1. Cost. It is free.
2. It brings reasonably fast and targeted attention to your site.
3. It sends automatic links back to your site. (Back linking)
4. Writing articles builds your reputation.
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1. Cost. It is free

Well, you did have to pay your ISP (Internet Service Provider) unless you are using the library computer like I did when I first started. The article writing recipe calls for you to think. Then you need to present those thoughts in an understandable and enticing way. It helps if you can type and can use a computer. So it does not cost you to think or to write out your ideas. You might start out on a public access computer, as I did, so there is no cost for equipment. If you used your own computer at home, you may see some expense within your electric bills. When I changed to a more energy efficient laptop computer, my electric bill dropped by $74 in one month. Not bad for starting a business. The cost of the computer was via credit card and also a tax deductible expense. It was buying time for me to build success.

2. Reasonably Fast attention to your site.

When you send your article to active directories (with high traffic) your site gets picked up fairly quickly. Be certain to include your byline with content about your site, your topic and your identification. And how to reach you. Remember you are writing as a knowledgeable person, or expert, on this topic, so make yourself available to others.

3. Automatic links back to your site. (Back linking)

This is especially good because it keeps working long after your article is finished. When others use your articles they are required to include your information. That is because of copyright rules. This increases the number of people linking to your site and directing traffic to you from different markets. I think that is cool.

4. Articles build your reputation.

To sell products at your site you have to do more than just show pictures or catalogs to people. To get people to be customers requires some element of trust and motivation. You need to convert those visitors at your site to buyers. You know in life trust is earned and is often hard to get and easy to lose. That is why it is essential for you to build a strong reputation as an article writer in your area of expertise. That helps to build your credibility. You are actually marketing yourself as much as your product.

So how does this help me with my site?

Use a keyword suggestion tool like Google.com/suggest or Overture.com or Wordtracker to see millions of searches for specific keywords. When you look closely at the keywords you type into the search engine box you will learn a lot. The search engine of course brings up websites that have those particular keywords. Those websites have ARTICLES with pertinent keywords, not fluff, not junk. The websites have been indexed. THAT is the process that directs traffic into websites with articles that are rich with keywords. YES. Underlying the success of these sites is the ARTICLES.

So many professionals say Content is king. But they do not mean just anything. They mean relevant content, fresh perspective or news. Why do you suppose so many people bother to write articles? They provide information in their area of expertise and that draws traffic to their sites. Surfers on the Internet seem to devour the content in some of these areas almost faster than it can be created.

So what if you cant write or can’t think of what to write?

Be creative. Do your research. Think. Start scribbling notes to get a head start on your article writing. Keep on writing or listing topics as long as you can continue to think of connections. If you have a bad case of writers block, go online and look up some articles on topics related to yours, but do not steal someone elses work. That would be unethical and illegal plagiarism.

I would say Good Luck with your article writing, but it is really more than luck. It takes practice and skill to write well for online sources. If you are totally at a loss, hire a ghostwriter at Elance.com or a similar site. Or find a good source of Private Label Rights articles and sign up for their program. There is always more than one way to reach your goal.

Donna P. Bessken, bydpb
http://birdsight.com

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