How to Measure the Value of Your Article Marketing Campaign

It's not enough to scatter your articles across the internet - you've got to measure what you're doing so you can be sure that you're getting value from your effort.

Here are some of my preliminary thoughts on what's measurable in regards to article marketing, (and what you measure should depend on your predefined article marketing goals, but you knew that already):

Number of new of links to your site

This is a big one of course, and just about the easiest to measure with a simple "link:" search in the major engines.

Since I submitted "Build Links and Your Brand: Article Marketing Delivers" to 8 directories on January 26th Google has logged 24 instances of my article (I did have a little help from search engine expert Andy Beal's mention in his blog), MSN search shows 59 instances and Yahoo has me down for 10.

Now, all those mentions aren't links... just instances of my article title.

Google currently shows no links to my main blog site. Yahoo and MSN both show 14 to http://articlemarketing.blogspot.com.

I'm also currently ranked 3rd in Yahoo for the term article marketing - woo hoo! Not bad for only 3 days. We'll see how long I stay there - things may change dramatically after an update. I'm currently nowhere to be found in MSN. Ditto for Google, except the post from Andy's blog about my article marketing blog that puts me at 4th for "article marketing."

To give some idea of scale, here are the number of millions of results for article marketing per engine: 12 million in Yahoo; 17 million in MSN; 27 million in Google. I don't think Article Marketing is a phrase that currently generates much competition.

Article submission sites like EzineArticles get the freshbot treatment because of their regularly updated content and I think that speeds indexing.

Article submitted 1-26-05, searches conducted 1-29-05.

Number of readers/impressions

To borrow a bit from the world of online advertising you can measure impressions, that is, the estimated number of readers/site visitors who had the opportunity to at least read your article title and, let's hope, associate it with your business name.

To get an idea of how many impressions your article may have gotten talk with those who republish your article. If you submit to EzineArticles you can see how many writers and editors have viewed your article's page.

It's great to have your impressions high, but it's better to have them targeted to your audience (and by audience I mean customers... here are my thoughts on client as audience). The more care you give your content creation process the more your content will appeal to your target audience.

Which brings us to...

Placement in previously identified key industry media

If at the beginning of your article marketing campaign you identify key industry publications you'd like to be published in... and you get published or don't get published, that's something you can measure.

This is more of a branding initiative than a linking initiative, though it can certainly generate at least one solid link. And once your article's been published and your editor says "go" you can submit it to your article submission directories of choice. And then measure links.

Lead generation through reader inquiries

This is a fun one. There are specific industries and products that are likely to sell well through article marketing... namely information products. If your primary goal for article marketing is sales though you should construct your article campaign in a particular way. Many of the same rules still apply, but the strategy needs to be a little different. Let me know if you have questions about creating sales generating articles. And you still have to follow responsibl e article writing guidelines.

Email addresses gathered for newsletter signup/downloads/free service

Yeah you're being published in someone else's email newsletter but that doesn't mean you can't try to drive signups to your own newsletter! We had this happen when I worked at WebProNews, where we published all free content. One author's article marketing strategy focused on driving subscribers to her newsletter. I think, but I'm not sure, that it was Dianna Huff, who specializes in B2B article marketing. As an aside, be sure to check out her site.

Pageviews to info pages on your site

If you link out of your article to more info pages on your site you can measure for an increase in traffic on those pages. Have some kind of call to action on these pages though. Don't just boost page views for the sake of having higher page views. Get them to do something on that page, such as give you an email address or visit your products or services page.

Requests from editors for articles

If it's your goal to have more involvement with your target market then be sure to accept all requests from editors for new articles. In fact, cultivate any relationship with an editor you can. This is one fantastic way of staying in front of your target audience and getting new ideas for articles.

How can you increase this likelihood? Contact editors from publications within your target market. In addition, include a mention in your author bio that you'd like to work with editors to help them have happier, more engaged readers.

Audience involvement/questions

This is another fun one, and something I tried to promote during my time at WPN. The level of reader feedback I received led to my creation of the "Ask the Expert" section of WPN (now untended) as well as my proposal for the WebProWorld forums, now with over 50,000 members. (To be fair iEntry had rolled out forums before - they were just scattered across all our publications rather than targetted on the flagship. WebProWorld was definitely a home run.)

So if you'd like to establish more of a relationship with the online audience in your publications contact their editor and see if you can field audience questions.

What else is measurable? Those are a few of my thoughts for article marketing measurables. Did I miss any? Let me know your measurable ideas and if I use them in an upcoming article I'll throw you a link with your link text of choice.

