Can your blog be a part of your article marketing strategy? Most definitely it can. The two are complementary, though completely separate parts of an advertising campaign to increase website traffic. They are excellent to use as a part of your affiliate marketing strategy, though they can be used for promoting you own product as well. The blog is an excellent means of presenting the virtues of an affiliate product to a dedicated audience.

What is the difference between a blog and an article? There can be a lot, and there can be not so much. Blogs are much more informal. Usually blog entries are shorter than articles. Some people put whole articles in their blog, but it usually is more effective to pick one important aspect of the article and put that in your blog. Use it much like a teaser. Give enough information to make it appealing, but leave enough to discover that the reader will want to click through to your site and read the whole article.

Blogs are a good way to get more personal with your readers. It allows them to leave comments and feedback. The readers get the feeling that they “know” you. They can chat with you and you with them.

Blogs show your readers, both customers and potential customers, that you are keeping abreast of the latest in your field. Most blog posts relate to current happenings. The articles show your expertise in the field, and the blog shows that you are keeping current. Both give your reader confidence in you on different levels.

What are some tips to help you integrate your blog postings into your article marketing strategy? How can you get the most mileage out of the blogs and articles as a cohesive advertising campaign?

Put your blog on your main site. Blog sites are convenient, but putting your blog on your site takes advantage of extra traffic, as well as links that will increase search engine traffic due to higher search engine rankings.

Don't put your whole article in your blog. Write about some aspect of your article, telling why you wrote it, benefits to be gained from it, etc. Then, link to your article in your blog. Do this even if your article is on the same site as your blog.

Link to other places that publish your article. Don't link to article directories, but do link to other websites, newsletters, and other blogs that mention or publish your article. This will increase your search engine traffic due to the increase in ranking that links provide.

Discuss responses to your articles. Include both negative and positive responses. Also, include any personal responses you have had with readers. This shows that your articles are being read, having an impact, and that you are available and engage with your readers. This will improve your credibility and gain even new readers as others discuss your blog and link to it.

Keep your blog current. Putting up a blog, linking it to your article, then not posting to it for a long period of time has the opposite effect than what you want. Instead of making you appear to be on top of current developments in your field, it makes it appear that you are not involved at all. A blog that is not updated frequently is worse than no blog at all.

Blogging can be somewhat time consuming, though probably not as much as might appear. However, it is an important part of article marketing. Add blogging to your article marketing strategy and you can expect high returns, but only if you do it correctly.

by : Guido Nussbaum

Are you focusing your search engine optimization efforts on getting tons of traffic from the search engines?

If you answered yes, then I am about to tell you something completely different from other Internet Marketers.

Forget about getting tons of traffic from the search engines. Get LESS traffic that converts MORE!

The Secret to Turning Keywords into Conversions is to Keep Your Keywords Focused

For example, if your site sells an all-natural remedy for acid stomach problems...

You start to do your keyword research and you discover that the keyword phrase "natural remedies" has 288 daily searches. But it has over 2,000,000 sites competing for it.

While the phrase, "acid reflux natural remedies" has 67 daily searches with just over 11,000 competing sites.

Do you want to spend all your time and effort trying to optimize your website for the first keyword phrase?

You may get more searches, but you'll never know how many of those searchers want to buy your stomach acid remedy. Not to mention the HUGE number of competitors the keyword has!

Or would you go for the second term, which only has 67 people searching for it -- knowing those 67 people are looking for EXACTLY what you offer? And, it has a MUCH lower competition number to boot!

Obviously, the second term is better!

Sure, you might get less traffic -- but the visitors you DO get will be MUCH more likely to buy your product.

Why You Will Make More Money with Less Traffic That Converts More

People search the Internet to find a solution to a problem and not necessarily to buy something. So what problems will they solve by coming to your website?

Think of a keyword as a "problem statement" that someone would type into the search engines.

When you can match your keywords to the exact problems they're trying to solve. You'll attract the BEST visitors to your site so you can focus all your optimization efforts on them!

Here are some more keyword research tips that will help you turn keywords into conversions…

Top Search Engine Optimization Tips for Finding Highly Focused Keywords That Will Bring the Absolute Best Buyers to Your Website:

Check your server logs. See what keyword phrases people are actually using to find your site. If there's something relevant that you've overlooked, build a page focused on that keyword phrase.

Also look for keywords that are causing people to leave right away because they're not finding what they're looking for. Ditch those keywords immediately.

Look for "intention." Say you sell cross-country ski equipment. People can come to your website looking for different things.

For instance:
They're looking to buy a specific product
They're looking for product reviews
They want information on how to get started in cross-country skiing
They want used or discount equipment
They want to know what kind of equipment will be best for them
They want to know what's new and hot in cross-country ski equipment

Same products -- far different intentions!

If you optimize a page (or pages) for each different problem people are trying to solve, you'll give them what they're looking for…

That means they'll stay on your site longer -- and you'll have a better chance of getting them into the sales process.

Check out your competition. What keywords are your competitors optimizing for, and on what pages?

You can spy on them by going to their websites and looking at their code!

In your web browser, just go to View on the main menu and click on Source or Page Source to "look under the hood" of any competitor's site. Then you can see what they're doing right and what you could do better.

Find your best keywords with pay-per-click advertising. This is the fastest way to find out just how well different keywords perform.

Pay-per-click lets you run ads based on two or three different keywords at the same time. This enables you can track which ones convert best. Make sure the ads click through to pages that relate directly to the keywords.

Focus your SEO efforts on the specific keywords that describe EXACTLY what problem each page solves. Don't be tempted by more general keywords with higher traffic numbers. They'll never send you the traffic you want.

Follow these search engine optimization tips and you will turn keywords into conversions.

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by: Derek Gehl