Everyone on the internet who is looking to make an income is naturally concerned about traffic; more precisely, how to get it. And man are there a lot of alternative ways to do it. In this article I’m going to discuss how article marketing should fit into your online strategy and how it’s got many benefits over many of the more immediate techniques that spring to mind for creating traffic, like PPC, banner advertising etc.

Article marketing is a key element in many online marketers’ overall strategy and for good reasons.

This article will show you how effective it can be and how to do it properly so that it doesn’t do you more damage than good.

An article often implies an accurate, factual, objective piece of writing about some subject. At least that’s probably the thought of many people when they see an article; they tend to take it at face value.

Naturally, if you’re the reader, it inevitably helps before you begin to read the piece to briefly think about the agenda of the person who wrote the piece. In this way your guard is up for any bias there could be in the writing and you can take that into account when considering the content and any actions you may make based on that article.

For example, if the piece is all about product product A from company x and it’s written by company x – it’s likely to be biased and you should be wary about making a decision to buy based on just that article.

But if the piece is a review of several related products and is written by someone not connected to any of the featured companies, you’re much more likely to be able to take what has been written at face value.

Or is that too naive?

In this scenario, you may have to probe a little deeper. Why has this person created the review? Chances are (especially for online articles) the author is going to make a percentage if you buy any of the products through links on his/her/their article.

So, being cynical, the article may be biased towards the product that pays a higher percentage.

There are many articles on the web that are created by people just because of their interest in that subject and there is no money-making reson behind it.

But these are fast becoming outnumbered by articles created to ultimately make a sale and a commissionpercentage for someone. Always be cogniscent of that.

And be aware of that when creating your own articles designed to market something.

I’ll use the term marticle to indicate an article meant for marketing something and ulimately making money.

Many people reading your marticle might be naive but many people generally are becoming more wisened up to marketing techniques and tricks. Therefore, my advice is to try to be as genuine as possible so that whatever else happens, whether the marticle is effective or not, nobody can accuse you of not having integrity.

In the main people don’t mind you earning money; they realise that people make money on the net and they can only achieve that by promoting products and ultimately making sales.

But people hate being manipulated. As soon as they feel they’re being manipulated for your profit, you can wave them goodbye, if you can see them through the dust that is!

If you’ve used a product and feel you could be comfortable promoting it, great. Write an article that says how you’ve used the product, what benefits you got from it, what you like and dislike about it and include an affiliate link (or a link to your own site if it’s your own product).

But be authentic – don’t imply it’s the greatest in the market if you haven’t objectively reviewed the other products yourself. Don’t try to mislead – be open and honest that this is the only product you’ve tested and this is how it worked out for you.

People will thank you for that. They may look for more reviews from other people who have tested other products but your integrity is intact and some people will buy through your link because your review is sufficient information for them.

Many people write a marticle that just states the benefits (often straight from the product owner’s website) and then offer their affiliate link. They’re not adding value to the info the visitor could get directly from the owner’s website.

Add value by either reviewing more than one product (thereby saving the visitor time in researching) or add value in a different way:

As you’ve used the product, offer hints and advice about how to get the best out of the product; stuff that might not be on the product owner’s website. Show that you’ve used it and note: pointing out a few negatives but showing work arounds is a very powerful way of making your marticle seem genuine and creating rapport with your reader.

Offer a newsletter supporting the product; offer your support by email if they buy the product through your link; offer free bonuses.

Just ensure that you add some value and not just put your affiliate link in there. Your readers and your bank balance will thank you!