Looking For Traffic In All The Wrong Places - Part 5

Step 4 - Traffic

There are two other mentionable resources when it relates to advertising your blog. The first is writing and submitting articles to article submission and syndication services. The other is writing and submitting press releases to press release submission and syndication services.

You probably asking, what's the difference between the two?

The difference is articles are written to instruct, inform, amuse, or entertain readers about your niche, topic, or area of interest. A press release is written to announce, update, or inform readers about your product, service, or area of interest. Articles are written in first-person and sometimes second-person when appropriate, without advertising your related product, service, or area of interest. Press releases are written in third-person with the intent to advertise your product, service, or area of interest.

They both are important because this is the best way to create backlinks and buzz for your blog. Articles create backlinks while press releases create a buzz. Backlinks are links which point back to your blog from an external site, either with anchor text or a regular URL address. The more backlinks your site gains the easier and faster search engines will find your blog and index it. Also, backlinks will help your ranking within search engines. There is a negative effect to gaining backlinks...and it's called the Google SandBox Theory. It is theorized that Google puts a holding period on new sites, especially when they grow backlinks too fast. This hold is so that Google will know that the new site isn't using unethical practices to gain traffic. Growing backlinks rapidly is a red flag of unethical practices. You shouldn't have to worry about the Google Sandbox, because Journal Home domain is currently not affected by the Sandbox, but this is a good note for future reference.

Rest assure using article and press release services are completely ethical, as well as anything which I instruct you to perform, but there are ways to gain traffic extremely fast using unethical SEO practices or some call it "Blackhat Search Engine Optimization". Blackhat Search Engine Optimization is not illegal, but many consider it unethical. Blackhat are SEO practices which only benefit the search engine (not the visitor) or SEO practices which are designed to defeat the search engine algorithm. The practices I instruct you to perform are considered "Whitehat Search Engine Optimization". Whitehat Search Engine Optimization is considered ethical. Whitehat are SEO practices which benefit the visitor with a focus on the search engines or SEO practices which are designed to work with the search engine algorithm, for the benefit of the visitor finding your site/blog. That's why relevancy is important, because a site/blog that links from anywhere including non-relevant sites then it's sometimes considered Blackhat others might consider it Greyhat, which means it's neutral, neither good or bad.

Okay, now let's first discuss writing and submitting articles. An article is a lengthy writing which is informative, instructional, entertaining, general, amusing, etc. When writing an article you should NOT include any direct advertising or mention of your blog, unless it directly relates. When writing and submitting articles you are writing for webmasters and newsletter (ezine) publishers, who wish to publish and share your article with their website visitors or newsletter members. Your article will usually go through scrutiny by the submission and syndication service before being published on their website for pick up. Then your article will also go through scrutiny by the webmasters and newsletter editors before picking up your article to publish on their site or newsletter. Most publishers do not like to publish articles which are meant for self-promotion, so avoid self-promoting and advertising. Most publishers do not like to publish articles which are not lengthy, so your articles should be at least 400-1200 words (not characters) in length. Though, some services have a minimum quota, you should look at the rules and terms of each article submission and syndication service. Most publishers do not like to publishers do not like to publish articles with a great amount of grammatical errors and misspellings, therefore try your best to clean up your article.

I recommend writing and submitting an article at least once a week, though I understand everyone cannot have this discipline, so if once a week is too much, then do so at least once a month. You should write your articles without being date-conscious, this means try to avoid specifying a date or anything which reveals a time of event. By not having any date restraint your article can be published at any time, such as a year or two from now. Your article should be closely related to your niche. It does not need to be exactly about your niche, but it should be targeted, such as if your blog is about a famous musician then your article should be either about the famous musician, music, entertainment, instruments, etc. (a category which relates). The grammar, spelling, and punctuation of your articles should be correct. Your article should also be keyword-rich. It is a must your articles are original and written by YOU in your own words. You should also create a blog category (within your Journal Home member area) titled "Articles" and all articles should be saved within this category. By categorizing your articles you can use this as your managed portfolio for future prospects. If you write 1 full article each week within 1 year you will have 52 articles, which looks very impressive to employers looking to hire freelance writers, content writers, copywriters, journalist, editors, etc.

