Article Research

Market and Niche Research for Article Marketing

As an internet marketer, before you begin writing articles, it is very important that you are intimately familiar with the current issues or topics in your market or niche. Even if you know a lot about your niche, it does not mean you know how to properly address the needs of that niche.

Writing articles to get visitors to your niche specific website, requires that you

• research and understand the 4′P issues of the Niche ( Pleasure, Pain, Problem, Profit)

• find the keywords that searchers are using to explore solutions to any of the 4 P’s

• provide content in your article to address solution to the 4′Ps of your niche.

• provide the solution on your website

I am not going to get into the details here of how to do niche/market research or keyword research

However, what I want you to know is that market research and keyword research are two separate but related task.

• Market Research: focuses on – (Example: Wedding Market)

  • who or what is the market?
  • what are the needs of the market? – 4 P’s again
  • who is the competition and what can you do differently?
  • Niche Identification is identifying specific segments of the market to apply focus – (Example: Beach Wedding Niche)

• Keyword Research: Can be and should be part of market research and niche identification, however it;

  • Allows you to focus on the keywords use by the market to find solutions to any of the 4 P’s
  • Will identify how to reach the market or niche you have identified
  • Identify where and how people search for information in this market
  • will tell you on what will they spend money and how much are they spending

For the benefit of this article, I will deal with some keyword research as it applies to article marketing.

If you took the opportunity to explore the post above, you now know how to conduct proper keyword research. While there are many paid tools out there, I love using Google keyword tool. It is the purest and most authentic keyword tool out there, and best of all – it is free! Can’t beat free and pure

If you are writing articles for the search engine traffic, it is important that you have two types of keywords.

• Primary Keywords - E.g. Beach Wedding
• Secondary Related Keywords - E.g.. Marriage, Wedding Dress, Wedding Favor, wedding cake, speeches, etc.

So, take the time to do your market research, identify your market or niche, and find out what are the main keywords searchers are using in this market.

More specifically…

• Identify your primary keywords
• identify other secondary related keywords and,
• write informative , excellent and expert content around those keywords.

OK, that’s all I am going to say about Market , Niche and Keyword Research.

If you want to know more, again check out the links above. You will learn detailed market and keyword research strategies.

Now for the meat….. Lets roll..

Article Body

Article Body Secrets

I am going against common teachings and tell you that this [the article body] is the first part of the article you should construct. Some other person may tell you that it is best to get your article title all nice and focused before you start writing the article body. I say from my experience, writing the article body allows me to craft a better title and also a better resource box.

Constructing the body of your article is not rocket science. Your niche research should indicate a few thing to you

• What are the issues that exist in the niche/market? (know this from Market Research)
  
• What are they trying to solve? Pain, Pleasure, Profit or Problem ( know this from Market Research and Niche Identification)
  
• On what will your readers spend their money – ( Know this from your keyword research)
  

The three areas above will focus nicely on the needs of the niche and the construction of the body of your article. If you want to keep your readers connected to your article as they read, you need to give them what they are looking for.

Don’t be intimated by writing, if you know enough about the niche to speak to someone about it, then you know enough to write about it. Just start writing, and write like you are speaking to someone.

Do not write and use big words to impress anyone, write like you are simple speaking to a friend. Your writing will become personal and will instantly gain readers connection and affinity to your style and what you have to offer.

At first it may not seem easy, but trust me, it gets easier – just start typing and with time it becomes second nature.

And Now… The Secrets

• Article flow: First Paragraph - Grab Your readers attention immediately

  • Use Something related to the niche that the readers can get excited about
  • Tell a personal story related to the niche or related to the common readers problem
  • Fear, Sex, Profits , Money, Success are all angles you can use.
  • Mention your primary keyword once , and a few secondary related keywords

• Article Flow: Throughout the article,

  • You will need to try to craft each paragraph with a level of interest that will make them want to read the next
  • What is the 4 “P” of the niche – Pain, Pleasure, Profit, Problem?
  • Again during your market research you should have discovered what Your niche is interested in
  • You should have discovered what they are excited about , use these as interest generators for each of your paragraphs.
  • The goal is to make each paragraph slowly pull them to the resource box
  • Don’t use big words to try to impress your readers, write confident and so they can understand and trust you.
  • Don’t use terms out of context, your readers will know – remember you are suppose to be the expert in the niche.
  • Quality content should be at the forefront of your article marketing efforts.
  • Do not sell anything in your article – it should not be a sales pitch, that’s what your website is for.
  • For every 100 words written, include one primary keyword and sprinkle your secondary keywords anywhere within the article.
    

