If you are an article marketer, or you have entertained the possibility of writing articles, then keep readingโ€ฆ

In this article, I define the Six Essential Elements of writing articles that generates traffic and produces sales for your websiteโ€ฆ

It will all begin to make sense to you when you step into the shoes of your readersโ€ฆ Because once you understand how your readers read your articles, it becomes rather obvious what your articles need to include in order for you to generate interest in your article, and successfully deliver visitors to your websiteโ€ฆ

Once you understand the โ€œhow and whyโ€ of writing great articles, you will have the knowledge necessary to help you join the ranks of the article marketing superstarsโ€ฆ But if you miss the point of this article, you are instead likely to join the ranks of the people who whine about how Article Marketing a scamโ€ฆ

There Are Six Essential Elements of Successful Article Marketing:

1. Title โ€“ Many people suggest that you should put your top keywords at the front of your article title, but I donโ€™t subscribe to that methodology. I do include my target keywords in the title, when I can, but an article that is well-optimized for the search engines is worthless if it does not get publishedโ€ฆ The #1 goal of your articlesโ€™ title is to get the article opened!! You must present a title that is going to get the attention of publishers and readers; you must present a title that is going to compel a person to at least open your article to see if they will want to read itโ€ฆ

2. Opening Paragraph โ€“ The title got your article opened, but now you need your reader to read the articleโ€ฆ Tell your reader why they should keep reading your article and read it to its conclusionโ€ฆ Any reader who does not reach your website from your article is a โ€œmissed opportunityโ€ to sell your stuffโ€ฆ Show people why it will be in their best interest to finish reading your articleโ€ฆ

3. The Article Body โ€“ The article body must meet the promise of the Article Title and the opening paragraphโ€ฆ The article body must retain the interest of the reader to the last wordโ€ฆ The article body should tell a story people want to read, and leave them wanting moreโ€ฆ The article body must successfully carry the reader to the articlesโ€™ closing paragraph and to your Authorโ€™s Resource Boxโ€ฆ

4. Your Closing Paragraph โ€“ Ideally, when your reader reaches the last paragraph of an article, the reader should be happy to have read the article to its conclusion. This is the first point about your closing paragraph. The second is that the closing paragraph should successfully bridge the reader from the article to the Authorsโ€™ Resource Box. After all, the Authorsโ€™ Resource Box is where the writer will get paid for having invested the effort into writing the article. When the reader reads the resource box and takes the action the author asked him or her to take, then the process of writing has the opportunity to offer the writer great rewards.

5. The Authorsโ€™ Resource Box โ€“ The Authorsโ€™ Resource Box needs to transition the reader from your article to your website, by offering a compelling call-to-action to get the reader to go to your websiteโ€ฆ Tell who you are, but donโ€™t go overboardโ€ฆ People do not care who you are or what you have done โ€“ they only care about what else you can do for themโ€ฆ Jeff Herring wrote a great article that elaborates a bit further on how to construct an effective Resource Box here ( here.

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Donโ€™t hate me for this, but getting traffic is the easy part โ€” my websites get 3/4 million visitors per year. Subscribe to my Traffic Tips mailing list and get a 25-page PDF that teaches an important lesson about Google. Join the Online Business Insiderโ€™s forum to directly ask me questions about Traffic Generation. Or, go to http://WritingPuzzle.com/ to find my products for writers. Bill Platt has been marketing products & services online since 2001.

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