Article Marketing Strategy Post Google Penguin
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So yesterday we talked about having an article marketing strategy and I showed you how to find out what sort of content to write for your blog and how to optimize it for the search engines so that your article can be found.
If you missed it, you can read yesterdays Article Marketing Strategy post here.
Now in the last couple of days, Google have changed their algorithms once again and are hitting any website that has used any un-natural or spammy backlinking methods in order to improve their search rankings.
The thing is….. in order for your website to get ranked, it has to show “social proof” that the content is good, in the form of backlinks and sharing – Google rewards the high quality content.
So what does that mean in real terms?
Well it means that your article marketing strategy absolutely MUST start with writing good quality content – and of course you would – why else would you be reading how to attract quality people to you, if you were just going to churn out rubbish?
Let me re-iterate the message I wanted to get across in my last post.
1) Who is your target visitor/prospect/customer?
2) What is their biggest problem?
3) Can you give them a solution with your product/service?
4) Get your message in front of your target visitor/prospect/customer
This is just pure and simple great marketing advice.
Yesterday we covered points 1 – 3 and if you would like to learn even more blogging tips on how to keep your visitors on your blog once they have arrived there, you can read my article here: Blogging Tips for Leads and Sales
But today we are going to cover point 4 which is how to get your message in front of your target prospect. And this is probably one of the most talked about topics in the whole of online marketing.
How to get real traffic to your blog. Because without visitors to your blog you’re not getting your message out there.
Now as I mentioned earlier, Google have once again thrown the cat amongst the pigeons and thousands of marketers have seen their rankings in Google get literally wiped out overnight – and their traffic and sales will also be wiped out too.
Why has Google done this? Because they believe that the un-natural backlinking was not real proof that the content being un-naturally “elevated” on the front pages was of any real value.
My blog was pretty much unaffected – all of my articles are still ranking exactly where they were before and some have actually improved which means the quality and social proof is there.
So here’s my advice for your Article Marketing Strategy
1) Give Google what they want – they want great content to give to their customers (i.e people who are using their search engine to search for things). Your article marketing strategy should use the strategies for on-page SEO that I outlined in my article yesterday. Google will look at things like how long your prospect stays on your page once they have arrived, how many more pages they click on and they will look at the “bounce rate” (people who press the back key to get off your site). All of these are indicators of how “valuable” your site is.
2) Diversity is key in terms of backlinking, but social proof is the best. Getting people to share your posts, articles and videos to their followers and friends means that they like it.
3) Backlinking can come from many different sources, but here are the most popular ways – essentially you are just creating some content that relates directly to your original article on your main site and this is the basis for a good article marketing strategy.
4) After the latest Google changes, using high quality sites to link back is absolutely key. What I mean by this is if you are using Article directories as part of your article marketing strategy, then be careful! Use high quality ones such as Ezinearticles.com, articlesbase.com, or Articleinsider.com – you can check the PR rankings of any site by using a browser plugin called SEO Quake.
5) Pick just 2 or 3 “hot” social sharing sites and take some training on how to use them effectively to attract people to your content which then links back to your website – there are plenty to choose from, but the hot four are definitely facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and most recently Pinterest which is now the fastest growing social set on the web – Ignore it at your peril!
6) Use forums or high quality blog PR sites such as the Better Network Forum (if you are in Network marketing) , MyLeadSystemPro for posting your articles, Bloggersbase.com or Blokube.com.
7) Hook up with other marketers whose content you respect – join syndication tribes either on facebook (using facebook groups) or skype groups and comment and share their content with your followers. This is very powerful in Google’s eyes.
8) Don’t forget sites such as YouTube and Google Plus – both of these sites are owned by Google, so of course they are going to rank you higher in their search engine if you use them correctly in your article marketing strategy.
