Local Adda

Preparing Articles For Submission

 In the last article we discussed about the Importance of Articles in SEO to achieve Good Rank.   Here is the extension of the same which explains about how to write an article.

Article submission can take up a lot of time. So you want to be sure that you get the highest rate of approval from the editors. Here is what you should do to ensure that you get most of your articles approved.

Appropriate word count - Articles should ideally be 500 words and above. You can write whatever you want. But bear in mind that the editors are looking for valuable content that their readers will enjoy reading. So your articles should not be self promotional. All promotional materials should be included in the author resource box, which will appear at the end of the article.

Proper formatting - The article does not have to be perfect. But it has to be legible, and relatively free of grammatical errors. The style of writing is not that important. Most styles will be accepted. Use the hard return to separate paragraphs, and do not include any HTML. Not all article directories accept HTML tags in the article body. As long as the article is of decent quality, it should be approved.

Include target keywords in article title - Your target keywords should be include in the article title. This will increase the chances of your articles rising to the top in the search results. Having keywords in the article title is also part of SEO. When performing SEO, you want the search engines to find relevant content that link to your sites. Having your target keywords in the title is one way of letting the search bots know that the content in the article is related to what you have to offer in your website.

Write a catchy title and interesting summary - The title is very important because if it cannot capture the attention of your reader, you have just lost a potential visitor. Your title should be speaking directly to your target audience. The article summary should also be clear and concise. Don’t beat around the bush. You can elaborate further in the article body. For the summary, use short and powerful sentences.

Delivering the promise of your article title - Make sure that you stay on topic and deliver the promise in the article title. For example, if your article is about link building, then make sure you share some methods on how to build one way back links quickly. Don’t stray and write about your pet and then forget to go back to your main topic.

Using anchor texts in links - Anchor texts are the words that are in between a set of HTML link tags. Before going into article marketing, you should already have a set of keywords to target. Use these keywords not just in your article title, but also as your anchor texts. For instance, if you are targeting the keywords "Search Engine Optimization", use these words in your links. Don’t use words like "click here" or any other generic term.

Once you have the above in place, you can start submitting the articles to the article directories.

The goal of Web Optimization

Increasing conversion rates. It seems simple enough: increase the success factors and decrease the failure factors. Whatever the nature of your site, whatever you consider a conversion, the factors are pretty much the same.

Failure factors

Anything that causes frustration, a negative thought, or a concern in the mind of the visitor tips the balance against conversion. These failure factors include:

* Poor copy (doesn’t focus on benefits to visitors)
* Confusing navigation
* Lack of hierarchy
* Information in the wrong sequence
* Unnecessary steps
* Difficult to scan
* Too many choices
* Inconsistent
* Unusual terminology
* Broken links
* Outdated content
* Unprofessional design
* Inaccessible contact information
* Forms that are too complex

Failure factors generate anxiety. They create barriers. They undermine the motivation of your visitors and interfere with your ability to build a relationship. By slowing them down and forcing them to think too much, you’re tipping the conversion balance that leads prospects to click away from your site.

Next we’ll look at Success Factors.

Success factors

Anything that makes your site self-explanatory, easy-to-use, and meets visitors’ needs based on their different motivations is a success factor. These include:

* Strong value proposition (why should I buy from you instead of your competitor?)
* Understanding visitors’ needs based on their motivation
* Benefits-oriented copy
* Easy navigation
* Obvious hierarchy
* Succinct copy
* Clear instructions
* Short, simple forms
* Scannable pages
* Incentives and credibility indicators
* Web conventions (i.e. make links look like links)
* Meaningful page titles and sub-headers
* Professional design

Success factors generate confidence and provide positive reinforcement. When visitors feel like they’re in the right place you’ve earned their trust and the opportunity to build a relationship. That’s the only way you can encourage them to read on, click to the next step, fill out a form or pick up the phone.

There’s one more success factor that doesn’t fit neatly into a bullet-point. Consider the mindset of your visitors and where they are in their buying or decision-making process.

It is important to provide content for different kinds of people; those who just want the facts please, those who respond to an emotional pitch, people who are visually oriented, etc.

Equally important, you want to provide information for browsers or people just doing preliminary research, as well as detailed info for visitors who may be returning to your site and are ready to convert.

Conversion is a process

Remember, while a conversion technically happens in a single step, it is not an isolated one. Conversion is the result of a series of small decisions and tiny steps. By minimizing the failure factors and maximizing the success factors you can tip the balance.

Let me know if you have other ideas about failure and success factors that affect conversion rates.