You have a website. You want traffic. Therefore, you need articles.
If someone says the word “article” to you, you might think of stories in magazines and newspapers. Unless, of course, you’re a serial grammarian, in which case you may picture aseries of short words: a, an, the, and so on. In the interests of avoiding confusion (and assuaging the serial grammarians), all references to “articles” in this book should be assumed to mean this: A relatively short, informative piece ofwriting that conveys an idea or concept in a useful,interesting and/or entertaining manner.
Now, take a good look at that definition. There are several key words to help you determine what an article is. The word “informative” is perhaps the most important. Good articles let thereader walk away (or click away, as the case may be) knowing something they didn’t knowbefore. People read articles expecting to either learn something or be entertained—preferablyboth.
What about the term “relatively short”? Articles can vary in length, from a few paragraphs toseveral pages. The length of an article should depend on the information you’re trying toconvey. For example, “How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich” would be relativelyshorter than “The Basic Operating Principles of Fission Reactors.”The last part of the definition is to help you understand what an article isn’t. This is a crucialconcept for anyone using articles to increase website traffic and sales, and it’s one manywebmasters fail to grasp: articles are not advertisements.
No one wants to read a three-page ego-stroke about how great your product or book is, orwhy dozens of people in your hometown are raving about you. These types of “articles” willnot be circulated or read, and can actually decrease your website traffic when word startsspreading that your site is nothing but a bunch of advertising hype.
Though your ultimate goal in generating articles for your website is to increase sales, usingarticles to spell out your goal in plain English (buy my stuff!) is a good way to make sure younever reach it. Believe it or not, subtlety still has a place in Internet marketing. By providing people with quality articles at no cost to them, you will reach a far greater audience—and convert more visitors to buyers.
