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3 Things to Do Before You Submit To Article Directories, Plus 4 things you must not Forget

To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills back.
With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is why article writing, submissions and publications are also getting popular. (You’ll find great information here about how to flip websites for profit.)

There are already many tools that people can use to make the process of distributing their articles more easily. Though this is invaluable in getting the contents more exposure, which is only half of the story.
Let us take a look first at the common mistakes that some people make before submitting their contents to article directories:

1. Publishing content that does not help your readers.
Maybe in the process of writing articles, you are thinking that all that is you wanted is links back to your site. And any visitors it can generate are fine.
Guess what? Not all article banks and directories are going to accept your content automatically. Oftentimes, they have some guidelines and specifications on the articles that they are accepting. (For great information on getting targeted traffic for making money on the internet.)
You can double the number of sites you can submit to by writing articles that the directories want to share with other people. All it takes is one publisher with a hundred thousand readers to increase your potential audience overnight.
Write the articles that publishers want in their publications if you want your article marketing to work the most effective way for you. This also means you have to obey the standard guidelines, spell checks, researching on a good topic and even hiring a writer to produce a good content on your behalf.
In the end, it is all really a matter of choice on your part. You can start getting a little exposure from increased links back but on a very basic level. Or enjoy massive exposure from a little extra time making quality contents.
It will be your choice. You may not be aware of the fact that an article submitted on directories is not meant to have the same level of exposure as highly-targeted content ones geared on a narrow group of people.
Learn the difference between these two and it will surely help you know what kinds of articles to write and to submit.

2. Confusing the reason to promote the articles with the reason to write them.
In article writing, there are three key benefits why you are promoting them; branding, lead generation and promotion, which are all part of your optimization efforts.
But there is only one reason why you write an article, and that is to inform your audience. If the article is not focused on this primary and most important purpose, it will fail to achieve the three promotion benefits because no one will be interested in reading them.
You need to figure out first how to get people to read what is in your article, then make them click on your resource box. You can achieve this by producing better contents.

3. Failing to maximize the promotional opportunities of article marketing.
You may know already that your articles can help you generate additional links back to your site. But do you know that you can get more visitors and better search engine results from that same articles?
Mention keywords at strategic places. Just be sure not to overdo them. Some are even using anchor texts which is also an effective method. But it is important to know that majority of the directories are not able to support this.
Remember that is not only about the links back to your site. Part of doing well in your article marketing is getting picked up by publishers with a large number of audiences and gaining the ability of leveraging other brands because of the quality of your work. Better search engine results also are great benefits. (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)

But these things do not put much money in your pocket. There are other factors that can turn your article marketing efforts into an opportunity that can boost your earnings. Not just increase the number of visitors to your site.
Start out with a plan and see to it that your article will serve the function that you intended it to have.

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5 Mistakes That Can Make Your Blog Useless

Too often bloggers complain that after a great start, a year later their blog is as dead as can be. This is a common problem that almost always revolves around a small list of common mistakes made by the blogger. A blogger can sit back and expect the blog to do all of the work for him or her, which is a terrible way to approach blogging. A successful blogger would tell you that great blogging takes a certain amount of dedication and hard effort to make it work. You have to put effort into a blog to sustain it, especially after the first month or so of completing the design. Many people work so hard during the initial design phase that they get lazy after it is complete. To avoid this happening to your blog, check out these five common mistakes that can bury a blog.(Learn more about a great way to make money from home by flipping websites.)

Infrequent Updates

One of the biggest mistakes a blogger can make is to forget about posting. The most successful blogs are updated with new posts at least once a day. Some larger blogs are constantly being updated. You should try to create new posts as often as possible. If you miss a day here and there, it will be no big deal. However, if you miss a week or more without posting, you might as well consider the blog dead already. You have to take a few moments, even as few as five, a day to create interesting posts or content. If you are writing short and concise posts like you should be, this should not be that challenging. It is easy to keep your blog updated, if you make it a priority.

Too Much Advertising

Most bloggers today do want to make a profit from their blog. This is a trend that can get out of control quickly however. If you are interested in adding ads to your blog, do so with caution. There is nothing wrong with a few appropriately places ads that offer viewers links to places that correlate with your blog’s content. However, adding a massive amount of advertisements on your blog is a mistake. If you have a bunch of flashy ads on your blog, your content will get lost within the hoopla. Therefore, you should always limit your ads to three or less per page. Make sure you place them in appropriate places that let your content shine through. Don’t allow enormous ads to fill up your pages either. They will simply annoy readers. Be smart about including advertising on your blog! (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)

Unprofessional Look

Looks do matter when it comes to your blog. The more professional and crisp your blog looks, the more your readers will take you seriously. If you are interesting in boosting traffic, you should try a more serious layout or presentation for your blog. If you can afford to hire a professional, you should. If you choose to do it yourself however, you must make sure the end product is good. If you have a sloppy blog that looks homemade you will not likely have a great response. Try different layouts and approaches to see what gets you the most traffic.

