Conducted by Robin Nobles

Academy of Web Specialists

Take search engine marketing training!

09:05:54 2003 robin: let me tell you a little back ground to give you an idea of why I think this topic is so unbelievably important . . .

09:06:06 2003 robin: the topic of increasing your visibility and link pop by writing and marketing your articles

09:07:00 2003 robin: first off, as a professional SEO, (like most professional SEO's, it seems), I am so busy that I never seem to have time to optimize my own sites. I'm too busy helping everyone else optimize their sites

09:08:12 2003 robin: but, I never used the fact that I'm a writer to my advantage, except with my weekly newspaper columns

09:08:26 2003 robin: when I started writing search engine articles for Planet Ocean, I published the articles there and that's it

09:09:10 2003 robin: I never took advantage of those articles by trying to market them anywhere else.

09:09:56 2003 robin: then one day I finally realized that if I started using the POWER behind those articles, that I could increase visibility AND increase link popularity

09:10:23 2003 robin: to me, one of the most difficult (and time consuming) aspects of SEO work is increasing link popularity

09:10:52 2003 robin: after all, we can manipulate the on page factors, but the off page factors -- getting others to link to our site -- isn't the "easiest" thing in the world to do

09:11:29 2003 robin: so, I started marketing my articles -- which is something that every single person in this room could do too -- NO MATTER what industry you're in

09:12:39 2003 robin: how did I begin? because several online places were already marketing my newspaper articles, I went there first. So, my SE articles are posted in places like a site for Arizona and a site for India. My point is, don't think that you have to stay INSIDE your industry to market your articles

09:13:05 2003 robin: after all, people in Arizona need to know about SEO too, don't they? And people in India? Of course!

09:13:34 2003 robin: second thing is -- I went to some sites for women -- I don't know how many women are here with us, but you guys can do the SAME thing with sites just for guys

09:14:01 2003 robin: several online sites just for women "syndicate" my articles -- and send them out to their members or to other publications on a weekly basis

09:14:08 2003 robin: it's great visibility --

09:14:35 2003 robin: sites for women love to see articles written by "business" women, so they have been very receptive to my articles

09:15:01 2003 robin: So, from that point, I began building what I call my "article distribution channel"

09:15:29 2003 robin: I went to Google and searched for "submit an article" "search engine marketing" (or search engine optimization, or even just search engines)

09:15:44 2003 robin: you wouldn't believe how many links I found of online publications that publish articles related to the search engines

09:16:13 2003 robin: you can do the SAME thing in your own industry. I worked with a guy in Santa Barbara who has karate sites, and we found 27,000 possiblities of places for him to market articles!

09:16:47 2003 robin: then, I went to the lists -- listz.com

09:17:18 2003 robin: and I searched for lists pertaining to the search engines or online marketing. I wrote to the list owners and asked if they took article submissions, and I added them to the list if they did

09:17:25 2003 shermanhu robin: , would you have a process you take when you write your articles? A step by step guide if you will...to help us article-writing-babes

09:17:54 2003 robin: I sure do -- and I'll tell you that after I finish with the "distribution" part -- where you can market your articles

09:18:29 2003 robin: From there, I kept adding other distribution channels as I found them, and believe me, those channels are there . . .

09:18:52 2003 robin: for example, at Yahoo! groups, there are quite a few groups that are focused entirely on articles -- articles of any type

09:19:04 2003 robin: you join the list, post your article, and from there, it can get posted all over the place

09:19:29 2003 robin: of course, you post to the relevant groups only -- and I'll add some tips on what to put on the page when we get to the "how to write the articles" part of this chat

09:19:39 2003 robin: Another great channel is Article Announce

09:19:46 2003 robin: they have several different groups . . .

09:19:53 2003 robin: and you post to the one that fits your topic . . .

09:20:02 2003 robin: for example, they have one for "home" -- one for "health"

09:20:09 2003 robin: one for "Internet" one for "general"

09:20:17 2003 robin: one for "business" etc.

09:21:05 2003 robin: I write two weekly newspaper columns that have nothing to do with the engines (believe it or not!), and I market those articles through a couple of women's sites for syndication and through Article Announce, but that's as far as I go with them

09:21:51 2003 robin: BUT, let's say I write an article "for busy moms" (one of my columns -- don't you think I'm a good person to write a column like that?!), and what if the topic is about "how to take care of yourself when you get a common cold"

09:22:11 2003 robin: in my byline, I list my credits -- links to the Academy, Search Engine Workshops, etc.

