<< Table of Contents

Part 4i - Article Marketing - Key Points & Checklist

We've covered quite a bit of information in this chapter of the book. So let's recap some of the key points we discussed along the way.

Article Marketing Steps

1. Choose a topic based on your key phrase research, your products, etc.
2. Choose a working title for your article.
3. Write the article.
4. Write the author's note with call-to-action and hyperlink.
5. Publish the article.
6. Track your success (page views, search ranking, article distribution, traffic).
7. Repeat the process with new articles.

Brandon's 7 Cardinal Rules of Article Marketing

1. Your articles must be your original work.
2. Your articles must be well written.
3. Your articles must be helpful.
4. Your articles must be relevant to your services.
5. Your articles must point to your website.
6. Your articles must give the reader a reason to take further action.
7. You must submit new articles on a regular basis.

Article Publishing Checklist

Here's a quick review of the key steps we went through when writing our article and publishing it online. Visit the table of contents to review any of these sections in detail.

Preparation:

• Have I done the proper research for key search phrases?
• Have I chosen a good topic based on the above research?

Title:

• Does my title contain key search phrases right up front?
• Does my title create a strong desire to read further?
• Does my title suggest that the article is helpful?
• Does my title identify my audience?

Article:

• Does my article move the reader forward smoothly and logically?
• Is my article Web-friendly (with short paragraphs, lists, sub-headers, etc.)?
• Does it stick to one topic, sharply focused?
• Does it deliver on the promise made in the title?
• Is the information genuinely helpful to my key prospects?
• Does the article position me as an expert? (Not with labels, but with solid information.)
• Is my article free of typos and grammatical mistakes?
• Is it lively and interesting? Does it have personality?
• Does it speak directly to readers in the second-person (using "you" and "your")?

Author's Bio / Resource Box:

• Does my bio have an effective call-to-action?
• Is my bio short and to the point?
• Does my bio contain a link to my website (ideally to a specific page of my site)?
• Does my bio match my article from an informational standpoint?

There's one last thing I'd like to cover in this chapter about article marketing, and it's arguably the most important lesson of all. I'd like to explain how you can take your article marketing program to the next level by finding additional article opportunities.