Promoting Content is an Important Part of Increasing Traffic

Writing original content is vital for designing a successful website or blog. New content must be added on a regular basis to keep it active. If a site is neglected, PR ranking and traffic will be lost and hard to get back.

One thing to remember: writing and posting the content is only part of the work involved in promoting a website. The content itself needs to be promoted.

10 Tips to Promote Content for Free

  • Start a Newsletter. A mailing list is extremely helpful. It allows the owner of the list to send out weekly or monthly updates about website, specials and new content. It also keeps business owners in touch with their readers and clients. Note: Only including partial articles in the newsletter will encourage readers to keep reading the piece on site. They may wind up reading more than the article that got them there!
  • Tweet about it. Twitter is growing in popularity every day. Business owners, bloggers and webmasters should jump on this lucrative social networking bandwagon while they have the chance. Who knows what the next “in thing” will be! Read more about promoting on Twitter here.
  • Digg It and Others like it. These types of sites are designed to get the word out about new and top notch content. Joining these free sites and using them to promote content is a must for getting the word out about a website and it’s content. A few of the good ones are; digg.com, plurk.com, buzz.yahoo.com, delicious.com, reddit.com and stumbleupon.com.
  • Facebook. Another great place to network and connect with other business owners is to have a facebook account. It should be used for more than just connecting with old highschool friends. Using it to connect with others in business is very savvy. Starting a fan page is also a great way to get the word out about new content. Posting regular updates on facebook will bring in more traffic and new readers.
  • Submit Content to Article Directories. It is important to have a good authors box with 1-2 links back to writers websites. After 30 days, sending original content to article directories, makes it available for others in the same niche. It is a great tool to get free back links.
  • Install Social Plug Ins. WordPress is by far the best blogging platform in this writers opinion. They have fabulous plug ins to help readers promote what they read. Every blog owner should have social links in the footer of their articles. It gives readers the ability to tweet about great posts they read, or at the very least give it a thumbs up on sites like digg!
  • SEO. Always make sure articles have good titles, meta tags, h1 & h2 headings, proper key word usage and tags. This helps search engines promote the articles, and index them properly so potential readers can find them! Proper SEO is a vital key for increasing traffic. Tip for WordPress Bloggers: Install All In one SEO plug in.
  • Encourage and Respond to Comments. If an article receives a comment, respond to the comment. Encouraging conversation is the site owners job. Asking colleagues and friends to read and comment on articles is a great way to get conversations going. If a site is intriguing to readers they will come back, tell their friends and maybe even post about it on their site/blog!
  • Link to Articles. Visit other blogs and leave NON spam comments. Instead of linking back to home page of site, linking to actual articles on site will help get the word out about the content. This is also a great tip for forum signatures. Using the title of article with link is also a good way to intrigue potential readers and make them want to click and follow.
  • Guest Blog. Being a guest blogger is another free way to promote a website. In the authors box can be a couple links back to articles that are popular or new. Guest blogging for website with high ranking and same niche is the key to making the most of this tip.

Promoting a website is an ongoing task. There are no “quick fixes” to increase traffic. It takes hard work and determination to create popular websites.

Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved

Why Writing Articles Works Like a Traffic Magnet

By: Kurt Naulaerts

Article Marketing is hot. Every single day webmasters and program owners write and submit thousands of articles on any subject you can think of. The reason for this is that an article is content. And content is king. Before you start to think that this is another SEO technique that may or may not work depending on the current algorithms of the search engines, think about it.

EVERYTHING on the internet is CONTENT.

The internet is a veritable treasure trove of information. Good, bad, valuable or not, the internet is all about providing information to people. That is why smart internet marketers know that people want information from their websites, not just SEO enriched pages of advertising.

The loopholes that search engine optimizers have been trying to use for high ranking in the search engine has created a plethora of sites that boast high keyword ratios, thousands of irrelevant hyperlinks and sometimes even redirection. These redirected websites try to create an optimized web page that the search engines will rank high but actually redirect the viewer to a less search engine friendly site.

Well, the search engines caught on. The websites that were getting the highest placements were not always providing quality information or useful content. In fact, they not only lowered the ranking of these sites. They even removed them from the listings completely.

This sent a shock wave through the internet community and smart marketers realized that there is only one sure way to convince the search engines that they were meant to be at the top: Quality Content. And a quality way to provide content is through articles.

Not only do the search engines love content and articles, but visitors do too. By providing visitors with useful information and relevant links to other sites, they come back again and again! And that is not the only benefit.

Because website owners are now hungry for content, there is a huge market for informative articles that other website owners can use on their sites. By offering information to these sites in exchange for a hyperlink to your website, you get even more exposure, both to search engines AND customers.

So, if you want an easy way to provide content then start writing articles. Ask yourself what kind of program you are promoting. What niche market does it belong to? What keywords are people searching for in the search engines to find your program?

If you have answered these questions then you are well on your way. Next, describe the topics of your program. Use your own knowledge. Search for info in the search engines. Explore your hard drive. Maybe you will find an ebook you had forgotten about.

Are you ready to start writing?

The headline determines for a great deal whether someone is going to read your article. How to, Discover, Why, X ways to, are fine starting points.

In the title and first paragraph mention your keyword. Use this keyword a few times in the rest of the article. Do not advertise in your article! Do not mention links or URLs! An article is meant to be informative. It is not a sales letter.

And still the main reason why people write articles is to promote something. Surprise: you have a resource box! When you submit an article you may (MUST!!) include a resource box. This is your ad! You have about 5 lines to mention your name, a link to your site and to be creative in order to attract visitors.

Do you see the value of writing articles?

Article Source: http://www.homebusinessresourcedirectory.com

About the Author:
Kurt Naulaerts and Barbara Smith are 2 marketers working closely together. They will be happy to help you on your way to earning a full time income online. www.webtrafficbuilderpro.com/BarbaraSmith.html

NOTE: You may use this article for reprint ONLY if you DO NOT change the article in ANY way, AND you keep the source and bio IN TACT with ALL links ACTIVE!