So as you can see the key to a successful article marketing strategy is to mix it up a bit – don’t rely on one source of traffic when things can change at any minute, but pick 2 to start with and spend about 90 days putting in a structure that will reap rewards. Remember Google may take up to 30 days to register any changes to your blog and for them to have an impact.
Right now, my business partner and I are focusing on helping our team establish a good marketing strategy that is right for them with weekly webinar trainings, 1:1 coaching and a great team support network to help each other out.
We start our weekly training next week – why not come and join us?
If you enjoyed this article on how to incorporate a good article marketing strategy, then please use the social share buttons at the side and be my guest to some more article marketing tips in the free training webinar below.
Email: Nicky@NickyPriceMarketing.com
Skype: NickyVitality
Tel: (+44) (0)7587 176155
Facebook: http://facebook.com/DiamondMLMTribe
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Great post, i found it very interesting and i am sure a lot of other people will too, thank you for sharing this post with us.
Andrew recently posted..Good and Bad News in Appeal Court Ruling on Debt
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Nicky Reply:
May 4th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Hey thanks for your return visit to my blog Andrew and for taking the time to comment, it is appreciated,
Nicky
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Oh girl, you did spill the beans on this one didn’t you. Great post Nicky and chalked full of fabulous goodies.
Okay, now I’ve learned something new from you so that was good. I didn’t know about all the other places you mentioned in the forums one so I was taking notes on that one. I think when I think of forums I think of Warrior Forum and sites like that which I’ve never had any luck with. So thank you for that.
Great job with this post Nicky and I’ll definitely be sharing it all over the place. Watch out!
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..What Is Posting On Purpose For Profit
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Thanks Adrienne.
A lot of the changes from Google are still a little unclear, but I know lots of people have suffered. I’m no guru, but I will watch and see what happens, but I will be mixing it up a bit more and ensuring I don’t ever put all my marketing eggs in one basket!
Nicky
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Hi Nicky,
My site got hit bad on the 25th when the change happend but it is slowly getting back to normal. I have been using a mixture of different SEO tactics which all worked really well before the change but one thing I did was to use social media so I think that has saved my site so to speak.
You have made very good points and people need to be aware of what they may need to do. The thing not to do is panic, just let Google do its thing, keep posting and sharing your content on social media sites. Thakns for sharing.
Tristram Lodge
Tristram Lodge recently posted..New Network Marketing – How To Choose The Right Opportunity
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Sorry to hear that Tristram as you have quality content on your blog and I know you have worked hard to build it. The change didn’t affect me much until last night when I took a slight hit on traffic and leads, but it is steady today and my articles are still ranking (at the moment at least).
Exactly as you say, just keep doing the social media stuff and if you want to stay on the front page of Google, then you just gotta do what Google wants!
Heck…. if it’s not facebook, it’s Google! – What next for us Marketers to have to adapt to? I guess it’s all good as it will certainly wipe out the total spam websites and all the underhand stuff!
We will watch and see,
thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
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Hi Nicky,
My believe is quality content is what matters mostly. Apart from that crucial techniques and strategies are needed to improve and maintain status of our content among other quality links. As and when Google release new update or algorithm change, it’s about improving their service productivity. However as you have mentioned you haven’t affected at all
It means changes are plus points for quality articles. no? 
Thanks for your tips and suggestions dear
I’ve known and familiar with few techniques you mentioned here. Else others are totally new for me 
You are showing off such important factors over there with clear explanations.
Thanks for this one
Great job.
Cheers…
Mayura recently posted..How to Create a Group on Facebook
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Nicky Reply:
May 4th, 2012 at 11:39 pm
I agree with you Mayura, but sometimes quality content doesn’t get seen, so people try other tactics to get their content ranking on the search engines and seen.
Sadly some good blogs got affected by this and I did not get away entirely as my blog traffic and leads did drop for a day or two, but are recovering now.
Thanks for stopping by Mayura,
Nicky
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Hey Nicky thanks for the great information and tips. I will have to try out some of the forums you have mentioned.
