Article Marketing Tips: The 3 Most Common Beginner Mistakes

I get a lot of questions from article marketing newbies, and I've noticed some common themes that keep popping up. If you see yourself in any of these common mistakes below, just make the correction, brush it off and move on. Mistakes allow us to learn!

Here are 3 article marketing tips for beginners:

Mistake #1: I should be able to see results right off the bat, shouldn't I?

Truth: We love immediate gratification, don't we? We hate to wait for anything, especially for important things like Google rankings and website traffic.

If you manage your expectations wisely, you are much more likely to have article marketing success.

It would be highly unlikely to see any type of results in Google inside of the first 3 months of your article marketing campaign. Usually it will take at least that long to see the first fruits of your labors, perhaps longer.

Newbie--stick with it. Use the first 3 months to develop healthy article writing and submission habits. Don't expect to see any major changes at the beginning.

Mistake #2: I am trying to get a high ranking for my own name, right?

Truth: If I had a dime for everyone who thought their goal was to get a high ranking for their name...

Actually, you want to get a high ranking for particular phrases that people in your target market are typing into Google. You are not looking for people who already know your name--you want the people who don't know your name who are potential customers.

If you are a business coach, one of the keyword terms that you will want to rank highly for is "business coach". If you are a dentist in London, then one of your keyword terms will be "London dentist".

Do keyword research to compile a list of phrases to use when submitting articles.

Mistake #3: I can tell how successful a website is by looking at that site's PageRank. If a website does not have a high PageRank, then that means that a backlink from that site is worthless.

Truth: This is a very common mistake. PageRank (PR) is only one element that goes into determining where a website is ranked in Google. It is only one measurement of a website's authority. If you look at any one factor, you can get a misleading impression.

There are many PR4, PR3, or lower websites that have a higher search engine ranking for popular keyword terms than sites with PR6 or higher.

You cannot look at someone's PageRank or backlinks and determine how much a backlink from that site will be worth.

My advise to you is to submit to websites regardless of PageRank. Of course you want to submit to the big directories, but don't exclude the websites that you have not heard of just because of PageRank. The goal with article marketing is republication--submit to as many websites as possible and you greatly aid your cause. Do not assume that because a website has a lower PageRank that at link from that site is worthless.

When you first begin article marketing you are swimming in a sea of information, and it can be very hard to make out what is true and what is false. I hope this article has helped you sort out at least a few common beginner mistakes.


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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 directory at SubmitYOURArticle.com/articles visited by thousands daily.