By Randall Olson, IT Director, MTI Business Solutions

Are you looking for an affordable way to boost your company’s online presence? Do you have a well-designed website that no one visits? If so, you need to work on search engine optimization (SEO) and increasing traffic to your site. The most attractive and marketing-oriented website won’t help your bottom line if no one sees it.

There are many different Internet marketing techniques and strategies, some of which are more effective than others. Article marketing is one of the most effective and affordable ways to generate traffic to your website and boost its positioning in search engine rankings. 

How Does Article Marketing Work?
Article marketing involves writing articles related to your business or area of expertise, and allowing other people to publish them at no cost. Each of your articles should include a brief “about the author” statement that includes the URL for your company’s website. As a condition of being allowed to re-print your articles, publishers must leave in this statement.

To make it easy for publishers to find your articles, you’ll want to submit them to various online article directories that specialize in publishing free reprint articles. Webmasters, ezine publishers, magazine editors, and others who are seeking fresh content for their own online and print publications frequent these sites looking for well written articles that will draw visitors to their own websites.

The articles you create should not be direct sales pieces or news releases about your company. Rather, they should be full of useful and interesting tips that will benefit readers in your target market. Writing articles that people will want to read increases the likelihood that publishes will use them and that potential customers will be interested in them.

What Are the Benefits of Article Marketing?
If the articles you write for marketing purposes are well written, interesting, and include compelling information about your company along with a link to your website, it’s likely that the people who read them will want to learn more about your business. People who find the articles useful are likely to click through to your website, and hopefully decide to do business with your company.

The very act of publishing articles that include links to your website in online article directories can make your website index better in the search engines, even if the text isn’t reprinted. When you publish your articles in online directories, you immediately create a backlinks to your website, which have a positive impact on your site’s search engine ranking. Some of the best directories are so heavily trafficked that articles published in them are often found naturally via organic searches.

Article marketing costs you nothing but a little time, and can have a significant positive impact on your company’s visibility on the World Wide Web. Prospective customers will have an easier time finding your business online if you engage in article marketing. Website visitors who reach your company’s site in this manner represent targeted traffic, otherwise described as qualified leads. These individuals are much more likely to be interested in purchasing what your organization has to offer than people who just stumble upon your company’s website accidentally.

About the Author
Randall Olson is the Director of Information Technology for Mobile Technical Institute & MTI Business Solutions (http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com).  He oversees the firm’s high stakes certification testing center, conducts computer application training, and manages MTI’s online learning programs. MTI is a full service training and consulting firm, providing open enrollment and on-site employee development training, database development, and website solutions.