09:22:28 2003 robin: I'm getting visibility in areas I would have never gotten before, if I'd stuck just with the search engine industry

09:22:47 2003 robin: I hope you see where I'm going with this -- because these bylines are crucial for two things -- visibility, and link popularity.

09:23:13 2003 robin: though an article about getting rid of a cold may not help my link pop at ACWS, it will give me added visibility in areas where I have none

09:23:56 2003 robin: Some of the markets want you to send the articles through email in the body of an email -- which I'll explain more about how to format the articles later

09:24:12 2003 robin: and other articles require that you post to their online form, which is MUCH more time consuming

09:24:39 2003 robin: I can obviously send out an article to 50 different places with the click of a button if I do it by email, but to visit each site does more time

09:25:26 2003 robin: so, what I did in that situation is to put my energies into the markets that would benefit me the most when it comes to publishing on the Web

09:26:13 2003 robin: I checked the PageRank of any sites where I post online. I aim for markets with a PR of 5 or above on the MAIN page of the site. Understand that the article submission page may not have that high a PR, and that's okay -- but I aim for a 5 on the main page

09:26:53 2003 robin: That doesn't mean that I won't publish an article anywhere else -- it just means that I START with those higher popular sites first, and then if I have to stop at a certain spot and don't have time to go through the whole list, I'm taking care of the most important ones first

09:27:25 2003 robin: A couple of the online markets want you to post just a URL to your article online. I ADORE those markets! Plop in the URL and you're gone!

09:27:57 2003 robin: Right now, my article distribution channel is probably around 70-80 markets -- I haven't counted in a long time

09:28:17 2003 robin: but, you can see the POWER in this -- write one article, and get it published all over the place

09:29:02 2003 robin: plus, let's not forget there are other benefits to publishing articles besides visibility and link pop -- there's the added credibility you'll get when people begin seeing your name all over the place -- you're building branding as well

09:29:08 2003 robin: before we go on, are there any questions?

09:30:09 2003 travis b. sorry, I just joined in- what sites offer this article option (or what kind of sites)

09:31:11 2003 robin: Travis, you'll find places to publish articles in ANY topic you can imagine. I'll try to get this transcript posted early, but one thing I suggest that's highly effective is to go to google and type . . .

09:31:19 2003 robin: "submit an article" "your keyword phrase"

09:31:21 2003 robin: see what you get

09:31:38 2003 robin: you'll be totally amazed at how many places you'll find that accept articles in your topic area.

09:31:49 2003 robin: if you don't have a nice sized list, you're going at it in too focused a way -- back up a bit

09:32:09 2003 robin: for example, if your keyword phrase is "english bulldog puppies" (my favorite dogs, I might add!)

09:32:23 2003 robin: you may find that it's rather difficult to find places that accept articles JUST for that keyword phrase

09:32:57 2003 robin: but, if you back up to "bulldogs" or "dogs" -- your choices will sky rocket. So, this is one area where you can actually get more GENERAL!! (after we preach the importance of focusing in every other area of SEO work!)

09:33:24 2003 travis b. can your specific article be found through search engines??

09:33:40 2003 robin: Anyway, let's talk about how to write the articles, or rather, how "I" write my articles (which may differ with how you will write your articles -- which is fine -- am just giving you ideas to start out with)

09:34:42 2003 robin: yes -- do a search for my name in a search engine, and you'll find TONS of articles I've written. Yesterday, I did that to prove a point, and I found almost 6,000 links at Google when I searched for my name in quotes. Many of those links are articles I've written

09:35:19 2003 robin: so yes, those articles can be found in the engines -- certainly not all of them will be found, but you'll be totally amazed

09:35:28 2003 robin: when you search for me, you'll find articles I've written about topics like wrestling!!, planting gardens, etc., as well as the SEO articles, because those are my regular newspaper columns (that offer tours of the Net)

09:36:48 2003 robin: okay, let's talk about the actual articles themselves

09:37:52 2003 robin: you can certainly focus each article on one topic only, such as "submissions" or "how to get Flash found in the engines" or whatever

09:38:04 2003 robin: or, you can write a more general article.