• Article Flow: Final Paragraph

  • Should be a nice transition to the resource box
  • Develop a cliff hanger final sentence, make the readers want more , and therefore head to your resource box
  • Mention your primary keyword once , with some related keywords.
  • Your final sentence of this paragraph could be an unanswered question – cliff hanger.

• Keywords: Make Your Article Search Engine and Article Directory Friendly

  • For every 100 word you should include your primary keyword – Good Keyword density -Keep the search engines happy
    
  • Primary Keyword Should Be Mentioned Once in the First Paragraph
  • Primary Keyword Should be mentioned once in the final paragraphs
  • Include your related keyword throughout the article, once or twice is fine, again don’t overdo it.

• Size – How Big is it?

  • Keep your paragraphs between 3-5 Sentences – don’t make them too long, your readers will get bored.
  • Total of 4-6 Paragraphs
  • Keep your article length between a minimum of 400-500 Words , and a maximum of 800-1000 words
  • My Personal Preference for Article Directors is between 400-500 words.
  • The ideal for submission to authority website is about 800-1000 words.

• Formatting – Looks is everything….attract the readers

  • Create sections in your articles, don’t lump everything together
    
  • Use bold to indicate sections
  • Use numbers also to indicate section headings
  • Use bullet list or numbers
  • Formatting your article increases your expert status and your trust factor to your readers.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF ARTICLE FORMATTING, ALSO NOTE THE SIZE OF THE PARAGRAPHS

Article Title

Article Title Secrets

The style of article title you write will determine if your article is opened or not by readers. There are two main styles of article title and the use of one over the other depends on where the article will be published and the function of the article. Sometimes changing certain elements of your article can make the difference between low traffic and high traffic.

1. Title style “catchy and attractive” – This style of title will generate interest in the article. It is the kind of title that makes readers eager to open the article to read it. It is catchy , pretty and attractive. This style of title should be use if you are publishing the article on a site that already have a lot of traffic, or a newsletters with an established readership.

2. Title Style “Search Engine Friendly” – The hallmark of this article title is the use of primary keywords in the title. In fact the first words in the title should be the primary keyword you are targeting in the article, then followed by a elements of the “catchy and attractive” style to make the readers want to open and read the article.

Therefore in essence this article style will do two things,

(1) Make the article search engine ready

(2) Make it attract the readers after they have found it in the search engines

it will scream OPEN ME!.

This title style is my personal favorite and I use it for both Article Directory publishing or Establish Authority site or Ezine publishing

Resource Box

Article Resource Box Secrets

The resource box is the area of your article, usually at the bottom of the article, where you pitch the reader to direct them to your website.

What the resource box is not:

• The resource box is not an ego box – the readers are really not interested in your professional mobo jumbo.
• The resource box is not a sales letter
• The resource box is not about you ( it is about the reader)

Your readers searched and found your article based on 4′P ( Pain, Pleasure, Problem, Profit). They need a solution to either of these 4′Ps. Now they have read your article and are 90% certain that you have what they are looking for, do not make them go elsewhere. Your resource box should tell them where to go to get what they are looking for.

What a resource box should contain

• One sentence of what the 4′Ps the article is dealing with – hit their emotions
• One Sentence of what you know the solution is and the benefits
• One sentence of where to find the solution and how to take action
• Words that appeal to action, E.g. Quick, Effective, Rapid, Now, Visit

You want to write your resource box in a way that would get most click on the links that you provide back to your website.

Article Summary

Article Directory Summary Secrets

The article summary is not what you think it is. It is not essentially part of the body of the article. Rather it is an attractive paragraph that you write when you are publishing the article to article directories like Ezinearticles.com or other authority website that allows for article summary.

When you post your article to say for example Ezinearticles.com, your articles get listed among many others in the respective categories, you may have an attractive title to get readers to see your article listing, well, the article summary delivers the second punch and give the readers a snippet summary of what to expect insider the article. It is the paragraph of text listed under the title in the article directory category pages.

This is a very important part of your article. Some writer will simple copy and paste the first paragraph of their article body and include it as the article summary. This is a not good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and trust with your readers.

You need to use the article summary to boost your Search Engine Ranking and should create an original one that has no text that is similar to the body for your article.

• Points to remember when writing your article summary ( focus on 4′Ps)
• Use List or Numbers to identify your points
• Increase your trust factor in your summary, focus on the reader not your ego.