For the purposes of article marketing on line, here is a definition:



"An article is a relatively short, informative piece of writing that conveys an idea or concept in a useful, interesting and/or entertaining manner."

Now, take a good look at that definition. There are several key words to help you determine what an article is. The word ?informative? is perhaps the most important. Good articles let the reader walk away (or click away, as the case may be) knowing something they didn't know before. People read articles expecting to either learn something or be entertained?preferably both. You are expected to provide something worth learning if you want to keep readers coming back for more.

What about the term ?relatively short?? Articles can vary in length, from a few paragraphs to several pages. The length of an article should depend on the information you're trying to convey. For example, ?How to Fry An Egg? would be relatively shorter than ?How To Install Whole House Air Conditioning.? Whatever the length, the content of the article must provide enough information to fry that egg to perfection and air condition the reader's whole house, and, it must provide the information in an informative and/or entertaining way.

The last part of the definition is to help you understand what an article isn't. This is a crucial concept for anyone using articles to increase website traffic and sales, and it's one many webmasters fail to grasp: Articles are not advertisements.

No one wants to read a three-page ego-stroke about how great your product or book is, or why dozens of people in your hometown are raving about you. These types of ?articles? will not be circulated or read, and can actually decrease your website traffic when word starts spreading that your site is nothing but a bunch of advertising hype. This factor is especially true for quality article directories. Those that are human edited will quickly kill your advertisement-article. It will never be seen.

Another mistake that many budding writers make is trying to cram too many points into a single article. Keep your articles focused on one or two major points at maximum then give a link where more detailed information can be found if you are writing for an article directory. You can write multi-point tutorials if you are publishing on your own web site or newsletter.

By providing people with quality information at no cost to them, you will reach a far greater audience?and convert more readers to loyal visitors. If your goal is to sell stuff, back off a bit. Provide valuable free information first to prove yourself as trustworthy and, only after that trust is built, tell your visitor what you have to offer them.

Put yourself into the mind of the reader by asking yourself, honestly, what is the message being delivered by your article. If it is to sell something while not providing valuable free information, you are destined to fail.