Here’s exactly what you need to do if you want to position an article that you have written to rise to the top of the search engine results page for particular keyword. This process is typically referred to as search engine optimization. Our goal is to essentially create an article that is optimized to rank well within the search engines and to do a variety of other things that we will talk about in a moment that will help persuade the search engines to realize that your article “should” be prominently featured at the top of the results for whatever keywords you happen to be targeting.

The very first step is to pick a keyword. It’s beyond the scope of what we are talking about to go into the process of keyword research, but make sure that you pick a keyword that does not have a gazillion competitors all vying for top listing in the search engines. The next step is to create an article that includes the keywords you’re targeting within the title as well as numerous times within the article itself. Don’t overdo this, and make sure that you create an article that would be appealing to human reader.

Next, submit this article to a high-ranking article directory such as EzineArticles.com or GoArticles.com. After your article is submitted and accepted by the article directory, you will receive a direct link to the article you have just submitted. So far so good? You may have to read all of this a few times for it to fully make sense. The next step will be to create backlinks that point to the link you were given by the article directory after you submitted your article. Backlinks are essentially regular web links, except that they come from websites that are held in high regard by the search engines. It is very important that the anchor text of these backlinks contain the keyword you are targeting.

Following this process will enable you to create article content that has a very high likelihood of reaching the very top of the search engine results page for the keyword that you happen to be targeting. If you don’t notice that you are at the very top, keep working on building those backlinks. That’s the big “secret” to helping persuade the search engines to feature your article near the top of the results page.

Let’s assume for a moment that you have a product or website that you would like to promote through the use of articles. It’s very important that you understand the process through which you go about doing this without scaring away potential product customers or visitors to your website. Let’s agree right now than most people do not necessarily like interacting with pushy, sleazy salespeople. What you need to understand is that the article content you are in the process of engineering to promote your product and/or website is essentially salesmanship in print. Does that make sense?

The last thing you want to do is engineer an article to come across as being the pushy, sleazy salesperson that we all want to run away from. That means you need to strike a vastly different tone within your article then what you might assume. In other words, you can’t simply come out and say that your product will change the reader’s life and that they need to click on the link at the bottom of the article and that if they don’t do so they’re idiots and that this is a limited time offer that will expire at midnight. That kind of breathless wording can leave a reader feeling extremely annoyed and repulsed. It will not really persuade them to do anything that you want them to do. There is certainly a time and a place for more aggressive salesmanship, but it is certainly not within the contents of your article.

Your best approach is to identify the problem that your website or product can help solve. Focus on the nature of the problem itself, and talk about some of the solutions that currently exist that are not optimal. Do not make any kind of overt sales pitch within the contents of the article itself. The goal is to simply open the reader’s mind a little bit and to make them more likely to click on the link that is located in the resource box of your article which will then take them to your product sales page or to your website.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be a problem that your product or website helps solve. You could also help enhance the enjoyment a person experiences while engaging in a hobby or some other activity. In other words, instead of talking about the problem, you can talk about how much more fun a particular activity or hobby would be if certain information were known or if certain products could be  purchased easily. You probably get the idea. This is how you can effectively promote your product or website without scaring away potential product customers or visitors to your website.

If you’re an article marketer who has traditionally created article content to be posted on your own website, you may want to consider expanding your horizons and posting your articles on popular article directories as well. Let’s talk about why you would want to do this, and whether or not it makes sense for you and your business.

Let’s first begin with a basic understanding of what we are trying to accomplish as article marketers. Generally speaking, we are attempting to generate traffic to our website. Once somebody is on our website, they can do a variety of different things which we can dramatically influence based on the way we design and organize our website. But that’s not our concern right now. The initial focus is to get them to your website. What you do with them once they are they are is something to be discussed another time.

We will assume that you understand the importance of creating article content that is useful but incomplete, and the importance of subconsciously persuading your reader to click on the link that you have placed in the resource box at the end of the article. With that in mind, ask yourself a question. What is stopping you from getting more people to visit your website based on the articles you are already creating? When you think about it, it probably has to do with the fact that there are a limited number of people who are discovering your article content when you have it placed on your own website. How can you get more people to potentially see your article?