With that said, most employers looking for writers do not look for bloggers or accept blog articles as professional content. Though, you should start small with small publishers/employers. Your blog articles will be most appealing and acceptable by small publishers/employers, such as weekly or monthly editorials. Also, you can gain good experience with query letters, rejections, and freelance writer rights when dealing with small publishers/employers when looking for payment for your articles.

Do NOT create any articles on your blog or on the web which you wish to keep private or wish to sell for profit. In some cases, publishers will buy your content even if it is already in distribution, but once sold they will commonly have you sign an agreement not to freely distribute or sell your article any longer or they may purchase the content just for their use without any agreement. In some cases your article will lose value if it is already in distribution or already sold. In this case you will need to price your article accordingly. If you plan to sell your articles for profit, then I suggest you create original content at the time you receive a writing project and retain the rights to your article by only agreeing to First North American rights. Having many articles without any prospects is like having a handful of diamonds without any diamond buyers. It's only valuable when you have a buyer.

I recommend do NOT include any copyright tag to your article. Any content published is automatically covered by the international copyright law. By adding the copyright tag, it shows your novice in the area of writing and employers will recognize this as a weakness.

When creating your article it is also important to think wisely about your article title or headline. Many times the title or headline can determine the success of the article. This will be the first thing someone will see before clicking to see your full article. If the title or headline is catchy, enticing, or interesting then it is highly likely a person will click on your article to read more. Make the title unique, do a search on Google or Yahoo with quotes surrounding your title or headline to make sure it is not already being used. By having a unique title or headline the proper search engine credit will be given to your article. This also makes it easier for you to track your articles.

The important piece of the article is the "About the Author" excerpt, which trails the article. The "About the Author" excerpt is where you should include your blog link either by anchor text or regular URL. I suggest using a "regular URL" such as: http://www.journalhome.com/yourusername because not all article submission services will enable the use of HTML tags. By having the "About the Author" excerpt you create backlinks to your blog as well you can give a brief description of yourself and talents. Click here to see an example article with the "About the Author" excerpt.

Here is a list of general article submission and syndication services. You should get familiar with a handful and submit your full completed articles to 10 or more article submission and syndication services within 1 week for the best exposure. There are also niche based article submission and syndication services, it will be your job to find those.

• ContentMasterWorld

• GoArticles

• ArticleCity

• EzineArticles

• ArticleFactory

• Constant-Content

• Associated Content

• Idea Marketers

• Content-Articles

• Amazines

• ArticleWarehouse

• AuthorConnection

• ArticleFinders

• WebsiteFuel

• Marketing Pitbull

• Organic Rankings

• BPubs.com

• ArticleHub

• SimplySearchIt

• UncoverTheNet

• SubmitYourArticle (pay service)

• PhatomWriters (pay service)

• Article Nexus

• Knowledge-Finder

• LinkGrinder

• Buzzle

• ArticleTime

Believe it or not once you submit your articles you are now a editor. You are the author of the article and if any drastic changes to the original article is needed it is the job of the editor to make those changes or give the permission for the changes to be made.

This week I would like to you to first choose at least 10 submission and syndication services, which you would like to use to submit your article, either from above or a list of your own. Once you decide which services you will use, become familiar with their Terms, Conditions, and Guidelines. Once familiar with the submission rules begin writing your article accordingly. Try to be as interesting as you can be. If you need to look at other articles on the submission and syndication services websites then do so, to get a better idea of how to write a compelling article or an idea of writing style. When writing your article be original, in your words, and in your voice. Be heard.

Submit your article to the 10 submission and syndication services when the article is fully complete and ready for distribution. Complete this within 7 days and then we will discuss "Press Releases".

Remember to continue adhering to the Daily To-Do List, below.

See you next week!

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Looking For Traffic In All The Wrong Places - Part 6

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