenever you're building a website or doing any type of online marketing (including article marketing), appropriate use of your keywords can draw desirable attention from Google. This means that when folks are typing your keyword terms into a search box, Google knows to associate your website with those words, which means you'll rank higher in the search engine rankings. 

How can things go wrong? 

Read more… | Article Submission Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)