An article submission strategy should form an essential part of promoting your web site, but if you are missing one vital ingredient, most of your efforts will be in vain. This article will show you what you could be missing, and how adding this to your strategy can have a hugely positive effect on the results you get from your article submissions.
Many people seem to believe they can spend just five minutes writing an article, submit it to lots of article directories, and then enjoy an avalanche of traffic to their web site the following morning.
If only it was so simple. Once again, there is no such easy route to success.
Which of the following articles do you think would achieve the best results after it has been distributed?
- One that has a great title, is focused, provides valuable information, reads well and is error-free;
- Or, one that contains grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, reads poorly, is badly structured, and fails to provide any insight of value.
Or to phrase the question slightly differently, which article do you think is more likely to be selected by a publisher looking for some quality content to put in his ezine with a readership in the thousands if not tens of thousands?
It's obvious of course - he will be looking for a quality article that will reflect positively on him and his ezine.
There is another important factor you need to remember. Once you have distributed an article online, it will exist online FOR A VERY LONG TIME - with YOUR NAME attached to it. And if you have distributed it correctly, it will sit on hundreds of different web sites. Clawing an article back at some point in the future will be a very difficult if not impossible task.
This means you need it to reflect positively on your name, and on your business, not just now, but for a long time into the future. And an article you have put together in just five minutes with little care or attention is unlikely to do you or your business any justice.
If you want article submissions to work for you as an online marketing strategy, it is absolutely essential that you give the highest priority to ensuring the quality of the article.
Imagine yourself in five years time, with your business, your own level of success, and your reputation, growing healthily over that time. Do you really want a poor quality article with your name attached still in publication?
I would think not.
There are, however, some easy tips to follow that will help guarantee the quality of your article and ensure that article submissions are of benefit to you both now and in the future:
1. Ensure you have a clear focus for your article - the title should also reflect this.
2. Run it through a spell-checker - you may be surprised what you may have missed.
3. Leave it for at least a couple of days, then come back to it and re-read it. This will mean you spot elements of your article that read poorly and need to be revised or rewritten. This is absolutely essential for improving the overall quality of your article.
4. Leave it again for a day or two, then come back and re-read it. Hopefully this time it will read a lot better, although you may still notice the odd element that requires a final improving touch. When I write an article myself, I often return to it several times before finally distributing it.
5. Ask a third party to review it - this could be a partner, friend, associate, or even a professional editor. This again can reveal problems with your article that you hadn't spotted yourself.
6. Once you are completely happy with your article, run it through a spell-checker one last time.
These few steps add very little time on to the process of creating your article, but they can improve the quality of your article immensely. By ensuring the quality of your article, you will maximize the results you can achieve from your article submission strategy and boost your own credibility and reputation over the longer term.
Copyright (c) 2007 Steve Shaw
Take a look at these "sales prevention" issues, and see if you are preventing your auctions from working as best as they can.
High Start Price Many eBayers will simply avoid auctions with a high start price. Most people bidding on eBay are turned on by the thought of getting a bargain, and a high starting price rules this out. If you can bear the risk, you are far better having a low start price so as to encourage a bidding activity.
High Buy it Now Price As we've seen, eBayers are looking for bargains. If your fixed price is to high, your item probably won't sell. One strategy you can try after the item fails to sell, is to reduce the price by a small amount and try again. Repeat this until you find the optimum Buy it Now price for your item.
Lack of Pictures If you think about it, you're asking a buyer to pay you money for something they can't see or touch. The best way around this is to place quality images of your item on the auction page. Conversely, if you have no pictures on your auction, prepare for a failed auction.
You Use a Reserve Price A Reserve Price will cause many eBay members to avoid your auction. Reserves are a real deterrent for many people. I would advise you never to us a Reserve Price. Interestingly, on eBay Australia, the Reserve Price option has been removed and is not available for use by sellers. Maybe other eBay countries should follow suit.
Thoughtless Use of Words Bad spelling or poor grammar in your auction will cause a proportion of eBayers not to bid on your item. Indeed, if your auction title contains incorrect spelling, then your item may not even be returned in searches. It is highly recommended that you have your auction text checked for spelling and for grammar. And make sure your auction title does not contain incorrect spellings.
Greedy Shipping The spirit of eBay is that you charge your buyers the cost price for shipping. It is perfectly acceptable to charge a reasonable amount which covers your time, packaging materials costs and the actual cost of shipment, but don't be tempted to overdo it. Some eBayers will move on very quickly if they feel you're being unfair on shipping costs. You could try giving your buyers shipment options. They may be prepared to wait for their delivery via a cheaper service.
Negative Feedback If you have negative feedback which pulls your percentage rating down to below 90%, you can expect some eBayers to avoid your auctions. There are two actions you can take. First, you can try buying and selling low cost items with a view to improving your percentage rating. Also, you could create a new eBay account, and build up a good feedback rating on this account using the low cost buy and sell technique.
Unreasonable Terms Its' amazing how often sellers seem to go out of their way to insult prospective buyers. The classic such term is "Serious bidders only, no time wasters!" If I see this or similarly unreasonable words on an auction, I will move on. These kind of statements are entirely unnecessary, and indeed they make the seller appear to be the one who could be difficult to deal with. Don't use them in your auctions.
PayPal Free Zone Not everyone likes PayPal. I understand this. However, if you want to succeed on eBay, it is essential that you accept PayPal on your auctions. You only have to look at the figures relating to the proportion of eBay business which is paid for via PayPal. It is now running at over 70%. It is a fact that some eBay buyers will ignore auctions which don't offer PayPal as a method to pay. So, even if you're not a fan of PayPal, you need to offer it on your eBay auctions.
Check your auctions and see if you're guilty of any of the above.
Correct some of these and you may find your auctions start to produce the results you're looking for.
Both Steve Shaw & Brian Mcgregor are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Steve Shaw has sinced written about articles on various topics from Article Writing, SEO Articles and Build Online Business. Steve Shaw's at SubmitYOURArticle.com will distribute your article to hundreds of publishers and web sites with the click of a button.. Steve Shaw's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.
Brian Mcgregor has sinced written about articles on various topics from Bird Flu, Web Development and How to Sell on Ebay. Brian McGregor is an internet entrepreneur specializing in eBay. He publishes the eBay Auction Newsletter - . Get traffic to your sit. Brian Mcgregor's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.