Articles, Articles, and More Articles

Article marketing is a tried and reliable part of search engine marketing. They have become a standardized way of establishing authority, building back links, and attracting new visitors. Articles have the possibility of going viral and finding homes on blogs, ezines, or other websites, further increasing your links and exposure.

Articles are a basic building block of a solid Internet marketing campaign. So much so that it has led to a range of article marketing claims and products. Claims that articles are the key to making a fortune online are probably a little unfounded. And products that claim to automate the processes of wording, rewording, and submitting your articles are not the best choices either. Remember, you're trying to establish authority. This is done through quality, not quantity.

Which is not to say that quantity doesn't matter. It does. There's simply a fine line between wide distribution and SPAM. And if you cross that line and destroy your reputation, it is something you might never get back.

And as we learn more about our industries we can write more on them, providing more information and creating more opportunities to make ourselves known.

But what happens when you run out of things to say? What happens when you've covered every aspect of the industry from one end to the other and back again? You still need more links – you always need more links. So what do you do? Is it time for one of those auto reword programs? Do you run your articles through a translator, get it changed to German, and then run it back through to English? This will certainly change your words into something else... but is this worth it?

Hopefully you never have to resort to such tactics, since they can be more harmful than good.

Of course, you could always write an article on how to write an article.

Discovering new topics to write about can be a good challenge. You should be keeping up with your industry news and participating in popular forums. By doing so you will know what is currently being talked about and what is causing a stir. This is a start, even though it might not always be worthy of a complete article. But these are all the perfect seeds that, when planted, could grow into something worthwhile.

This also has the added benefit of helping you create articles that deliver content that is likely to receive a large number of searches.

Just make certain that your website actually has relevant content as well, otherwise you may be attracting visitors who will do little more than increase your bounce rate.

All it takes is a little idea seed and you can start creating opportunities for a whole new range of articles.

But how do you uncover that morsel of an idea in the first place? Sometimes it seems as if everything has already been done before. How do you write one more article without repeating everything you've ever said before?

As an analogy to unearthing a new article, I am going to use the same images used by Stephen King in his book "On Writing." I know many of you don't particularly care for him or his stories, but they guy has sold roughly 37 jillian books. Like it or not, he seems to know something about writing.

In his book he relates the process of writing to an archaeological or anthropological dig. You have to begin with the right tools. These include an extensive vocabulary, polished grammar, and a general understanding of writing principles (in this case, persuasive or informative writing).

The next step is research. You can't just pull over to the side of the road and start liberally applying a shovel and trowel. That won't get you anywhere.

But if you look around and find those places that have the right history or have already attracted other diggers, these are the best places to start.

You need to begin the dig with a wider scope, trying to get an overall picture of the land – or what treasures might be underneath.

Eventually you will spot a part of a bone or a fragment of pottery sticking up. This is your hook Your idea that can lead to a great article. But you have to be careful or you could destroy the precious item before you ever see what it was connected to.

This is where the more delicate tools have to come out. Once you've got that first little bit uncovered, the work to expose the rest requires a lot of patience. But in the end, the structure you uncover just might be of interest to the entire community.

Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. If you'd like to know more about using articles in search engine marketing campaigns, visit their website.