PureBlogging

The following guest post has been submitted by Steven Snell from Vandelay Website Design.

All successful bloggers have been able to create quality content for their readers. Unfortunately, creating quality content doesn’t guarantee success for a blog. Without readers to notice the quality of the writing, nothing is gained. If you’re having trouble getting readers to notice you, consider using some of the methods listed below. They all focus on getting your articles in front of new audiences, which will increase your exposure and your subscriber numbers.

1 - Article Directories

One of the oldest methods for marketing yourself through articles is to post them on article directories. There are dozens of directories online with thousands of articles that other webmasters are free to use on their own site. You give them some great content and in return you will get to display a brief author bio at the end of your article with a link to your website.

This used to be the #1 way to spread your articles across the internet. Recently though, search engines have aimed to keep duplicate content out of the SERPs (search engine results pages), which means your article distribution with this method will rarely result in a lot of search engine traffic. Even worse, if the article is also posted on your website you run the risk of search engines identifying your website as having duplicate content. Also, the links from sites duplicating your content are unlikely to boost your search engine rankings.

That being said, article directories still have value. The key to using them successfully is to only use articles that you are not posting on your own site. This way you will not be penalized for having duplicate content on your site/blog. Even if the inbound links from your bio are not helping your rankings, they can still be a good source of click-through traffic.

Some of the most popular article directories are:

• EzineArticles.com
• GoArticles.com
• EasyArticles.com

2 – Write for Other Blogs

Most bloggers spend so much time focusing on creating content for their own blog that they neglect one of the best ways for reaching a new audience. Regardless of what topic you blog about there are probably plenty of others that have a similar audience. By writing a post for another blog you instantly increase your visibility and name recognition while potentially gaining new readers for your own blog.

Every blogger has a need for valuable content (original articles only, not something that’s already posted on your website), and if you can offer high-quality writing to another blogger they are likely to accept. Start with the blogs you read on a daily or weekly basis and look for those that might be a good fit with your writing. You can find blogs who are looking for content at Guest-Blogger.com (and create your own account while your there).

3 – Blog Carnivals

Blog carnivals are probably the easiest of any of these methods. A blog carnival is a group of posts on a common topic that is published at a host blog. Anyone can host a blog carnival on any subject they choose. The carnival will include a title, brief description, and a link for every participating post. By submitting your post to a blog carnival you are essentially getting a link to a post on your blog. You can find blog carnivals on your topic of interest at BlogCarnival.com. Subscribe to their feed and you will be sent each carnival that’s posted so you’ll always be able to submit your posts. It takes only a few seconds and it gives you a link to one of your articles.

4 – Ezines

With the rise of blogging the popularity of ezines has dropped off a bit. Still there are thousands of ezines that are being sent out to targeted readers. In fact, with the focus on blogs there’s probably less competition to get your articles published in ezines. Some ezines have large distribution while others may be a waste of time. Go to some of the ezine directories listed below to find some that may be interested in your articles.

• New-List.com
• BestEzines.com
• The Ezine Directory

5 – Syndication

Plenty of websites are looking for fresh content that is regularly updated. For these sites article syndication is a good solution. With Idea Marketers’ syndication service a webmaster can find a writer that they want to publish on their site, and then whenever the writer publishes a new article it will be updated automatically. Many website owners prefer this hands-free approach to keep continually changing content on their site. As a writer you can offer to have your articles syndicated on other websites. The service from Idea Marketers is free and it’s easy for everyone involved.

6 – Online Publications

Most industries have at least a few online publications. They are very similar to a traditional magazine except they are based online instead of in print. Every so often they will publish new articles on subjects that are relevant to their readers. Almost every online publication accepts articles to be considered for use.

By being published on these sites you will have your writing seen by a large number of very targeted readers. The larger the audience of the publication the harder it will be to get your articles posted.

Some of the leading online publications in web design and blogging are:

• SiteProNews.com
• WebProNews.com
• A List Apart
• ThinkVitamin.com
• Digital Web Magazine

7 - Traditional Print Magazines and Trade Journals

Don’t limit your article promotion to simply online methods. Many magazines accept article submissions from freelancers. When you’re submitting an article to any publication, online or off, be careful not to appear as though you’re only do it to promote your business. Write a quality article and let your writing do the advertising.

To submit your article to magazines, visit their website and look for submission guidelines. Some will have very specific guidelines on article length, topic and format. Others will not list all of their requirements, but that doesn’t mean that they’re open to anything. Read at least a few issues to familiarize yourself with the type of articles they publish and take that into consideration before you write and submit anything.

8 – Newspapers

Newspapers can be particularly effective if your business is targeting customers in a specific local area. Follow the same guidelines list above: don’t blatantly market yourself or your business, submit high quality writing, and become familiar with articles that get published. Depending on where you are located, local newspapers may be much easier to get published in than national magazines.

9 – Ebooks

An easy way to distribute your articles is to create a PDF ebook of past articles that you have written (all articles should be focused on related topics). You can then give the ebook away as a free gift to your website visitors and give it away to other website owners to distribute from their sites. To get information about creating PDFs, visit:

• Adobe.com
• PDF Creator Plus
• CutePDF

Pick a few of these methods that you think may work well for you and implement them. Good luck!

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This is a guest post by Steven Snell. Mr. Snell designs websites and maintains a blog for Vandelay Website Design. You can read more of his writing and see his portfolio at www.vandelaydesign.com.