Writers: How to Get Your Article in the Public Eye

Writing articles can get you noticed, but it won't mean anything if no one knows you even exist. This is where promoting your articles comes in. Article marketing increases your online visibility and can bring in more traffic to your writings. It's mandatory to put your articles out on the 'Net, but you also need to ensure they're being seen by the people you want to read them.

Remember: even internet companies have shut down because they couldn't figure out who they were selling to. And because they couldn't focus on a single market, they tried to appeal to John Q. Public in general. But what works for one business doesn't necessarily work for another business, and the same holds true for writers.

It's the exact same thing with finding the right audience for your work. A lot of founders of article directories have gotten so exasperated they'll actually write a caveat in huge glaring letters, warning hopeful article writers that a poorly matched article will result in outright rejection by the directory.

Make sure you do your homework ahead of time and put your article in the right area of the message board/web site. Try to look for blogs that have something in common with your are of expertise and leave that blog a comment containing a link to your article (you may want to ask the blog's owner first.) Targeting your audience in this manner will help you get a larger audience and bring more people to your articles on your site.

You should also look into connecting to a "social network". Places like MySpace and Yahoo Groups have become more common, but there are many others out there that focus on a more specific audience (like you should be.) You can post your articles on these social networks to bring in a larger audience than you would without them. Also try to submit your article some of the more well known article directories (though you probably shouldn't submit to every single directory you find.) While you may want to increase your article's visibility, submitting that single article to hundreds of directories isn't the right way to do it. You'll just waste your time and drag your promotional plan into the mire. Why not just make a list of about 10 or so "top" directories, with a few smaller (but trusted) websites as backup? You'll save time while still accomplishing your goal.

One more thing to think about: getting a blog of your own. If you can make a blog and post your articles regularly on it, you'll soon find yourself with a following. Not to mention search engines, who absolutely adore blogs because they're always being updated. Chances are, most of the traffic to your blog will come directly from these engines, so updating your blog regularly with new articles is the best way to keep those readers coming in. Just remember to use relevant keywords when writing your article, and send them in "ping" form (a way of telling the directory you have new articles) to different blog directories. You'll find yourself with a fresh audience who's very interested in what you have to say.