If you are still searching for ways to get more traffic to your website and can’t afford any spare cash to spend on PPC marketing, then article marketing might just be the way to go.

For those who have completely no idea what article marketing is all about, here’s the standard online definition straight from the horses’s mouth,

Wikipedia defines Article Marketing as a a type of advertising in which businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for distribution and publication in the marketplace.

Each article contains a bio box and byline that include references and contact information for the author’s business. Well-written content articles released for free distribution have the potential of increasing the authoring business’ credibility within its market as well as attracting new clients.

In layman’s terms, what you basically do is write articles with important keywords, submit them to the top article directories relevant to your niche in order to attract more visitors to your Website as well as to encourage incoming links from other user’s websites ( Back links ) , thus improving your search engine rankings.

When done properly, article marketing can be a highly effective, yet inexpensive means of promoting your online business or website.

And to ensure you get the best results from all your article marketing efforts, here’s a couple of simple yet effective tips you should take note of :

(1) Make Sure You Use A Compelling Title For Your Article & Include Your Keywords In It.

Note that your article title is the first thing that is going to attract readers to click and continue on to read your article.

You probably won’t be reading this line if i had used a  boring and unattractive title like “Article Marketing Tips” right?

One of the more eye catching titles often include or start with some of these phrases “Discover How….” ; “How To…” ; “The Top 10 Ways…” etc.

You probably have seen heaps of these starter phrases all over the internet and it works.

(2) Your Article Must Be Of Certain Value To Your Readers.

If your article doesn’t add value or knowledge, nobody is going to appreciate the fact that you have wasted 5 minutes of their precious time reading a bunch of crap.

Make sure that whatever you write is of quality and contains informative or educational content that your readers will find useful and helpful, otherwise all efforts are wasted, period.

(3) Keep Your Article Short & Sweet.

There is no hard and fast rule how long or short an article should be, but basically a rule of thumb is that it should be in the range of 400 – 700 words.

It is sometimes hard to provide good information if your articles is too short and i reckon no one likes to read an article that stretches over a 1000 words as well.

(4) Make Full Use Of Your Author’s Bio Box or Resource Box.

Sometimes i can’t believe that so many business owners took the effort to do the proper research, write a great article, endure the pains of submitting them to the article directories, but fail to write a proper description to “Promote” themselves or their businesses or websites.

Let me remind you again that your resource box is the single most important aspect of your article marketing efforts, it’s sole purpose is to entice readers to visit your website.

That is why it is essential to state your level of expertise and achievements in your chosen niche and show why your readers should regard you as an authority in that field.

Another important step of making full use of your Resource Box is to link your article to a “Freebie” that your reader has to Op-In in order to download.

Everyone loves “Freebies” especially free stuff related to the niche they are interested in.

(5) Slow & Steady Wins The Race.

Bet you have heard about the children’s bedtime story about the race between the “Tortise and the Hare”.

The same underlying principles applies here, slow and steady wins the race.

Let’s assume you have written 30 article on your niche topic and wants to submit them to the top article directories.

Instead of submitting them all in a day, you are better off spacing your submissions over an extended period of a month, one a day so that you enjoy a more consistent flow of traffic to your website over a longer period of time.

Sure it might be a whole lot more work but the results will be significantly greater.

And if you are like me, who is always trying to get the most benefits out of my online marketing efforts through the use of automation and tools, then check out Unique Article Wizard.

I’m sure you will be amazed by the sheer amount of backlinks and increased traffic flow you will recieve.

Good luck and have fun with article marketing because it works.