Increase traffic on your website bywriting Article and Blogs

By Saurabh Gupta

Getting traffic on your website is the main concern of every webmaster and in today’s article weare going to take a look at some of the main methods and go deep inside the different strategies.This is going to be a long article so I would advice you to pick a cup of tea or coffee before youstart. Read this article in detail as it covers both practical and theoretical aspects of article/blogwriting in details and how to get traffic on your website by them.

Articles Marketing

In today’s world google has made content the most important method of generating traffic. Thishas opened a huge opportunity for people who are content writers and people who are good withwords. Yet we find that some articles score more than others. Why is it that we see Wikipedia atthe top of every search result. The reason for this is that you not only have to concentrate onwriting good quality articles but will also have to analyze a lot of other factors and today we willdive deep into writing good articles and methods for successful article marketing.

Article marketing is one method where you can advertise your website or blog without spendingtoo much money (if you are not a writer) or even for free (if you can write) but it needs oneinvestment on your part and that is time also as explained earlier you need to look at somefactors which will help you rise higher in search engines.

What is the worldwide web?

If we look closely we will find that web is nothing but a collection of documents containinginformation on products and services.

What is google ?

Google is a search engine (Ok I know that you know that already). Its main job is to provideinformation to its searcher. In order to do that it must collect the most relevant informationavailable and if it finds that the most fresh and relevant information is in your articles. It will putyour articles on top of other results it is as simple as that. But in doing so it also takes certainother factors into consideration. So while writing your articles you have to see your articles likegoogle sees them if you want to see any real results and traffic by your content writing efforts.

The most effective means of Promoting your website for traffic:

If done properly writing articles can be the best means of improving and increasing your websiterankings. So let us concentrate on what a good article should have to appeal to google.

1. Keywords : The keywords are like a name by which google identifies your article and decideswhere to put them in their search results. It is the means by which it classifies your webpage. Soyour article should always revolve around your main keyword. The keyword phrase you chooseshould be unique and fit your article’s content. Many of the SEO Experts are reviewing theirprevious strategies and now including article writing as their main strategy. Keyword planningplays the most important role in SEO now days. Before deciding on Keywords the followingfacts should be noted.

a) How competitive are the keyword you are targeting?. The higher the competition themore valuable the keywords become but that does not mean that you should go all out againstcompetition with Wikipedia. The information that Wikipedia contains is compiled from varioussources. Also look at your competition from the point of view of google. That does not mean thatyou cannot challenge very high competitive websites but rather build your own reputation beforeyou compete. So pick a keyword which is moderate in competition.

b) Long Keywords: Many SEO Experts say it is best to pick a long keyword as their will belesser completion. I advice you against it unless your only goal is to reach the top and not traffic.Long keywords receive very few clicks and sometimes all your efforts will go to waste. It isbetter to be in the game then playing from outside.

c) Do a thorough research on your keywords: Proper planning of keywords requires timeand a greater attention to it then it is usually given to it. It does not matter if you are spendingmore time on planning rather than writing. A well researched article will definitely hold moreweight than a poorly written article as google is focusing more and more on quality content.

2. Keyword Density: This is the most important factor to keep in mind while writing articles.Keyword density defines the use of the keywords in the article. Most of the time people stufftheir article with keywords and instead of increasing their website rank they are thrown furtherdown the search results. So it is very important to understand the proper keyword density. Let ustake out a little bit of our time in understanding it.

The Keyword phrase is a collection of keywords so treat them as separate words. For example ifyour keyword phrase is “Travel agents US” then keep in mind that you are actually targeting thethree keywords ie., “Travel”, “agents”, “US”. So you have to calculate the keyword density foreach of the keywords in your article. Also one important fact can be observed that we are notlimited to putting these words together as we will be counting them separately. So while theword “travel” can appear on top of a sentence the word “agents” and “US” can appear elsewhere.

Let us look at our formula for Keyword density.

Keyword Density=(No of keywords/total words) * 100

So calculate the keyword density of each of the keywords used. Also note that it should bebetween 2% to 4% for each word. (Google could allow up to 7%. But after lot of trials I find thatit would be wise to keep this figure low).

Capability of Google: Imagine an algorithm so powerful that it picks out not only the actualkeyword used but also related words used in place of keywords. Google is capable of manythings and it is best to make the keywords sound as natural as possible.

3. Original Article Content: When you have focused your efforts on article marketing. It is bestto write original and unique articles as it will put you much ahead over others. In the beginningof this article I told you to look at your articles as search engines will see them. If you are justduplicating content from other users you cannot expect to succeed. The content that you put

forward for your users to read should be of high quality. If you are not a writer yourself then itwill be a good idea to get some people to write for you. Very good writers are available to you ata very cheap price. You just have to look for them on the internet.

Why duplication content is not a good idea?

Google’s Search engine is very powerful and it picks out duplicate contents also it comes downheavily on sites which show duplicate content. Article spinners can change the articles bychanging words and phrases and google can detect them quite easily. So if you want to play thegame you have to be fair. Good content can always boost the traffic on your website while badcontent can decrease it easily.

