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Articles are a driving force in bringing traffic to a website. Not only through articles posted on the site itself, but through article directories, as well. Articles are a factor in giving site high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie he gets. With a huge number in traffic flow, there are more profits and more potential for other income generating methods, as well.

But, you can’t just stuff your site with articles — they need to meet certain requirements too. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more, as well as recommend your site to others.

Here are some tips to help you create articles that satisfy their multitude of purposes. These tips are in addition to the “red hot” tips offered last week. Below you will read find four things that all articles must have to be successful and help your website earn more traffic.

  Keywords and Keyword Phrases.
An article must always be centered on the keywords and keyword phrases. As each website visitor goes to a site, there are those who are just browsing while looking for a specific something. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Toyota Camry, Meningitis, Tax Lawyer, etc).

The important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, you must have articles about cars and their parts. There are many tools on the Internet that provide keyword research services. You can use these tools to determine what keywords to use and write about.

Here are a few to get you started:

• Google Keyword Tool
• NicheBOT
• Webmaster Toolkit’s Keyword Research Tool

  Keyword Density
Now that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to “feel” its presence. Articles should at least have 10-15% keyword density in their content for search engines to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best for a website.

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.

But above all, the article must flow. In other words, the keyword density should be a natural extension of the article — otherwise what you are doing is called “keyword stuffing” which is bad and can get your website de-indexed.

  Good Article Content
Like what I stated above, you cannot just riddle an article with keywords. Your articles must also be regarded as good reading and the repetition of keywords or keyword phrases must be natural. Articles must be able to entertain people, as well as provide good information. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.

People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you, they will trust you and your products.

  Links
And another important thing to remember. If you are going to submit articles to e-zines and/or contribute your articles to newsletters and other sites, DON’T ever forget to include a link to your site. A little resource box with a brief description of your site and you should always be placed right after your articles that you have submitted. If people like your articles, they will most likely click on the link directing them to your site.

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For more information about article marketing, check out the FAQs page. If your question isn’t answered, you can submit your own question.