Article writing is a great way to brand yourself as an expert in your field, whether you’re selling vending machine candy, luxury real estate or business-to-business services. The more times consumers and press representatives come across your name, the more of an impression you’ll make. Your resource box essentially works as free articles advertising, directing individuals back to your homepage to follow up on what they’ve just read. The more traffic your site receives, the more buyers you’ll get, which, of course, drives up profit. Additionally, the more traffic your site gets, the better your Google PageRank will be, which will move you from virtual obscurity to the top page of Google search engine results for a number of competitive keywords.

Most article publishing sites offer their own writing and submitting guidelines. Generally speaking, the best article submissions are 400-500 words and contain one or two well-researched keyword phrases. The best keyword phrases are location-specific for small business contractors, realtors, retail stores and other companies. For instance, “Atlanta carpet cleaners” is a better term than just “carpet cleaners.” Additionally, the density of your keywords is relevant too. In the past, web users would occasionally find sites with a hodgepodge of nonsensical words strung together. Today’s search engines are much smarter and demand that relevant content be published, not just strings of useless keywords. Your tone should be engaging, written in second or third person, and informative. Try to tie industry news, recent studies and current events to your articles.

It’s also important to note some of the most common article writing errors. First, do not make your article too short or too long. If your article is 250 words or less, then you’ve essentially got a blog: do your research and add more content! If your article is more than 600 words, then you’ve got a novella: condense and consolidate your points! Secondly, do not state facts you’re not sure about, do not over-hype and do not over-sell. Your readers are a bright bunch and they won’t tolerate dumb-it-down sales copy or vague statistics that have not been properly attributed to the source. Article submissions should be intelligent, informative and compelling. Lastly, be sure to manually proofread your work! Countless mistakes slip past automated grammar correcting programs.

A good article writing program can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand. Successful online article marketing can easily be a full-time job, which is why many business owners outsource this portion of the business. After you conduct a search on “search engine optimization” and “copywriting,” you should get a few different quotes before making your decision. If you want to have some content control, you can choose which keywords most apply to your business and even pitch a few topics you’d like to see covered. A press release promotional article is a great way to include your original quotes, promote your business services and boost your credibility too.