What original content means to your users and search engines?

Original and well researched articles are like gold when it comes to content marketing. Howmany times have you read an article and said you have read something of value. That valuecomes only from good articles. As the writer has well researched and experimented with theconcepts. True value can only come from knowledge.

4. Is your Article Well Linked ?: Always link your articles to your original website. Wheneveryou are distributing your articles to other websites do not forget to give a link to your website.As usually people prefer to link to the original website to read an article and if they find yourwriting style interesting then they might read your other articles also. This increases the pageview of your website and gives you higher rankings and increased traffic.

The four points we discussed looked at the technical side of writing an article. So now let us lookat some of the creative points.

1. While writing articles it is a good idea to divide your topic into points: Summarizingyour article into points help you to write better articles. You can easily add and removepoints from your articles and also you are able to express yourself better. When you aremaking points always ask yourself what is that the reader would be interested in reading?

2. Write articles as if you are telling a story: One good technique for writing an article isto imagine that you have a friend sitting in front of you and you are telling him aninteresting story.

3. Write down you ideas: It is always better to keep a diary in front of you. There are timeswhen many ideas come to our mind and also at times when whatever we do and howeverhard we try we cannot come up with a good idea. These are times when your ideas diarycan help you in a big way. There is no telling when ideas will come. Some people aremore productive in the morning while others get most of their ideas at night. Some getgood ideas while they are dreaming whatever is the case. Make a note of your ideas.

4. Think Positively: When you are writing articles (and also always) think about positivethoughts. There is enough sadness out there already. People will love your articles if itreflects positivity. Make your surroundings and especially your work place positive andcheerful by putting inspiration posters. Our moods are reflected in our writings. So setyour mood before you write.

5. Refer to others work: You can always take inspiration from other good writers. See howthey write a particular article and how do they play with words. Internet is one of the bestplaces for getting inspired.

6. Use Paragraphs: Paragraphs can really separate out your text. So use them wheneveryour text is getting too long. People do not like reading very long paragraphs unless it isvery important.

7. Headings: Proper Headings can give style and attention to your articles. As you candivide your paragraphs according to the headings.

8. Images: Images has the power to make your content more presentable and also grabmuch more attention. An Image can also say a lot more than words. Make sure that yourimages are given proper title and alt tags.

9. Title: When you are giving title to your article make sure that it can grab the attention ofthe readers. And they should also include all or some of your keywords.

10. Before publishing your article make sure that you have read the article twice as a secondreading corrects many mistakes made in the article. Also run a spell checker on it.

Once you have written an article now is the time for publishing your article. Before publishingcheck that you have already established authorship with google and linked you author name andwebsite address correctly. If you are writing a blog (in wordpress) check that you have installedthe Html plugin. Search for it as many free html plug-in are available that work perfectly. TheHTML plug-in lets you view your article in HTML format and it will be very handy when wewill be creating meta data for google.

So let us look at four important pints after you have published your article.

1. Check for Meta data: Google has provided some good tools for validating your blog andarticles after all you are doing most of the work of content writing for google. So you shouldcheck if proper meta data has been included in your articles or not. For doing this open yourgoogle’s webmaster account. If you have many sites it will show all the websites. Just choose thewebsite for which you are writing the article. In the left panel choose other resources. As shownin the figure below.

Other Resources

Other Resources is highlighted in red. On the right side you will be seeing some options. Thereare 2 important options at the top

1. Structured Data Testing Tool: This is the first option and it lets you test that whetherthe article you have created has a valid meta data and also whether you have establishedvalid authorship. If you have not established valid authorship it tells you how you can dothat.

2. Structured Data Markup Helper: The Second option is a tool which lets youautomatically create meta markup if you do not have much knowledge about it.

Creating a valid meta data Markup: Let us take the second option first as I am assuming thatyou have not created meta data and just published your article or blog. For our example I am justtaking a previously written blog of mine. When you press the second option it shows you anaddress bar where you have to give the address of your freshly written article. Type the address(URL) of your blog and choose articles in the options. As seen in the following figure.

Google Webmasters

Press the start tagging button and you are ready to start tagging your article page. The mainfields that you can tag are.

1. Name2. Author3. Date Published4. Image5. Article Section6. Article Body7. URL8. Publisher9. Ratings Value

These appear at the right hand side of the your article. As shown below under the My Data Itemsheading.

Google Webmasters

Press the start tagging button and you are ready to start tagging your article page. The mainfields that you can tag are.

1. Name2. Author3. Date Published4. Image5. Article Section6. Article Body7. URL8. Publisher9. Ratings Value

These appear at the right hand side of the your article. As shown below under the My Data Itemsheading.

Google Webmasters

Press the start tagging button and you are ready to start tagging your article page. The mainfields that you can tag are.

1. Name2. Author3. Date Published4. Image5. Article Section6. Article Body7. URL8. Publisher9. Ratings Value

These appear at the right hand side of the your article. As shown below under the My Data Itemsheading.

