The popularity of articles and article directories is growing rapidly. As a manager of an article directory, I see hundreds of articles of various quality that run through the site. Some of the more common errors I see are described in the following paragraphs. Authors who follow these tips will increase the effectiveness of their articles.
1. Write Articles Using an Effective Headline
Getting the article read is the most important job of the author. The most effective thing you can do to get your article read is to have an effective headline.
Your headline should either address a problem or state a solution that will entice your readers to want more. If you don't know how to write a headline that will engage the reader, try to remember headlines that you have seen that caused you to continue reading the article. Chances are, if you wanted to read more, then you can be sure that headline produced the same reaction in others - unless it was so specific as to only address a very small percentage of the population.
Other reasources that you can use to help you with your headlines are on the web. Places like drivetraffictomywebsite.com helps the user to create effective headlines based upon templates, and other examples of popular headlines. There are also good ebooks out there on how to write effective web copy that teaches you how to create effective headlines.
2. Follow the Article Directory Submission Guidelines
Make sure you respect the article directory owners by following their submission guidelines. If their article directory site is about gardens and flowers, don't submit your credit card article to their directory. Chances are, it won't get accepted, and it will cause bad blood between you and the article directory owner. If you would ever need a favor from the directory owner in the future, you can kiss that chance good-bye if you are perceived as spamming their article directory with totally unrelated articles.
More often than not, articles have to be accepted before they are displayed on the directory site. Spamming the directory with a lot of unrelated articles in the hopes that one will slip through will more often than not, get your account suspended before any articles slip through. Make it easy on yourself, and the directory owner and just follow the submission guidelines. There are plenty of directories out there where you can submit your related articles.
3. Use An Effective Resource Box in Your Article
The resource box is typically your best shot to get the reader of the article to do something beyond read the article. This is where you would put the call to action to get the reader to join your mailing list, visit your site, send you an email, etc.
An effective resource box should start off stating a problem and how it can be solved in about 1 sentence. It should also explain who your are, or what your site is about, and how someone can get more information about the problem you stated.
One effective use of a resource box contains a link to an autoresponder series that the reader can subscribe to in order to get more information. This is an excellent call to action that gives the author the chance to have repeated contact with the reader in the future, and gives the author a chance to build a relationship with the reader.
Articles can be a great way to bring exposure to yourself, your business and your website, but if they are not written, and promoted effectively, a lot of efforts can go to waste. Learning to write and promote effective articles is not difficult, and there are many resources available, such as those listed on http://allwebcontent.com, where one can find all kinds of information about how to create, promote, and use content. Visit this site today to find out more resources about how to create and promote web content.
Copyright 2006 B Hopkins
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