subject: Article Marketing And Search Engine Optimization [print this page] SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, gives you a selection of tools and ideas that you can use to improve your website's positioning in search engines. Each search engine applies a complex mathematical formula (like voodoo) to specify which websites show up in search results, and where they surface within those results.
Among the critical components of SEO these days is the quantity and quality of links from other websites to your site. This is a component of what's known as 'off-site SEO'.
The Importance Of Incoming Links In SEO
Incoming links comprise an all-important ingredient of any search engine optimization plan. The more links you've got pointing at your website the more favorable your rankings should be. Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines see a link into your website as a "vote" by another site owner, and they'll reward you with a figurative gold star by your name for each inbound link. The more of these gold stars you've got the higher your site ranking is going to be.
Growing incoming links may be a slow and costly undertaking. Article marketing is thought by many to be the most affordable and efficient way to get links to your site.
Each site that puts up your article will let you add a link to your website, typically in the author bio section below an article. One article can create a lot of links to your site if it's published by other website operators in addition to the article directory. Be sure the link from the directory actually works, and will send the reader directly to your site when it's clicked on.
Your Article Content and SEO
The value of the link into your website is measured largely by the content on the page or site on which the link is found, combined with the Page Rank of that site. The most valuable links come from high-PR sites that are written around keywords related to your website.
Since your articles will naturally use keywords and phrases that relate to the same topic as your website, and because article directories tend to have good PR, posting these articles on them is by nature very helpful for SEO purposes.
Good article marketing for SEO requires some effort. You need to first identify the keywords your optimization efforts are built around. That list of keywords will become an integral part of your article marketing plan.
Your SEO Article Marketing Strategy
After you've created your list of primary keywords, you need to begin putting together your overall article marketing strategy. The most efficient plan would be to center each article around just one keyword you're targeting.
A good rule is to use the keyword in the title, the first and final sentence and possibly once per paragraph in a 400 word piece. The material that appears in your own site will probably follow a similar pattern...
