The Pros and Cons of Article Marketing
Article marketing helps increase traffic, PageRank and reputation. Despite Google adopting its Panda algorithm that ranks content farms lower, article marketing continues to flourish because articles used for marketing contain useful how-to information. Users always find and use such information.
Moreover, publishing houses needing articles for reprint are familiar with article directories and so they land up directly and pick up articles. Article marketing will continue to grow as time passes and here are its pros and cons:
Pros
1. It gets your website a higher PageRank. Google allots a PageRank to websites based on the number of back links. A higher PageRank means that the website may soon find itself on top of the Search Engine Results’ Pages (SERPs). All articles carry a bio box at the end that link to the company’s websites and companies regularly get 1000s of articles written and distributed across article directories. This increases their PageRank.
2. Articles carry important and relevant keywords that are often searched for by website surfers while trying to find a product or a service. The article directories that host the articles are well-structured and rank very high. So, when curious web searchers land up on article directories, they spot the website link in the bio box and head out there. This way, article marketing helps increase traffic to a website.
3. Article marketing is almost free. Distributing articles on directories is free, while it does not cost much to write articles. Freelancer write articles for anything between $5 and $25, and many article-on-demand sites provide writing and editing services. So, getting articles written is both quick and inexpensive.
4. The article directories also grade a writer. If he writes well and contributes regularly, he is graded as an expert. That increases a writer’s reputation and the company that employs him also gains because the reader gets the perception that this company employs experts and veterans.
5. If articles go viral (when a publisher picks these up for reprint), the bio box also appears in the reprint thereby enhancing the company’s visibility. As visibility increases, back links start coming in at a furious pace leading to massive volumes of traffic and sales.
Cons
1. The articles must be well-written and be of practical use to the reader. Even well-written articles that do not contain substantial information may be of no use. The information contained must be solid and written by a professional writer.
2. Sometimes articles stuff in keywords into an article making it look all spammy. Keyword stuffing can mar reputations.
3. No sales or affiliate links must be included in the articles. This can lead to rejection.
4. Article submission is a time consuming process. However, companies can hire an article submission service.
These were the pros and cons of article marketing. The pros outweigh the cons by many million notches and if you have not attempted article marketing so far, now is the time.
Next, read this in-depth and informative UAW review or discover how to choose the best article marketing service for your business.