Graphics Overload

Pictures can add a ton to your blog and draw in more readers. However, when done excessively, much like ads, pictures can drive people away. The main reason too many pictures can ruin a blog is because there are many web surfers who still use slow internet connections. When they try to load your page, it will take an excessively long time to do so. This in turn will likely drive them and anyone else with this problem away. Try limiting to a few pictures per page.

Inappropriate Content

Everyone knows that the web is a place where you can freely express yourself. However, if you want your blog to survive, you might want to think about that freedom of expression. Although you should always say what you feel, you can do so in appropriate manners on your blog. There are ways to say anything on your mind, without using profanity or any offensive lingo. If you want your blog to be successful, you cannot be inappropriate with your content.

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Your Eyes Have It

Your eyes demand attention whenever you are talking to someone or even glancing in their direction. They are an important feature of your face and the skin around the eyes can bring the eyes to healthy life or contribute to a dull, lifeless look.

Naturally as you age the skin surrounding the eyes develops fine lines and deeper wrinkles. This is because the delicate skin around the eyes is very different to the rest of the skin on your face. It is much thinner and in fact has very few oil glands which can keep it naturally moisturized. This means its dries out faster and being thin, if not treated gently can stretch and tear, causing bags and sagging. (Friends, if you are too skinny, go here to gain weight woman.)

For this reason is it important to treat the eye area gently and dont wipe or rub the eyes harshly, instead just patting the area without pulling is recommended.

Puffiness around the eyes is common on waking but can remain throughout the day for a variety of reasons including tiredness, smoking, drinking alcohol, diet and even hormonal changes. If you do have a problem with puffy eyes try elevating your head slightly at night on a higher pillow and drinking plenty of water throughout the day to cleanse out your blood system. One cause of puffiness can be as simple as the cream you are using. Eyes are naturally sensitive and will water continuously to cleanse them of impurities. When using creams around the eye area make sure you dont apply them too closely to the eye and seek out natural skin care creams without harsh chemicals and additives. (Heres where you can find more detailed information if you want to gain weight plus.)

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Off-page Search Engine Optimization-More On Articles

What youre doing here is following the age-old theory of advertising, which is to do everything you can to get your prospect to do what you want them to do right now. The bottom line is, if they read your article and dont click on your link to visit your site, then they are never going to do so, so it has to be now or never.

Your article should paint a word picture of just how much they will benefit from following your advice, or what will happen if they dont take the action that you want them to take. Tell them how they can use the product that you are recommending, and how it will enhance their life when they do so.

Finally, make sure that you tell them why they have to do it now, and what to do in order to take action. You might be surprised to see how many people will take action as long as you instruct them to do so and tell them exactly what they have to do.

However, while you build up to the final call to action throughout your article, you do not include the final instruction of what your reader should do to take advantage of whatever it is you offering in your article. This may sound a little strange, but bear with me for a moment, and it will all become clear.

All of the articles that you create in this way are going to promote your business because you are going to submit them to article directories. When you do so, you have to upload certain supporting information. (Learn more about a great way to make money from home by flipping websites.)

You have to submit a two or three sentence summary of your article.

Many would-be article marketers are very lazy and are content to use the first two or three sentences of their article for this short summary, but this is a big mistake.

Some of the article directories are extremely popular with the search engines, as (for example) articles from the leading directory site, EzineArticles regularly appear in the Google top 10 search results.

When this happens, the short summary you add to your upload is the description shown on the results page (in black) directly beneath the title (in blue):

Consequently, if your description is not persuasive and hard-hitting, there is a very good chance that the searcher will ignore your site to look elsewhere, so using the first two or three sentences of your article as your description is a very poor choice.

Next, you have to add a list of keyword phrases. Most sites limit the number of characters you can use, but use as many of them as you can by listing as many keywords as you can think of.
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Finally, you have to add the Resource box, which is a short description of you and your business. Most article authors use the resource box in exactly this way they will add some information about themselves or their business. You should not do it this way, because there is a far more powerful and effective strategy.
You should write your resource box as if it is the last paragraph of your article, the paragraph in which you stress that the reader has to do something, now. (You’ll find great information here about how to flip websites for profit.)

You do this because it is only in the resource box that you can include links to your site, with a general rule being that you can include up to three active hyperlinks. I would recommend that you include one hyperlink that is the URL of the page that you want the reader to visit, and one more hyperlink that is a link contained within the main keyword term that your article is focused on.

Finally, before you upload your article, check whether the directory site you are going to upload your article to accepts photographs, and if they do, whether those photographs are published next your resource box (as they are by EzineArticles):

As you can see, the photograph immediately draws your attention to the resource box area of the page, so you should always do this if possible.
With your article ready to upload, you have a choice of how you upload your article materials.

