Why Article Directory Marketing Will Never Work

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Article directory marketing used to be a great marketing strategy in the 1990s. Back then, online businesses, especially internet marketers simply posted an article, backlinked the article to their websites (via the author’s link) and then promoted their business in a way that was indirect and subtle.

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The article received free content and ad revenue, the author received targeted traffic when readers clicked to their site, and the reader was happy because they found the information they were seeking.

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But as everyone knows, some people took advantage, article directory owners got lax and accepted way too much crappy, keyword stuffed content and authors produced crappy articles to simply drive traffic and readers got frustrated with all the crap.

So, the search engines took over and de-indexed many of the sites on these article directories.

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So, the question remains, is article marketing dead? The answer is no, its alive and kicking but article directory marketing is dead as can be.

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As such, marketers should shift modes and try to get published or syndicated as an expert or resource person on websites and leave article directory marketing alone.

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Do you know what this means? In a nutshell, it means that authors must create better content – way better content to the point of being relevant to a larger audience.

They must focus on syndicating their content instead of blindly posting to article directories and hoping for the best.

 

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Marketing Isn’t Always About Going After Your Traffic

Any woman will tell you that sometimes you need to know how to sit and wait instead of chasing after a guy. You can – and should – apply the same principle with article submission. Instead of forcing your work on people who are too busy to notice you, like article directory readers, you should come up with amazing content that is so darn good that it gets passed on and on and on.

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Syndicatable content – not article directory spun and keyword stuffed crap. Before you know it, you have your very own traffic making a beeline for your content and not by accident.

So, to get into the new syndicated article marketing mode, here’s what has to be done:

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Get Involved as a Reader The friendly approach works very well in

getting to know your potential client. Once you pinpoint someone you would like to market your services to, approach them online and try to open a discussion about the industry he or she is in. Once he responds, you can hint subtly about why you’re interested in his site and what you can contribute to make it better.

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Start Working On Improving Your Writing Skills

Stop concentrating on making money and give your readers value. With value the money will come. With crap content, you get nothing at all.

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Write articles for the sole purpose of being the gal or guy with the information that everyone wants to know.

This is one of the reasons why those “For Dummy Books” became so popular and earned millions in the process. And, trust me, those authors were no dummies. They focused on helping the reader first of all.

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The first Dummy book came out in 1991, DOS for Dummies and by December 2012, there were 1,800 published Dummy books and it is a recognized brand and the “world’s best selling reference brand.”

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So, make sure that your articles have:A clear and concise messageAre targeted to a specific audienceEnable you to establish yourself as an

expert. If you can address all these potential

pitfalls in writing content, you will be able to develop a great content marketing strategy.

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Know and Understand the Timeline of an Article

Always have your own site. Don’t rely on article directories. You can still use them but they should not be your only source for publishing your work.

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Second, start posting your outstanding content on your site. In fact, don’t even think about posting your content on an article directory until it is posted and indexed on your site first. Your work is too precious for that!

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Start searching for other websites with quality traffic that would welcome your content partners. Many websites welcome guest bloggers or contributors if the article is interesting and relevant.

As a guest contributor, you will be able to target the right market to read your content instead of posting it on article directories with a very slim chance of being read.

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Make sure you have good links on any articles so they generate massive action and convert to site traffic. This brings us full circle with one more reminder: keep your website fresh with new content as often as possible so it’s not a case of “seen that, read that already.”

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Get syndicated so that everyone wants your glorious content. Now, this definitely isn’t as easy as it sounds but if you manage to do this, you’ve got a free pass and can really jumpstart your marketing efforts.

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Understand What Quality Traffic Means

Sadly, article directories are not selling content as well as social media is. This means that it is harder to get quality traffic from these directories than it is from Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Quality traffic refers to content that leads to a higher conversion rate which has the power to turn casual readers into interest prospects and real buyers.

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So, by focusing more on social media, you get a higher return on your work as a marketer and you develop a loyal following.  

There are around 5 levels of online traffic starting that you must understand:

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1. Free traffic that is low impact because it has no direction or objective. You either hit it or miss it.

2. Demographic or geographic traffic is traffic that can be good one day and in the dumps for the next 5 days.

3. Group traffic is better because you are working with volume but it’s not necessarily the best.

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User intent refers to specific searches and is very good quality traffic.

Opt-in traffic is the best because these are the people who will subscribe or search specifically for your website.

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Work With Other Marketing Strategies

Finally, you need to go beyond the basic article directory marketing or direct article marketing. Build your business by adding an infoproduct to your site and market that. Use your writing skills to intrigue the reader and want them to learn more. By using an excellent message and concise writing skills, people will follow you. Your target will wonder, “Who is this gal or guy?”

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Don’t rely solely on article directory marketing. Instead, incorporate videos and graphics into your marketing strategy. As this will engage the reader even more. Also, don’t forget that you can also sign up to have affiliates market for you.

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Pimp the Article DirectoryAfter you’ve done all the above, it is time

to pimp the article directories and use them for their intended purpose – to help you with syndication. Your primary and only purpose to put an article on an article directory is if you’ve exhausted all other marketing methods.

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You’ve put it on your site, you’ve linked it via social media, and you’ve syndicated it. In essence, you’ve used it for your benefit. Once you do this and only after you do this, can you put it on an article directory. If you give them first dibs, you’re losing out big time.

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At Launchevity, we use article directories all the time but we use them, they don’t use us. That’s the key difference as to why our article marketing strategies work and work very well!

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