09:38:27 2003 robin: I write articles for THEMSELVES and for the audience, not for the engines (if that makes any sense at all)

09:38:52 2003 robin: due to the very nature of the articles, they'll get found in the engines, but I don't approach them in quite the same way that I do when I'm writing actual Web page content

09:39:05 2003 robin: though, they BECOME actual Web page content!

09:39:36 2003 robin: which is another benefit for article writing -- you're creating very valuable content for YOUR Web site, and others who pick up your articles are increasing the value to their sites as well

09:40:01 2003 robin: Anyway, most markets want you to stay with a word count of around 1000 or so.

09:40:24 2003 robin: now you guys probably know how wordy I can get. My articles are often 3000 words or longer

09:40:47 2003 robin: So, I divide up those articles as far as my article distribution is concerned by sending them out as Part 1, Part 2, and so forth

09:40:39 2003 miriam Question for you: So the article is posted as part of your site, not just written and submitted to someone elses site?

09:40:54 2003 miriam It would make sense to create more content for my site.

09:41:14 2003 robin: yes - I have an "Articles" place on both the ACWS's site and SEW's too

09:41:22 2003 robin: I post my articles in both places

09:41:54 2003 robin: I use the articles to build value to my own sites as well as to increase visibility, link pop, credibility, name recognition, branding, and the list goes on and on and on

09:43:00 2003 robin: Planet Ocean publishes many of my articles, and I write articles especially for them. Then, my "deal" with them is that I can republish my articles through my distribution channel in two months

09:43:31 2003 robin: PO doesn't care how long my articles are -- no word count limit. (what a joy for wordy people like me)

09:44:36 2003 miriam I just had a thought. In my case I could ask our guests to write an article about their adventures in Big Bear lake and then use those articles :-)

09:44:56 2003 miriam Maybe give away a price...saves me from writing about activities and keeps them original

09:45:39 2003 robin: EXACTLY! I have a past student who has a white water rafting site in CA. He got local authors who have written books about the various rivers, and he posted articles by those authors about the different rivers on his site. The authors then promoted the site too. And, guess what? His site won several awards in a "Web site" contest by this magazine -- can't remember the name of it off hand

09:48:05 2003 robin: anyway, my whole point with the Planet Ocean example is that you don't have to worry about word count. Just write your article. If your article is 1500 words, fine.

09:48:09 2003 robin: if it's 1000 words, fine

09:48:45 2003 robin: the point is, if you have an article that's 2700 words long, you'll need to divide it into three different parts before distributing it to *most* of the online publications

09:49:29 2003 robin: so, again, I write the article for the article itself and for the audience, and I get whatever words in it that I think are needed, and then I distribute it based on no more than around 1000 words per article

09:49:41 2003 robin: create a "catchy" title -- if at all possible

09:50:17 2003 robin: dual titles are very effective, -- and I use them a lot

09:50:31 2003 robin: I'm trying to think of an example --

09:50:35 2003 robin: okay -- how about --

09:51:27 2003 robin: "Top Ten Tips for Submitting Your Site to the Search Engines . . . " (on one line)

09:52:02 2003 robin: (next line -- maybe italicized) "Learn easy and fast ways for boosting your visibility!"

09:52:27 2003 robin: people LOVE "top ten" things" -- or "top five" whatever

09:52:31 2003 robin: they LOVE "tips"

09:52:35 2003 robin: they LOVE "strategies"

09:52:57 2003 robin: so, use those words in your titles, when you can -- but try to make them catchy and something that people will want to read

09:53:04 2003 robin: now, this next part is SO important . . .

09:53:20 2003 robin: in your very first paragraph, make it a 2-3 sentence summary of what the entire article will be about

09:53:29 2003 robin: Then, begin to write

09:53:53 2003 robin: why the summary? because most of the online markets will ask you for a summary of the article, and if you already have it written in the first paragraph, you're ready to go

09:54:11 2003 robin: plus, when your readers begin reading, you're telling them briefly what they can expect, and you're enticing them to read on

09:53:49 2003 travis b. kind of like an essay?

09:54:42 2003 robin: yes, sort of like an essay (but "essay" sounds so STRUCTURED and classroom sounding! article writing is really easy and can be fun)

09:55:08 2003 robin: From there, I like to divide the article into logical sections -- but I rarely do that when I'm actually writing the article itself. I just WRITE.