Tagging Article

Tagging is very easy When you select an item google automatically display the heading underwhich you can classify your tag. For example if you select the image given on the article itautomatically asks for which tag and you have to select image. As show below.

Tagging Article

Tagging is very easy When you select an item google automatically display the heading underwhich you can classify your tag. For example if you select the image given on the article itautomatically asks for which tag and you have to select image. As show below.

Tagging Article

Tagging is very easy When you select an item google automatically display the heading underwhich you can classify your tag. For example if you select the image given on the article itautomatically asks for which tag and you have to select image. As show below.

Shows Tagging of Image

Similarly do this for your heading and text. You can classify them into different article sections.There are some tags which cannot be selected if you have not specified it in your article like thePublisher tag. If not specified you can manually specify them by clicking on the Add missing tagbutton. When you have tagged the whole document. Just save the document. Now you can makethe actual changes in your article file. Just replace the text in the article file with the yellowedlines. Update or save your blog/article.

Congratulations now you have inserted meta data tags into your document.

Now its time to follow the first step. Just click on the first step from other resources that is thestructured data testing tool. When you click on a screen like below appears in which you have tojust fill your URL

Testing Url

Click on the preview button and you are presented with the following screen

Verifying Authorship and Metadata

If all is well you will see a page similar to this. Your profile photo of Google Plus will alsoappear. If not you have to make the necessary changes by following the instructions. Googlelikes articles with metadata and a simple change can improve and increase website traffic.

The reason why I went in so detail about google meta data is because it will not only enhanceyour rankings. It will also help you to grow your reputation and it appears very confusing if youare starting on meta data for the first time.

Verifying Authorship and Metadata

If all is well you will see a page similar to this. Your profile photo of Google Plus will alsoappear. If not you have to make the necessary changes by following the instructions. Googlelikes articles with metadata and a simple change can improve and increase website traffic.

The reason why I went in so detail about google meta data is because it will not only enhanceyour rankings. It will also help you to grow your reputation and it appears very confusing if youare starting on meta data for the first time.

Verifying Authorship and Metadata

If all is well you will see a page similar to this. Your profile photo of Google Plus will alsoappear. If not you have to make the necessary changes by following the instructions. Googlelikes articles with metadata and a simple change can improve and increase website traffic.

The reason why I went in so detail about google meta data is because it will not only enhanceyour rankings. It will also help you to grow your reputation and it appears very confusing if youare starting on meta data for the first time.

You have done lot of hard work. The good news is that once you have done it. You will be muchquicker the next time but your work is far from over. Actually much work remains to be donestill. So now is the time to Submit your Article to different social media sites and also to articledirectories. As I have covered the top article directories and social media sites in my blogs youcan easily lookup for them in the resource section given below after the end of this article.

Ping your articles: After submitting your blog ping them on pingomatic[dot].com. So that thesearch engines become aware of your write up.

A finished article is like a finished product. The more you can market it the more people willvisit your website increasing your traffic. There are many other ways to market your article. Letus look at some of these ways.

1. Make Pdf files: Make a pdf file of the article and submit it to various document sites.Some of the Top document sites which accepts your document as pdf are already givenon one of my blogs. (Look at resource section at the end) Make sure that you do this foronly your best articles.

2. Make video of your article: If your article represent some unique and great ideas just donot limit it to only articles. Search in this blog for top video sites. Make a video andsubmit to different video sites.

3. Circulate your article as a free report. And let others download and distribute yourcontent as a free report on their websites provided a link back is given to your website.

4. When submitting your article to different sites make a point to provide a link to yourwebsite as well as your present blog article. This will help you in spreading differentlinks of your blog and website.

Conclusion: Article writing can greatly improve the performance of your website. Addingoriginal, rich and informative content for your users will not only help you to get better searchengine rankings but will raise your reputation and establish you firmly in your field of expertise.Google’s recent algorithm changes have made it easy for you to get on top of search enginesprovided you are writing good content. Article marketing can boost your traffic and put youahead over your competitors’ but it requires a very sincere and dedicated effort on your part.Read and try to follow this article as it will help you in increase website traffic and rankings.

Content writing and marketing cannot be ignored if you wish to dominate search enginerankings. Write regularly that is very important. Be original in your words. I am also providingresources with this article so you do not have to search the blog. I wish you all the best in yourarticle writing efforts.

Do not Miss out on these important articles.

Resources:- These resources will help you in your article submissions

1. http://www.xowned.com/blog/top-10-article-directories-backlink-resources/2. http://www.xowned.com/blog/top-10-document-submitting-sites-pr/3. http://www.xowned.com/blog/top-10-video-submitting-sites-pr/4. http://www.xowned.com/blog/day-10-traffic-seo-tools/ : Some tools which can speed up

your work. Do not forget to watch the videos.5. http://www.xowned.com/blog/auto-free-search-engine-submission/ : This is link to the

top free search engines you can submit your website to. Also contains a way to submit

Author: Saurabh Gupta(safame20@gmail.com)

Website: http://www.xowned.com