Getting targeted traffic is one of the most important tasks for anyone with a website or blog, because without traffic, you don’t have a reason for your site or blog to be there. Quantities of targeted traffic is as important (if not more) than the quality and content of your products and services. These three things go together to provide your customers with satisfaction in exchange for trading money with you. Customer service is the follow up to this process.

What has this got to do with articles and free online advertising? One of the easiest ways to combine your website marketing with your customer service is through opt-in marketing. When you have a customer or a potential customer on an opt-in list, your opportunity to present all aspects of  your site and your business increases. An opt-in strategy is inexpensive and doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You get the consent (through a form on your site) to allow your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter and other promotional materials.

You send emails to this list of subscribers, that contain information suited to your opt-in audience. You can send promotional material if it is presented in a way to catch your subscribers interest and leave them wanting more. The easiest way to do this is with articles, that are fun and full of information. To learn more about opt-in list building, see “Opt-In List Building“.

A good article is full of content and information your customer can use. Once a site visitor has read sample content on your site, they become intrigued and can be enticed to join your list. Articles in newsletters keep them informed and curious about what opportunities they have to purchase quality products from you.

Articles also aid greatly in search engine optimisation. Many people now use the Internet as their primary source of information gathering and you can give them the information they seek using good articles on your website and in directories that will increase your flow of website traffic. As you get more traffic, you will get more sales. As you get more sales, you end up with more profit.

Your articles must be well written, rich in information and you must include keywords in your articles for the search engines to find. When you write an article, you are writing for two audiences.

First and foremost, your website visitor, who is a living breathing human being who appreciates a good writing style, wit, humour and entertainment.

Secondly, you are writing for a search engine. They are not interested in your wit or humour, they want keyword rich content. If you provide to both audiences in your article, you are going to have more success. If your articles provide the information sought by your target audience, then you will get more people to your site by publishing articles that fill their need.

Well written articles will also improve your reputation. If the articles are filled with good information, you will be regarded as informed and an expert on your chosen topics. Your articles must be researched and you must have knowledge of what you write. Do this consistently and people will begin to trust your word. When you have their trust, your target market will then start coming to you when they need information on your topic.

Articles must be closely related or connected with your business. If you have a site about fishing, then your articles must be related to something about fishing. If you have a party shop, your articles need to be related to parties or party supplies.

The best kind of articles to write are tips, guidelines and methods. Using the business examples above, 3 tips to getting  the right technique for fly fishing, or how to plan a child’s party in 7 easy steps.

Once you have the loyalty of your site’s visitors through your articles, they will return to your site for more information on your target niche. They may then choose to subscribe to your opt-in list, especially if you entice them with special freebies that are related to your niche topic. Once you have them on your opt-in mailing list, you can send them out a regular newsletter and feature a well written article as well as provide them with promotional materials about your products and services. Subscribers may even forward your newsletter to others who are interested in a certain niche, which is why it is important to add subscription information in everything you send to your subscribers.

Writing articles for the newbie can be scary, but there is an easy way to learn to write articles fast and easily and I recommend you read “Article Writing Secrets” to help you create high quality, original articles.

Always provide links in your newsletter offering more information, which, when they click on it, links back to your site and another relevant article or products. You will increase sales this way. You need to continually update the articles on your site to keep your content fresh and interesting and keep your visitors returning. They are far more likely to refer a site to others if they come back to it several times first.

If you don’t want to write your own articles, there are plenty of places that you can find freelance authors. The small cost of paying someone to write quality articles for you can pay off easily in increased sales over time.

Rebecca Habel
Rebecca’s Resource

http://www.rebeccasresource.com