09:55:56 2003 robin: so, I write the article, and then I go back and read it and make corrections. Then, I see if it's logically presented

09:56:42 2003 robin: I print out a copy, and I begin setting up mini headings for those various sections

09:57:00 2003 robin: I may move things around, etc., to where there's some logical to what might be chaos in the beginning!

09:57:35 2003 robin: Forgive the bad language, but a very famous writer (can't remember who -- maybe Hemingway or Faulkner) said the first draft of anything is nothing more than (poop!)

09:57:59 2003 robin: shame on me for the bad word, but it makes a good point. Nothing you ever write the first time is ready for print -- so don't worry about it!

09:58:32 2003 robin: Then, after you put the text into logical sections, add a conclusion that draws everything together --

09:58:46 2003 robin: I'm so blatant as to say in my articles: "In Conclusion . . ."

09:58:52 2003 robin: but, you don't have to be that blatant!!

09:58:58 2003 robin: THEN, you put your bio

09:59:15 2003 robin: more important stuff -- keep your bio at 6-8 lines long --

09:59:28 2003 robin: many of the online publishers have a limit to the word count or number of lines in a bio

09:59:57 2003 robin: so, word hard at writing your bio, and obviously include your URL's, but keep it at 6-8 lines.

10:00:09 2003 miriam Can you give us an example on the bio. What do you include?

10:00:16 2003 robin: Use your keyword phrase in your bio -- not just the name of your company.

10:01:31 2003 robin: Example of bio: robin: Nobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists, () has trained several thousand people in her online search engine marketing courses (http://www.onlinewebtraining.com). She also teaches 2-, 3-, and 5-day hands-on, search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe with Search Engine Workshops (http://www.searchengineworkshops.com).

10:03:17 2003 robin: honestly, this is something that I have to constantly work on, because by nature, I don't like to talk about my qualifications -- hard to write something that doesn't sound like you're bragging sometimes, so I'm constantly wrestling with it -- as well as the wording. I used to include my books in the bio but ran out of room. The bottom line is, you can't include everything, so you pick the most important and go with it, and forgive yourself for talking about yourself just this once!

10:03:24 2003 frisco may I share a simple tip I learned about article organization?

10:03:31 2003 robin: please do

10:03:55 2003 frisco tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. then

10:04:03 2003 frisco tell what you want to tell 'em then

10:04:10 2003 frisco tell 'em what you told them.

10:04:30 2003 frisco done

10:04:44 2003 robin: good point frisco! thanks for sharing

10:05:45 2003 travis b. there's a difference in sounding confident than bragging

10:06:26 2003 robin: yes, that's true -- good point. I need to hang on to it!

10:06:57 2003 mia Do any of the sites you publish with require any deals or copyright negotiations?

10:07:14 2003 robin: okay -- good question about copyrights -- thanks for asking it

10:08:15 2003 robin: I **never** give away the copyright of any of my articles. If they want to pay me the BIG BUCKS, I might consider it. But, it would have to be really big bucks!! Why? Because out of the 70-80 places that publish my articles, I have three that those three alone have a distribution channel of 1 1/2 million. I couldn't ever afford that kind of publicity.

10:08:31 2003 robin: So, at the bottom of my articles, I post a copyright notice -- or try to remember to do so.

10:08:37 2003 robin: but, here's the thing to remember about copyright

10:08:52 2003 robin: let's say that Cameron is busy writing an article right now on a napkin he picked up at McDonald's last night

10:09:07 2003 robin: just the sheer act of writing something down means that it is officially copyrighted by Cameron

10:09:26 2003 robin: you don't *have* to say that it's copyrighted -- we all do, because it tends to keep people from stealing your work (sometimes)

10:09:28 2003 cameron hey, where did you install that webcam?!

10:09:38 2003 robin: but, just the act of writing it means it's copyrighted

10:09:45 2003 robin: yes Cameron, I've got you covered!!

10:10:23 2003 travis b. but proving it would be difficult, especially if it was written on a computer

10:10:31 2003 robin: however, if you are writing anything lengthy, like a book -- then by all means submit to the Library of Congress to get it copyrighted there -- it costs a whopping $30, and if you ever have to go to court, you're entitled to statutory attorney fees and damages, because you went through the LOC

10:12:01 2003 robin: it's not a problem proving it for me at all. After all, I publish in so many publications -- and they'll have the dates of submission (which I do too). In fact, the only things that I know of that have been stolen (other than a whole BOOK) were newspaper columns, which is hilarious because they're in print before they ever make it to the Web, so it's simple to prove ownership!