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Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Exchanging Traffic

A lot of the time, traffic exchanges get a bad press from most of the people who are actively involved in online marketing. The majority of people who are running a business online have tried traffic exchanges (when they first started out) and found that they didnt do what they hoped. Consequently, most online marketers dont take traffic exchanges seriously.
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However, most people fail with traffic exchanges because they do not use them in the correct manner. They make the mistake of trying to sell a product or service using traffic exchanges, ignoring the fact that almost no-one ever buys anything through a program of this nature. (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)

If on the other hand you adopt a different approach, traffic exchanges can be a very valuable resource for sending visitors to your site and for building your business.

The average traffic exchange program works on the basis that you have to look at someone elses webpage for 15 or 20 seconds, and in return, the traffic exchange you are working with will show your webpage to other members of the site. Hence, a traffic exchange is a very simple way of generating a guaranteed flow of visitors to your site.

However, there is no point in trying to sell something through a traffic exchange. No sane person is ever going to make the decision to buy a product or service in 15 or 20 seconds.

However, if you use a traffic exchange program to present a squeeze page that is attached to your site, then it should be easy to encourage people to sign up for your prospect mailing list. Once people have done this, you can send them product recommendations and suggestions as often as you want and this is the best way of building your business for the long term.

The secret to making this work is giving away a valuable free gift to anyone who subscribes to your mailing list from the traffic exchange program with which you are working. Very few people are going to sign up for your mailing list if all you are offering in return is a subscription to your newsletter, but if you can offer a free gift of value, then many of the people who see your traffic exchange page will subscribe. (For more detailed information on flipping websites as a way to make money on the internet.)

When you register for a traffic exchange, you do so under a particular category that then dictates that you will be shown sites from the same category and your page will be shown to other members who have registered similar interests. Thus, your advertising is targeted.

Giving away software is always a good idea it has value because most people are incapable of creating software and e-books are also a good bet.
Just make sure that whatever it is you are giving away is targeted, and you will generate traffic and add names to your prospect mailing list by using traffic exchanges in this way.

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Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Video Marketing

Without any doubt, the traffic story of the last couple of years has been the boom in video marketing. In the same way that you market using articles, you create a video, submit it to one of the major networking sites like YouTube, and send traffic from that video to your site.

Another similarity with using articles to market your site is that making videos is far easier than you might imagine. Creating videos to publicize your business can be as easy or as complex as you want it to be, because effective video marketing does not depend on the quality of the video materials that youre using. What really matters is the message that your video purveys. (Learn how you can sell website to earn money from internet.)

Perhaps the most important thing about using videos to market your business is to make sure that people can find your video in the first place.

To do this is simple. All you need to do is to ensure that the title and description of the video that you upload to the networking site is targeted for your market. It doesnt really matter what is in your video as long as the accompanying information (written things like the title, description and so on) are targeted.

There are many ways that you can make videos to promote your business, and all of them will be equally effective as long as the accompanying information is carefully crafted.

For marketing purposes, you only need a video of two to three minutes duration, because beyond this, viewers will lose focus and concentration.
The simplest way of making, publishing and marketing video is to find half a dozen or so still images that can be pulled together as a video presentation, almost like a PowerPoint presentation (which is another option).

If you have a series of digital images that you can use for this purpose, you can edit them together using a program like Windows Movie Maker, Wax or ZS4 and then publish this video to the network sites. If you dont have a supply of suitable images, see what you can find here.

Alternatively, you can upload your digital images to animoto to create a 30 second video short that can be uploaded to YouTube automatically from within the site. (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)

You may be able to create a screenshot video if you can demonstrate what it is that you want your visitor to see on your computer. In this case, there is free screen shot video software available at CamStudio that will do a perfectly acceptable job for you.

However, there is no doubt that most of the people who use video networking sites like YouTube do so because they want to be entertained.
Videos that show real people doing stuff are more popular than video montages of still images or screenshot videos. For this reason, if you can create a video of this nature, it is likely to be far more popular.

However, the key to video marketing success lies in making sure that people can find your video, and this comes down to the title, description and keywords tags that you add when you upload your video.

Here is the best way of adding this information when you upload your video, using dog training as our target market, and YouTube:

The first thing to note is that the title is a keyword that we are targeting, and the description is also used to target as many keyword phrases as possible.

In addition, the first line of the description is the URL of the exact page on your site to which you want the video viewer to go after they have finished watching the video. By including the URL in this way, you create an active hyperlink that will be displayed right next to your video every time it is shown. Not only does this make it considerably easier for your video viewer to visit your site, but it also creates a one-way incoming link every time you publish a video, and video networking sites like YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and Revver are sites that have already acquired very high Google Page Rank.

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