Article marketing is a subject matter that we’ve touched on quite a few times before and with good reason. It used to be a viable way to build inbound website links and it used to be a decent way to gain a little extra website traffic. However, ever since Google implemented the Panda update a few months back, article marketing has received the cold shoulder from website owners, content marketers and general Internet marketers. The reason is that article directories were given lower search rankings in Google and that’s left many people wondering if they’re simply wasting their time on article marketing. If you’re still using article directories to build links and drive traffic to your website, are you just wasting your time?
Sort of.
It’s true that ever since Panda, article directory links don’t hold the same value. It’s also true that article directory content doesn’t show up as high in the search engines as it used to. Matter of fact, an article that we wrote about one of the niches we covered last year used to show up as the first result on page 1 in Google for a certain key phrase. Ever since Panda however, that same article has fallen to page 3. This is a huge loss and it’s unfortunately not uncommon at all.
However, article marketing through article directories is not a complete loss. To start with, article directory websites still get Internet traffic. Users still visit these types of websites to find information that they’re looking for. Also, if a person clicks on a search engine result for an article listed in a directory, there’s that chance that they will browse through other articles in the directory. Are you going to get a lot of exposure from continuing to dedicate time and energy to article marketing via article directories? Probably not. But if you have a new website and you’re looking for any traffic or exposure you can get; it’s not a complete waste of time- just don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. You’re still going to need to do a lot of other work in order to get exposure and website traffic for your site.
If you used to take part in article marketing and now you’re wondering what other options you have to help drive search engine traffic, here are a few ideas:
Guest Blogging
If you love to write and you love to market your website by writing, guest blogging is the way to go. While it’s true that it’s harder to make the right connections in order to start guest blogging on some awesome blogs, the effort will pay off. Not only will you get more exposure (if the blog you’re guest posting on is a popular blog), but if you’re allowed to include links back to your own website in the post and the blog you’re posting on is highly ranked, that’s another great benefit. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t start asking for links right away (unless it’s clearly stated that you can include them).
Press Releases
Once again, if you love to write and market your website via your thoughts, writing press releases is another good option. It’s good to note that writing a press release isn’t the same as writing a blog post or an article; there are guidelines to adhere to, but if the information that you’re releasing gets picked up by major outlets, it can equal good exposure and traffic. As always, every situation is unique and the simple act of writing a press release does not guarantee exposure or traffic for your website or business.
Social Media
You don’t get any link juice with social media for the most part but if you can engage people, using social media may be a good fit. There’s the potential to reach a lot of people and there are various different strategies that you can use when marketing via social media.
Article marketing definitely isn’t what it used to be and the benefits of it have been drastically reduced. Make sure to have a well-rounded marketing plan and as always, do what works for you and your business.