10:12:26 2003 robin: I don't worry about the copyright. I honestly don't. I write, get the articles published, and write some more

10:12:51 2003 robin: If I write for a particular publication, that publication knows that I wrote it first -- it's just not a big issue

10:12:57 2003 robin: which leads me to another tip before we close

10:14:01 2003 robin: if you're writing a very important article (or what you hope/think is important!) that you believe will be very popular, take your time before submitting. For example, I've written articles before and approached Chris Sherman with Search Engine Watch about publishing the articles, and I've given him a one-month exclusive deal for the article. I won't publish it anywhere else until that month is over

10:14:09 2003 robin: it's worth it to me to have that type of visiblity, which is harder to get

10:15:18 2003 robin: So, think about your articles, and if you think one has a lot of potential, think about where you could get the best visibility before going through your channel. I've done the same thing with MarketPosition newsletter -- Brent Winter's newsletter. It has a readership of close to 500,000 -- so I may give him an exclusive on an article for a month before publishing it anywhere else

10:15:59 2003 frisco a lot of online writers use blogs (weblogs) because the articles are automatically syndicated. Do you have further info on that?

10:16:24 2003 robin: I wouldn't use blogs because Google doesn't like them -- and you may find that you have no visibility with them whatsoever

10:16:35 2003 robin: I stay away from stuff like that. You can get "syndicated" though other channels

10:17:20 2003 robin: which, by the way, I'll be glad to share my article distribution channel with you -- I'll remove the ones that aren't relevant for anyone but me

10:17:39 2003 robin: Oh --

10:17:44 2003 robin: one VERY VERY important thing!

10:18:16 2003 robin: if you go to Listz, let's say, and you find that certain lists do accept articles for publication, find out HOW they accept those articles. Is it through email? What are the guidelines for submissions?

10:18:36 2003 robin: Never submit an article to anyone through email without "querying" them first to see if they're accepting articles and what the writers guidelines are.

10:18:50 2003 robin: Get permission first, or they'll hit the delete button fast, which does you no good

10:18:59 2003 robin: And, always read writers guidelines

10:19:18 2003 robin: Article Announce, for example, requires that you put this at the top of your articles. If you don't, they won't accept them:

10:19:48 2003 robin: "You have permission to publish this article free of charge either electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. This article contains approximately ??? words."

10:20:05 2003 robin: you don't have to word it exactly like that, but you HAVE to give them approval to publish the article.

10:20:19 2003 robin: I like to ask for a "courtesy copy," so I will know where my articles are being published

10:20:39 2003 robin: but, I don't get worked up about if someone publishes an article of mine without asking unless they remove my byline! then, I do get rather angry!!

10:21:55 2003 robin: Let me also say this in total honesty. A lot of you have been to my on location workshops, and I've seen your work

10:22:15 2003 robin: in our workshops, we ask students to write two paragraphs of content, and we try to get a few to read their content out loud

10:22:25 2003 robin: I have NEVER seen one single thing that was "bad" -- you ALL can be excellent writers with a little experience and practice

10:23:26 2003 robin: ANOTHER THING -- forgot to tell you

10:23:50 2003 robin: read EVERYTHING you write out loud. EVERYTHING. I never publish an article without reading it out loud several times. You will be amazed at what you'll discover and the changes that need to be made

10:24:09 2003 cameron I definitely agree!

10:24:12 2003 robin: reading it out loud helps you hear what needs to be changed, and you can hurry and get it changed

10:24:25 2003 robin: if YOU slip or stumble over something, your readers will too -- so READ it out loud.

10:24:42 2003 robin: write in a friendly, easy to understand manner --

10:25:11 2003 robin: you'll do GREAT -- every one of you. Just give it a TRY -- and you'll be amazed at the power you can generate. I was!

10:25:27 2003 robin: I'm so sorry, but I have got to go.

10:25:38 2003 robin: I'll talk to you later, and we'll schedule another session next month.

10:25:54 2003 robin: it's been fun!! I'll get this posted asap -- will do it myself