Article marketing is a great way to promote a website. But there are some traps to be avoided to do it effectively. Here are five of them.

1. Authors often fail to realize the importance of titles. Without an interesting title, a story is far more likely to be rejected by an online article directory. And even if a story makes it past the article directory editors, few website owners will use it on their sites if it does not have an engaging title.

2. Articles are often heavy on fluff and light on content. I often find myself abandoning an article before reading even half of it because it has no value or relevance to me. If you want to draw readers to your website, give them informational or thought provoking articles. Content really is king.

3. Don’t limit your articles to the subject of your website. If you do, you will limit the number of websites interested in using your articles. Unfortunately, many website promotion „experts“ offer exactly the opposite advice. If you do a little math you’ll see just how bad their advice is. While you might want to produce up to two thirds of your articles on topics related to your website, at least a third should be on a variety of topics of high general interest.

4. Article writers often tend to be formulaic. In some instances they try to cram a prepared list of keywords into an article. In other instances they try to ensure that 3-4% of the content consists of keywords. While such formulas may make sense from an SEO point of view, they often make articles unreadable.

5. Authors should never be the only ones to edit and revise their own articles: those who do walk a tightrope without a net. It is not just about catching spelling errors and typos, it’s about word choices, typos, and transitions as well.

Article marketing done properly requires considerable time and thought. But, because it can establish you as an authority, produce immediate traffic to your site, and boost your search engine rankings, it is well worth the effort. Do it well.