What’s New with Article-Writing on the Internet?

My marketing clients are always amazed at what happens when they write articles for the Internet.

Their articles start turning up on websites, and their URLs start turning up on the search engines.

It’s a formula that really works and it's a win-win formula: they enjoy writing and helping others, they increase their knowledge as they write, the readers benefit, and the writers gain recognition.

Almost overnight you can become #1, 3 and 8 on google in a category, and pop up also under amazing keywords. In time you can establish your expertise, drawing clients and customers to your website for the right reasons, building a firm foundation for a business of practice.

You can also avoid the “link farms” the spiders don't like, because you'll be racking up so many "real" links from the article sites. You'll also get more requests for link trades and other alliances than you can handle.

Clients write me all the time that articles I've written about them have helped them place. For example, for Sandy Gooding, CEO of Gooding Accountability System Accountability System©, two of the top ten references on google are from articles I've written about her services, and my article citations got there before her own website started showing up.

So what's new these days?

After what appeared to me to be heavy saturation from MLM writers of thinkly disguised advertisements, I'm seeing more quality, and also more new names entering the field all the time. As the competition increases, the quality will matter more. Hopefully you were there to begin with. If not, better sharpen your pencil.

We quickly learn who produces good material, and I'm sure it's the same way for the website and ezine publishers.

Photos requests are starting to happen. Lately when one of my articles has been accepted, the webmaster has asked me for a photo, so now I include on the list-serve submissions under my URL and Mailto:, "Photo available here: http://www.myphoto.com/yo.jpg." You might want to to give it a try. As one syndicator wrote me, "so the reader can see you and imagine having a relationship with you."

Once you're established, consider not requiring the courtesy copy. It could slow down a busy editor just enough to pass up your article for someone else's.