Being involved in Web site design, creation and online marketing I have come across this method of marketing and thought I was using it myself. That was until I was asked by a client about a competitor’s proposal to write an article for them every month and distribute to article sites. Being unsure as to what exactly they were proposing I thought it best to investigate.

I found 2 recent entries on the ecademy blog page.

(1) FOR
Article Marketing is an unusual but highly effective form of marketing and is all about “back links”. Back Links are links that take people back to your web site.
The best way to get high quality back links to a website is to write (or have us write them for you) informative articles and get them published on other websites with a link back to your site. This process is known as article marketing and it not only helps to build incoming links, but it also builds your online reputation as an expert in your field.
It’s a bit like business blogging but aim at being published by another web site as part of its main content. This is also related to white papers and e-book marketing too, so do read these sections of the web site.Article Marketing is an unusual but highly effective form of marketing and is all about “back links”. Back Links are links that take people back to your web site.The best way to get high quality back links to a website is to write (or have us write them for you) informative articles and get them published on other websites with a link back to your site. This process is known as article marketing and it not only helps to build incoming links, but it also builds your online reputation as an expert in your field.It’s a bit like business blogging but aim at being published by another web site as part of its main content. This is also related to white papers and e-book marketing too, so do read these sections of the web site.

(2) AGAINST
Article Marketing is an unusual but highly effective form of marketing and is all about “back links”. Back Links are links that take people back to your web site.The best way to get high quality back links to a website is to write (or have us write them for you) informative articles and get them published on other websites with a link back to your site. This process is known as article marketing and it not only helps to build incoming links, but it also builds your online reputation as an expert in your field.It’s a bit like business blogging but aim at being published by another web site as part of its main content. This is also related to white papers and e-book marketing too, so do read these sections of the web site.Articles are great for your website as they do two very important things
1. Provide useful content for your visitors
2. Gives the search engines a reason to come to your site more often and possibly increase your ranking

So what’s the problem? Well - be very wary of taking other peoples articles if you’re not good at writing them yourself. There are 1000’s of free reprint articles on every subject you can imagine. The only problem is that you have to credit the author, too right! But it means that your visitors don’t give you any credibility and secondly the search engines filter out duplicate content so your pages may not even show up. Also be aware of tools such as www.copyscape.com which can tell you if your content has been used - or if like a client of mine found out, that the site he bought had its content almost 100% copied from other sites - dear dear - which once changed dramatically increased his rankings.
Never use automated software to distribute your articles as it p*sses off the article directories and they will reject them. Alternatively you have to submit each article by hand to the 100’s of article directory sites out there

The upside - Content and backlinks | The downside - Original content needed….bringing us nicely to….
 

This is what I already knew:
Writing articles is a great way to position your self as an expert in your field.
There are many web sites where you can post these articles.
If you include links to your web site it should increase traffic directly and improve search engine rankings.
Other web site owners can use these articles on their own sites to provide visitors with expert information – know as articles/e-books/white papers/etc. This will further increase traffic and search engine rankings.
As I said, I do use this method as part of the marketing strategy for Saratoga Technologies (UK).

The concerns I would raise about giving this to someone else to do are:
Will they write good quality articles on the subject of your business?
Will they distribute the same article to many sites? Some article hosting sites try to prevent automated article posting. If your content is repeated across the web it is marked down by search engines – it is clearly not unique and therefore no as relevant. This could actually undo the positive effect of having articles in the first place.
How much of an expert will people perceive you to be if they call you with questions from ‘your’ article and it soon becomes clear to them that you did not write it?

Cynical maybe – but my impression is that it is businesses offering ‘tricks’ to improve search engine rankings by abusing the system. They are also offering services that they do not necessarily have the skills for - copy writing.

My advice (and what I do) is to write your own articles, blog and contribute to web sites that are relevant to what you do. I also take advantage of online networking opportunities and online directories.
When I write an article I post to as many places as I can – I will however make changes to make each post unique and relevant to the site where it is being posted.
This does take more time, but will have a greater impact on your positioning as an expert and your search engine rankings.

Unfortunately, good copy does not come easy. It takes time and practice. Read around and gather tips from people already successful in this field. If you want this to form an important part of your marketing strategy then consider investing in copy writing services from a professional that you have briefed!!

Good luck
Wayne