All webmasters know how important it is to obtain quality relevant backlinks to their website(s). Backlinks help to increase both Page Rank and traffic flow. One very effective way to build relevant backlinks is to write articles and submit them to article directories. If you write informative and useful articles other webmasters will pick them up for use on their own websites providing you with inbound links and traffic flow. Webmasters only use articles that are appropriate to their website's subject matter so any such backlinks will be from relevant pages.
If you want to be successful promoting your website in this manner there are a few things you have to keep in mind.
Quality Writing:
Webmasters are looking for high quality content their visitors will find informative or entertaining. If you write an article that is simply a sales pitch there is little chance that it will be republished. Your goal should be to write a useful article that others will actually want to read. If you keep the reader's attention all the way to the end of the article they will be much more likely to read the author resource and visit your site. If you keep in mind that you want to add value to any website that uses your article this type of promotion will work very well for you.
Author Resource:
The author resource is usually located at the end of your article. Most article directories will allow up to three links here, but you should check with their submission guidelines to be sure. Try to make full use of the number of links that are permitted and remember to use links to internal pages as well as the home page. If three links are allowed I recommend that you use a link to your home page, a link to an internal page, and a plain URL. Some webmasters will copy and paste an article into their page and omit text hyperlinks. If you include one link that is simply the url you will be ready for when that happens.
If you submit your article to multiple directories it is a good idea to vary the anchors and links in the resource box.
How to get inspiration and resources to put together a useful article:
Now that you understand the basics behind submitting articles for web promotion it is time to start writing. Where will you get ideas about what to write about? You should start out with ideas from your own website. What is the topic, or theme, of your website? The answer to that question will tell you what to write about. Just remember that you will want those who read your articles to be interested in what you have to offer on the website you are promoting. The purpose of your article will be to attract and keep the readers attention and make them interested in visiting your site.
Resources for article information:
In most cases you will want to gather research and information in preparation for writing your article. One good source for this information is the public domain. Websites like Wikipedia provide information that is copyright free. However, do not be tempted to just copy and paste public domain content.
A keyword search for your article subject will also provide a lot of resources for information that can be used. Just be sure to respect copyright laws and do not plagiarize.
