Recently, the concept of marketing your website with articles has gained popularity. Many site owners are having articles written and published on various article directories. The reason is simple, traffic.

Why Article Marketing?

The demand for quality content online never ceases. Smart webmasters realize that by providing this quality content and giving permission for other webmasters to republish their articles results in an excellent opportunity to expose their website to their target audience.

Each article that you write and distribute gives you the chance to plug your site or newsletter in the about the author section. You can typically link directly to your site, and sometimes even can use HTML and link your primary keywords in the anchor text. This gives you some nice, relevant backlinks. Its not uncommon to receive thousands of unique backlinks for each article submitted, as over time your article will continue to be picked up for redistribution by other webmasters.

That’s why article marketing is so popular, its a winning situation all around. Other webmasters can add your quality articles to their sites for free, and you get exposure and links. Everybody is happy.

But I cant Write!

Writing a good article is actually surprisingly easy, especially if you are already an expert on your topic. Articles only need to be about 300 – 500 words, and be well written and without spelling and grammatical errors. Even if you are trying to write about a topic that you are not as familiar with, you have options.

Many webmasters outsource the creation of articles. If you visit any web freelance site, such as elance.com, you can usually find someone to write articles for you on any topic for between $10 to $40 per article. As with anything, buyer beware. Its best to give a prospective writer a small assignment first of only a few article to get a feel for the quality of their writing. Remember, the articles that you submit are representing you and your website. Quality matters.

How and Where to Submit Articles?

So, you have written your article, checked it for spelling and grammar and its ready to go…now what? You need to distribute your article to Article Directories, Article Announcement Lists and you can even submit your article directly to industry specific sites.

Many article marketers find that using an article submission software can speed up the time it takes to submit your articles. Article submission software also can help with the “where do I submit to?” question as well. The article submission sites and announcement lists come pre loaded with directories and other sites that accept submissions. You can also add your own sites to the list.

I highly recommend using an article submission software package to submit your articles. The time savings alone is substantial. Personally, I use the article submission software to submit to the “basic” directories & portals. Then, I go to Google and type in my topic and “submit article”. Usually, I will have tens or even hundreds more sites that cater specifically to the niche I am promoting. I then submit to those niche sites as well. This technique is not something I see being widely done, however, so there’s a good tip for you!

The traffic from articles submitted to niche sites as well as the directories is substantially higher than the traffic from articles submitted to directories alone.

There you have it. Marketing your website with articles is a great way to get traffic, links and expose your website to new visitors. Its easier than it sounds, even for those that think they cant write. Just try it! Chances are you will be adding Article marketing to your standard internet marketing box of tricks.

Are you searching for a way to make money from home?  Well, if you are at all computer-literate, you should consider an internet-based business.

One of the big advantages of making money with an internet business is that the startup costs required are very small.  And it is also something you can start in your spare time, in the evenings or on weekends, while still keeping your day job.

Some of the internet-based businesses you can start may not be as involved as you think.

For example:

1)  Sell things on Ebay.  A lot of people get started selling things on Ebay that they have around the house and are trying to get rid of.  Only after they see how easy this is, they start looking for other things to sell.  Soon, they are buying things cheaply and selling them for a profit on Ebay.

2)  Create a website and tell about your hobby or interest.  How can this make you money?  The answer is advertising.  Google will pay you money through their Adsense program for running their ads on your website.  Every time someone clicks on one of the ads, you make money.  And starting a website is easier than ever today, because you can use free blogging software and start blogging with little technical knowledge.

3)  Get into affiliate marketing.  You point people to the website of a company who is selling a product.  Through their affiliate program, the company will pay you a portion of the profits for every product that is sold because of you linking to their website.

These are just a few of the ideas you can use to make money from home on the internet.  Just start out with one of these ideas in your spare time, and see where it takes you.  Of course, every business takes work and dedication, even an internet business.  But the rewards can be tremendous, especially when you look back and see how you have been transformed from a total newbie to an accomplished internet marketer.