by Matthew Stone
A Low Cost SEO strategy that includes article composition and distribution can not only improve a company\’s sales, but can also improve brand recognition. Distributing an informative article to blogs and article sites is a well established method of generating new revenue as well as improving company web page performance – especially performance on the search engine rankings.
Many business managers want their sales staff to jump right into the market, telephone prospective clients, build relationships and close new sales. Although this plan does work, it requires significant investments of both time and money. Time spent in training and money paid to sales prospectors almost always ends up being a significant investment, typically with a low rate of return. And when the salesman isn\’t calling, the company isn\’t getting the word out. Brochures, mailings and other marketing efforts although useful, tend to only generate revenue when the information reaches the prospect at the point he or she is ready to buy.
The initial purchase process is marked by product research. Potential clients research the best possible ways to solve their problem. These potential customers almost always turn to the internet and the internet search engines to help them find information. The early research phase is an opportunity for savvy business organization to get information into the view of prospective buyers. By posting article information and company web page data so that this information is likely to be viewed during the pre-purchase phase, an organization places itself in a unique position earn a sale.
Relationships based on trust are the keystones to any business relationship. Establishing trust may be done by posting useful article information on blogs and article directories. As purchasers always maximize quality and value, a well written piece can articulate the reasons why the company is worthy of trust or at least, worthy of investigation. Credibility and trust are strong invitations for the prospect to explore the benefits of the company product offering.
Among the most positive reasons to compose and distribute articles is that the process is fairly cheap! And material for stories is all around! Stories about how the company helped its clients or interesting stories about unique product value can be compiled into short and interesting articles without too much difficulty. Asking current customers for testimonials can also provide numerous story lines. Using just a little creative energy can yield interesting, informative and valuable articles.
Writing and distributing written pieces has a number of additional benefits, including: Link Setting – Articles can contain embedded links pointing back to the company website. These links are an important SEO or search engine optimization effort that displays for the search engines that the company site is important within the industry. Building Brand identity – Stories can demonstrate the importance of the company \’brand\’ within the client\’s industry. Demonstrating Expertise – Solving complex client problems using experienced and creative solutions demonstrates to prospective customers that the company has the experience required to solve the client\’s problems.
Composition is always the major obstacle to an Article Distribution program. However, these pieces can be short – about 500 words or so seems to be about the best length. As long as the article shares at least one point of value that can be easily explained, the article can be highly useful.
Time invested in article composition is one challenge, and distribution of the completed article is another. Many distribution programs are available to help with this though. Some are free and many good ones are available at a low service fee. These systems will promote your article – including all the embedded links – through their networks of blogs and article sites. And when a blog owner publishes the piece, the company earns a link from that blog back to the company website.
Traditional advertising efforts that include direct mail or brochure distribution frequently have a very low return on the resources invested in the process. Additionally, once distributed, these messages are almost always discarded or thrown away. A major benefit to article marketing though is that the articles remain available to readers and internet researchers for years! This long \”Shelf Life\” enables the company to reach out to new potential customers long after the article was originally released. So for years, the company\’s article can be building brand image and attracting customers long after the original publish date.
About the Author:
Low Cost SEO strategies allow any organization to compete for additional sales and revenue utilizing the online search engines.
Denver SEO Consultants provide affordable assitance to organizations seeking to improve revenue and attract additional customers. Visit our website today for more information!