Article Marketing and Google: Time to Shift the Focus Back to Ezines?

With the effects of Google's Orion wiping out duplicate content and content spam, it may indeed be time to shift your article marketing from mass submissions back to selective ones. Search engine experts already called it: Google is in so many words, giving the glory back to niche-focused web sites that speak to humans as opposed to robots.

To make your own judgement call on the Google situation, read what Garrett Rogers had to say on the matter back in April, then Google a few of your recent article marketing keyword efforts for the confirming evidence.

If you're a search engine prowler like I am, you may have noticed the change. Just four months ago you could submit one article to ten directories, Google-search the prime keyword search term, and discover a glorious broadcast of sloppily managed article banks revealing your article title at the top of the Google results page. But now, it's all come undone. Keyword terms have been returned to their proper owners-- longstanding businesses who have built niche-targeted, categorical web sites and spent years fortifying them with high-quality, intelligent content.

I have to wonder how many small article directories hell-bent on the bragging rights that come with search engine prominence, are now throwing in the article marketing towel altogether. If the reality of Orion hasn't hit them yet, perhaps it will very soon. Granted, I'd be hard-pressed to call myself a search engine optimization expert. But as an astute observer, that's what the writing on the wall is saying to me.

Despite the Google algorithm shift, article marketing is still very much a viable way to get your business before the eyes of targeted prospects; now moreso than ever. Thanks to Google, and barring unforseen circumstances, it's been arranged that the content publishers who are in it for the long haul will prevail. And so, the question on everybody's minds: what to do with your article marketing campaign?

Some Tips from a Strategic Article Marketer:

1. Target your niche. Focus on building a library of tightly-focused content in one category. Write one or two articles each month, and publish them exclusively on your own Web site.

2. Save it for your ezine. Articles will always be a source of interest for your readers and fans. If you haven't started building a list yet, now's the time. Ezines build trust and they're the foundation of your client base.

3. Duck the dupe content penalty. Mass article submissions hold no clout now, as far as I can see. Shift your energy from mass submissions to selective ones. Focus on the Best, not the most.

4. Remold old content. All the article marketing articles I wrote are heading toward obsolete and in need of reworking. How's your content looking? Take another look at your previously published articles and repackage/remold for reuse in a new form.

5. Join article communities. EzineArticles.com serves as an info authority and promises a free education on any number of topics. Publish articles regularly here as a testament to your expertise.

6. Network with other article authors. If your previous goal was to get your articles in the Google spotlight, your new strategy should be to shine among fellow article submitters.

7. Swap EzineArticles. Strengthen your bonds with top quality content producers in related niche categories. Advertise an article swap for two times the exposure.

8. Be niche-selective. You'll likely start to see a shift from "generic" article banks, to topic-focused, which is the way that it should be. An example: GoDaddy's new article site, DomainInformer.com. Write original, exclusive articles for specific, targeted sites like these.

9. Stick to natural linking. Natural links are ones that further the reader experience by providing more information; for example to a resource. Artificial ones are self-serving to the content publisher only and will put a crimp in your search engine effort.

Article directories will continue to serve as an amazing free resource for anyone wishing to market a Web site. This fact alone keeps article marketing high on my list of Great Things You Can Do For Your Internet Business. I will continue to contribute my knowledge in the form of article submissions, as will I keep on reading and learning from my fellow article marketers. I suggest you do the same.