Articles make great (and free) website content. When it comes to using articles you have a few choices: write and submit your own articles; use other people’s articles, buy private label content; or hire a ghost writer. In this article I will touch on each of these options. Subject Matters
No matter what method you use, you must have a subject for your article. What is it you want to write about? What is your niche (or expertise)? What is your targeted audience? A good way to find a topic is simply by going to your search engine and typing in possibilities. How many hits did you get? Another way is to use a keyword research tool. Others include checking news alerts, forums, blogs, and competitor’s website.
Writing the Words
Once you have a subject and have completed the necessary research it’s time to create a compelling, eye catching title. The title should be relevant to your subject, pique the reader’s interest, and be easy to remember. Your title should spark enough interest in the reader so that he/she wants to get more information by reading your article. Your article should contain short paragraphs, with 500-700 words overall. It should contain a powerful introduction and the conclusion should be a review of the main points. There are a wide variety of article directories to submit articles to. You can usually submit your articles for free. Be sure to read the writer’s guidelines before submission. Use the resource box to tell the world about yourself, your website, and the product or service you wish to sell.
Using Other People's Words
Finding original, fresh articles for website content may be a little more time consuming then writing your own articles. Some questions to ask:
• Is the information current and accurate? • Is the article objective? Unbiased? • Is it a well written article? What about grammar and spelling? • What makes the author an expert on the subject? What are his/her credentials? • Does the article contain resources? Is the author’s contact information available? Once you’ve found the articles you want to use make sure that they have free reprint rights.
Private Label Content
What exactly are private label content articles? PLC refers to any article, ebook, or manual that subscribers can use as they wish for website content. They can also be used to create a new ebook, manual, or ecourse. When using PLC articles for submission to article directories there are restrictions, however. You must do significant rewrites so that the original article is unrecognizable.
You can do this by changing the title, adding and subtracting words or paragraphs, and rewriting the closing. You can also combine PLC articles to create a new one.
Using PLC articles is an easy way to create website content, but it will cost you. Subscription prices and packages offered by membership sites can vary. The key is to think about quality rather than quantity.
Hiring a Ghost Writer
For a price there is any number of freelance writers out on the web that would be happy to help you with your website content. A ghost writer is someone who is hired to write for you and you get credit for their work. When hiring a ghost writer be sure you know what you are looking for and be clear in communicating your ideas to the perspective ghost writer. Before you hire be sure to ask about previous work, references, and rates. Be on the look for anyone that asks for full payment upfront, has bad writing skills (especially grammar or spelling), or cheap rates.
Happy Endings
As you can see you have several tions when using articles for website content. You can write your own articles, use other people’s articles, buy PLC, or hire someone else to do the work (and get all the credit). Whatever method you choose if you do the research you will create quality, interesting content that makes visitors want to return to your website again and again.
