Article Marketing Tips: Do You Need A Website To Do Article Marketing?

This is a relatively common question I receive from beginners:

"I've just started article marketing, and I am not sure what to write about. I don't have a niche, so I have just been writing on various aspects that interest me--classic films, cooking, sailing, etc. Because I don't have a website, I'm not sure what to write about or what to put in my resource box. I also am not sure how to go about picking the keyword terms that I hear people talking about. Do you have any article marketing tips for me?"

All of these are wonderful questions! You have heard about article marketing, but you are not just sure how it works.

Alright--let's start at the beginning.

1 - My first question for you is: What do you hope to gain from doing article marketing?

Most times people want to bring attention to their websites. That is what the "marketing" part of article marketing is referring to. Article marketing is done by website owners who wish to get a higher ranking in Google and bring more visitors to their websites.

Now, as a person who does not have a website, what do you want article marketing to do for you? Think about that as we move on to the next parts....

2 - The resource box is essential in article marketing.

When creating free reprint articles, you do not directly receive money in exchange for your articles, but you do receive a type of payment in the form of the resource box. The resource box is an author bio where you can talk briefly about yourself, your business, your websites and products and also give a clickable link to your website.

That link is precious. To state things very simply, that link in the resource box contributes to your website getting a higher ranking in Google. The entire resource box is like your payment--that is the reason why you write the article in the first place.

The publisher publishes your article because it is helpful content that his readers will love. You take the time to write the article because of the resource box.

Now, if you do not have a website, you don't really have anything to talk about in the resource box, do you? When doing article marketing, you really need a website. Otherwise, there would be little point in the exercise.

3 - You've heard talk of using keywords when doing article marketing. What is the deal with keywords?

When people talk about keywords, they are referring to the words or phrases that their target readers type into Google when looking for information. If your website is about chocolate recipes, then your keywords may include: chocolate cupcakes, chocolate deserts, etc.

People pick their keywords by doing research using a tool that is specifically designed for that purpose. You can use the free keyword tool offered by Google, or you can pay to use a tool such as WordTracker, Keyword Discovery, or any number of other keyword research services.

What is the common denominator with all of these questions about article marketing? In order to use this tool as it was intended and get the maximum benefits, you must have a website or web page that you wish to market.

If you have a business that you would like to market online, then you must create a real website first.

If you are just writing for the fun of it, then that is fine. Why not create a Squidoo lens or some other type of simple web page on your topic? You can link to that page in your resource box, and you will at least be getting some of the benefits that article marketing offers.


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For more info on how you can use article marketing to reach thousands of potential prospects for your website, go now to http://www.submityourarticle.com/report . Steve Shaw is an article marketing expert and founder of the popular article distribution service http://www.submityourarticle.com used by thousands of business owners.