Overall, what you have to understand with search engines is that they are built to emulate how we think and to give us what we want. Those same people who are trying "get rich quick" schemes (or selling them to you) probably don't really see this in their lives. Search engines are built to give you what you want, and are constantly reprogrammed so that you do get better results.

What anyone wants from the Internet is valuable information really fast.

When people are trying to work this system through lots of padded keywords, bogus links, annoying pop-ups and other short-cuts - they just don't get it. As honesty is always the best policy, your best way to work the Internet (and get a lot of income through it) is to provide a valuable service - information you have that they can use to improve their life.

Here's some key points I've gleaned through recent work and study in Article Marketing:

>Preparation - the first key to success:

You should have an idea of what you want to write. Do up an outline or just start writing it all out at once - strike while the iron is hot.

Once you've got the essence of it, boil this down to a short, but catchy abstract. This is a come-on to exite interest in your article.

Figure out a key word list people can use to search for this article. You may have written it with these key words in mind. This list is required by most of the article directory sites.

Then sum it all up in one sentence or phrase that will tell your readers, "Hey, check this out - good stuff here!!" Your title has to excite people enough to read your abstract.

Finally, check out your article for typo's and grammar problems. As most of these articles are reviewed by humans, any errors could cause a reject. If they do pass it on with errors in it, you may lose some credibility. Most sites allow you to edit your articles, but how many thousands have viewed your page before you caught it? Prepare well before you execute.

>Write like you talk and like the stories you like to read.

People don't use grammar like they do in college. It's hard to understand. People like to read short sentences and brief thoughts. Speed - it's all about speed. Our modern speech is very much like this, a shorthanded series of words in an order we can quickly understand.

Your article should be between 500 and 1,000 or so words long. Although most article directories I've used accept up to around 1500 words, "Keep It Short and Simple" is the motto. People read short sentences, short paragraphs, and short articles. But you have to have something to say which people can get something out of.

Just skip HTML in your article. Very few article directories want it in that format. Any of these sites will take straight text, without any line breaks. Just write is in your favorite word processor program. Check it for spelling errors (but don't change your grammar - the way you wrote it when you though it is just fine).

>The resource box - your link to the world:

This is the real punchline to your article, why you posted it to begin with. This is what is going to flood business to your site and provide the search engine fuel. Most article directories want you to keep it to five lines or less, with a maximum of three URL's. While some article directories allow HTML, most want a plain-text version and will link your complete url (with the "http://") for you.

The resource box must give the person a reason to click, or at least give you credibility by listing your expert qualifications. You can spend a great deal of time working this out, as each word has a great deal of weight. Much as how any road racer must weigh the value (and weight) of each article they carry with them. Keep your resource box within the policy of the article directories. You may want to change this for the various directories, but one version should do the trick at the beginning.

Remember - the more time you spend in submitting to each directory, the fewer directories you'll be able to submit to.

>The key to prosperity is creating a flood of service.

You want to submit your article to as many article directories you have time for. This can take a lot of time, since manually submitting articles takes time. Don't worry, you won't get anywhere near getting to every article directory on the broad internet. You can (and should) pick and chose the ones you like and your type of article suits. As well as the ones which work well and are friendly to you.

In getting your articles submitted, you really need to get a program called an article submitter. What the best (and free) ones are is a browser which remembers where to fill in your article parts in what slots. A great many of these article directory sites are built on a free script called "Article Dashboard". If you get an article submitter which specializes in these, your submissions can be very fast.

The best free submitters are at best semi-automatic. But that's a lot better than doing the copy-and-paste yourself. Believe, me, I started on this route doing just that - and it was a great waste of some excellent afternoons. Now I just set the program going in the corner and submit to the next one as I get other work done (like this article). Eventually, you'll get to the bottom of the hundred-some-odd directories, submitting your new article to every one.

A key point in checking out an article submitter is whether they allow you to add sites and delete them. You are going to be finding some really great sites and some lousy ones. A google search will show you the top-linked sites that you should be on. And you'll find more as you surf the web. You should be able to add in the great sites you find and delete the ones who turn out bad.

>Keep an eye on why you're doing this and the results you expect.

As you go along, you'll notice that your articles don't show up all at once on every directory. This is because they have to be edited by humans. (Which is why you need to write great articles with no typo's.) You should check with each directory as you submit to find out which articles of yours they have accepted - and whether they are really active as a directory and providing a useful service to readers.

A note on these article directories. They are there to provide information and make their money through selling advertisements. People keep coming back to them as long as they keep providing great articles and information they can use. People who set these things up as a quick-buck scene have the whole thing on automatic and so usually don't make money at it, since there is no service being provided.

Submit your article to directories you like and who treat you well as the author. If they don't publish your work the way you wrote it, or don't give you your resource box, then quit giving them business. Just delete them from your article submitter program.

As you write, you'll get better. To begin with, keep it simple. Your keywords and resource box can stay the same for every article. Later on, with more experience, you will want to tailor these to your article - and this will get easier to do. You are becoming more professional and polished with each article your write. As you study your own work and others, you will also improve at marketing yourself and your data.

Really, a great deal of the fun in this lies in the writing. As you are donating your expertise to the world, all in exchange for one or a couple of links at the bottom of the page, you will get far more in return and as result. (You could even assemble these into a book - let's see, 1,000 words a week for 50 weeks gives you a 50,000 word book. Not bad...) And then you can sell that book in your resource box...

Ok, I'll let you get back to your writing and submitting. Hope this has been helpful. Go to my site below if you think so.