The viral affect of article marketing is a benefit that I love about this method of promotion. It's like an added bonus that comes along with article marketing. The viral affect can not be predicted, which is why I think of it as somewhat of a bonus rather than something I expect from submitting my articles to directories.

When I decide to write an article, I'm writing so that someone will find it interesting and insightful. The greater the number of people that find this, results in a greater benefit for me and my website or whatever it is that I'm promoting. This occurs in mainly three ways:

- The reader clicks on my link in the resource box area and I benefit from direct article directory traffic.
- The reader feels that the article may also interest a friend and forwards it to them.
- The reader feels that the article would be a good addition to their website or may interest their ezine readers and decides to publish it.

This is the viral effect of article marketing, especially the last point that I've made. Not only can I then carry on benefiting from the article in ways that the article directory provides, but I also benefit from visitors being referred from the site of the reader who decided to publish the article. Plus, don't forget I'm also increasing my website's backlinks in the meantime.

Article marketing provides benefits that many other website promotional methods do not have. For instance, submitting your website URL to link directories has no viral affect (however it is still an important part of website promotion and link building).

Another important part of article marketing is the ability it provides for authors to show their knowledge and expertise in a subject area. Writing an informative article allows the author to provide an insight into what the reader can find if they follow the link at the end of the article. It can also place the reader in a certain mindset before even seeing your website if they trust what the article says and it provides trustworthy and factual information.

There are many aspects that contribute to the success that any particular article can bring an author. Article title, topic, grammar, layout, word count, and resource box are just a few of the contributing factors. Write articles that tick all of the right boxes and you could benefit from the viral affect that article marketing possesses. However, write poor articles and expect poor results and the viral affect of article marketing to be non-existent.