Article directories were created many years ago to serve as content repositories for articles from a wide range of topic categories. Over time, search engines began to give these article directories increased importance and relevance in search listings. As a result, an article that is posted to an article directory can be prominently featured in search engine results pages when somebody does a search for a particular topic that you may have written about. Keep in mind, we are not talking about a uniquely created article that is being exclusively submitted to the article directory — we are talking about the same article content that you are already posting to your website.

You can essentially get more traffic to your website by submitting your article content to popular article directories. It’s quick, it’s easy, and you have nothing to lose and potentially a lot of traffic to gain!

Let’s talk about the characteristics of an effective article for marketing purposes. You need to begin by realizing that anybody who happens to read an article you write will be doing so with certain things running through their mind. To the extent possible, you need to try to join the conversation that is already taking place in the readers mind. Does that makes sense? For example, somebody who is reading an article that you have created that talks about how to fix a broken game system is probably feeling extremely frustrated and is eager to have their game system working again.

What you may want to do in an example such as the one mentioned above is to talk about the different things that an individual can do to further diagnose the nature of the problem to make sure they know exactly what is causing the malfunction in the first place. You can then reassure them that there is no need to take their system in to be repaired at a repair shop given that the problem can be fixed with some simple household tools. You can then proceed to tell the reader how to fix the problem. Think about this for a moment.

You have essentially identified with a problem that the reader has. You have walked them through a diagnostic process that demonstrates your expertise in the topic and also helps convince the reader that they now fully understand the problem that their game system happens to have. You follow this up with quickly telling them how to fix the problem. You treat the reader as if though they are also an expert. You assume that they will understand exactly what they need to do given the limited nature of your explanation of what to do to fix their game system.

Now imagine if in the resource box of this article you offer to SHOW the reader exactly what they need to do to fix their game system in a short video that they can purchase for a modest price and have access to immediately over the Internet. As you can imagine, you will have people whipping out their credit card begging you to simply show them exactly what they need to do to solve the darn problem so they can go back to enjoying their game system without having to incur the expense of sending it back to the manufacturer or taking it in to an expensive repair shop. This example contains all of the characteristics of an effective article for marketing purposes. Use this as a template for your own article marketing efforts and don’t be surprised when the money starts rolling in.

If you are planning to write a promotional article, there are several key ingredients that you will want to make sure your article contains to maximize its effectiveness. Let’s begin with an understanding that you never really want an article to come across as being overly promotional. The reason why is because people do not like being sold to. They become less trustful if they perceive that you are trying to convince them of something. How can you get around this?

You want to make sure that you are already joining the conversation that is taking place in your reader’s mind. For example, somebody who is reading your article about diabetes may have recently just been diagnosed with the disease. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment, and try to think about what would be going through a persons mind who is nervous, confused, and concerned about what their future may hold given that they have been diagnosed with this particular illness.

Please be careful, your reader is a real person, with real feelings. Assuming that you are attempting to help this person, it is important to present them with information that will subconsciously persuade them to want to visit your website by clicking on the link that you have provided in the resource box portion of your article. One strategy for doing this is to provide information that is genuinely useful, but somewhat incomplete. This will compel your reader to want to click on the link you have provided in your resource box.

Something else you can do is ask questions within your article. Make sure that the questions you are asking will prompt the reader to conclude that the answer can be found on your website. The idea here is to warm up the reader and to try to build a little bit of intellectual rapport with them so that they are more likely to not only click on the link that will lead to your website, but also follow through and take the action that you wish for them to take once they arrive at your website.

These are the key ingredients of an effective promotional article. You’ll notice that there’s very little in the way of overt promotion. You want to try to be conversational, competent, and to provide information that helps the reader but that also leaves them with questions in their mind. This will help compel them to visit your website to find the answers. Be ethical — you’ve been given a template through which you can essentially control the actions of other people without them even realizing it.