Want to build links to your site and enhance your brand? Send article marketing questions to GFrench@gmail.com for free article marketing brainstorm, including article topic suggestions and key industry media identification. Garrett French is a search engine marketing copy writer for Websourced and conducts branding and link building research on his article marketing blog. If you wish to publish this article, please retain all links.

---

From Idea To Published Book ... How To Self-publish The Easy Way!

I've been involved in publishing for over a decade now as an author, editor, and project manager; however, it wasn't until just a few years ago that... Read More

Five Tips to Write Winning Web Articles

Looking for another no cost promotional tool? Your fee will simply be an investment of a small block of your time and writing what you know most... Read More

Marketing Articles: Promoting Your Site Twice!

I recently became aware that promoting your web site in Search Engines can instantly be double within Google! That's right, you can instantly promote your site 2... Read More

How To Write an Ezine Article

Writing can be fraught at the best of times but it never ceases to amaze me just how much more difficult we make it by our approach.... Read More

Writing For Dollars -- A Freelancers Guide

If you have writing skills and want to use your skills to earn some income for yourself and families, we offer a few tips here. You can... Read More

Success Starts with Articles

No one can logically argue against the fact that content is king. Web sites that are nothing more than glorified link farms or ad spiels must work... Read More

Speakers and Trainers - The Internet is Your Biggest Megaphone

Speak to an Audience that Reaches across the GlobeAs a professional at home on the platform, you've spent years polishing a compelling message. The presentations you make... Read More

Why a Good-Quality Photo Should Accompany Your Articles

I'm betting that that 3 out of 4 of you who are reading this don't have a good-quality photo that you could give the media if a... Read More

You Should Seriously Consider Making Money With Your Words

Sometimes when I am communicating with other webmasters and I bring up the subject of writing articles, I often get a response like "I'd rather have a... Read More

Write a Better Technical Article in Half the Time

Good technical articles are challenging to write. They're time-consuming, demanding to research and hard to organize. But they're valuable weapons in the PR and marketing arsenal, and... Read More

Reprint Article Headlines ? the Reader is Secondary

A great headline can be the difference between having your free reprint article published once (on your own website...) and having it published hundreds, if not thousands,... Read More

Write Your Ezine Article in 15 Minutes or Less!

Gasp! I can hear it from the purists now: Matt is advocating that writers really dumb down their writing styles to crank out more articles in less... Read More

Why Keyword Articles Are Good for Your Business

Content is an important component of your web site. Learning how to write a good article can make a huge difference in the response you get from... Read More

Writing Ezine Articles - 4 Reasons Why You Should Do It

Anyone who's been in the business for 2 or 3 months certainly has a lot of information that he or she can share with others, especially newbies.... Read More

Increasing Web Traffic With Original Articles

The name of the game as far as Internet marketing is concerned is original content. If you are serious about promoting your website, increasing traffic and improving... Read More

Article Writing Made Simple

A great way for self employed professionals to enhance their reputations is to write articles. But for many, the thought of writing an article calls to mind... Read More

How to Write Great Movie Reviews for Your Entertainment Website

If you have an entertainment website then you're always looking for fresh, new, fun and interesting material to keep your readers coming back for more. Movie reviews... Read More

Interviews with Well-Known Ezine Writers #3: - Shelley Lowery

MS: Shelley, you're an excellent person to talk to about Ezine Articles, because - as well as being a prolific Ezine Writer - you own and operate... Read More

Advertisements and the Freelance Writer

Advertisements are one of the biggest indicators of a magazine's readership. They are also excellent for generating ideas.First, let's look at the readership. Ads tell you: The... Read More

Recycle Your Work

Recycling your work is a lot like doing your part to recycle cans and old milk cartons: a simple concept that not enough people do. Many folks... Read More

How To Write Best Articles

I've been able to distinguish 3 main categories that people fall into, regarding the subject on writing articles. Allow me to share them with you.Here we go!Category... Read More

Writing: Getting Started

Writing for web content is one of the easiest ways for writers to get their work published. If you have yet to submit articles for syndication, you... Read More

20 Ways Posting Unique Articles Online will Bring You Fame and Fortune

You're Invited... Visualize your article going out like a party invitationThe implied message: "If you like this, come on back to my website to see what else... Read More

1000 Ways to Improve Your Business

One of the best things you can do for your business is to give information away. Information empowers your customer and brings them back for more. There... Read More

Get High Quality Traffic by Writing Articles

One of the best ways to promote your website is by writing articles that you can post in e-zines, and sites that provide free content to e-zine... Read More

4 Effective Content Writing Tips

Writing for websites -- content, as it is called -- is an important task for webmasters. Your site must be current, relevant, and interesting in order to... Read More