LD
LD Klippert recently posted..MLM Prospecting Secret: Turn Prospects into Partners
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Nicky Reply:
May 9th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Hi LD
Yes forum commenting and giving value is definitely a good method of attracting prospects to you, but actually I noticed something else that I didn’t know about the other day when I was checking on the ranking of one of my keyword articles. I noticed that a post that had the keyword in the first comment was ranking on page one of Google. This was not an article on the website, just a question posted in the forum. Very powerful, because the forum website had a PR 6 which outranked many of the other articles on page 1!
Nicky
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Excellent advice! Thanks for keeping us posted. I have heard Google’s new “cat among the pigeons” as you call it. Most of the people I have coming to my blog are authentic (like you) so we really don’t have much to worry about.
I’ve also heard on a recent webinar that Google bots are also scanning comments on your blog.
I’m usually careful who comments on my blog, but sometimes there is a comment that will link to a sales page. If you find that, “don’t approve!”
Also there are “Bad Neighborhoods” whereby Google doesn’t like weapons, obtain a million dollars overnight” and even health products. They are coming down on back-links on this too. So, what do we do?
Keep our content clean and review that commentluv before you accept a commentor.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll spread the word.
Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..What To Do When You Experience “Overwhelm”?
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Nicky Reply:
May 5th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Hi Donna
That’s interesting about the comments on your blog – I had not heard that so thanks for that information. I must take Adrienne’s advice and check my links for any broken links as I know Google hates broken links too.
Its an interesting time, but those who retain the quality content will win in the end – it just may take a little longer!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your input Donna, it is appreciated,
Nicky
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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
May 6th, 2012 at 7:23 pm
I heard the same thing Donna, that some of the links left from blob commenters can hurt us, no-follow or not. I’ve stated looking a little harder at those links and deleting the questionable ones.
Brian D. Hawkins recently posted..Blog Monetization – Top Strategies for Conversion Optimization
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Nicky Reply:
May 6th, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thanks Brian – It’s certainly something that I do pay attention to, especially when I see comments that don’t seem to relate particularly to something I have written about, but knowing that these comments are looked on unfavourably by Google will make me pay a little bit more attention!
Thanks for your input!
Nicky
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Great post Nicky!
These are tip I will be revisiting for sure…..great content is one thing, but means nothing if no one sees it….
Thanks for your leadership and inspiration!
kx
kiki recently posted..Your Next Blog Post: What You Need To THINK About Before You Publish It.
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
May 5th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Thanks Kiki – great to see you here, and yes great content is good, but you have to have some skills or tools to help you rank so that the search engines will send you interested people. This is the biggest challenge for most marketers as things are constantly changing – especially Facebook and Google!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
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[...] Update Effect – Search Engine Watch (#SEW) Anti-Penguin Link Building Plan | Kaiserthesage Article Marketing Strategy | post Google Penguin | diamondmlmtraining.com Brands Must Act Quickly to Ensure SEO Campaigns Comply With Google 'Penguin' Update, Advises [...]
[...] Update Effect – Search Engine Watch (#SEW) Anti-Penguin Link Building Plan | Kaiserthesage Article Marketing Strategy | post Google Penguin | diamondmlmtraining.com Brands Must Act Quickly to Ensure SEO Campaigns Comply With Google 'Penguin' Update, Advises [...]
Hi Nicky,
There are many changes going on, but as you said if you try to stick with social proof you are far better of. Pinterest is just one of the latest that I’ve started to use. Great post.
BG Jenkins recently posted..Leaving a Legacy
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Nicky Reply:
May 5th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Hi BG
Yes, it would appear Pinterest has broken all records in terms of a developing social site, so it certainly makes sense to get a presence there and fairly quickly!
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment,
Nicky
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Those are very good tips, Nicky.
I think that the more you make it complicated the more you might have problems with Google.
I think it’s pretty easy, really. As you mentioned, write good content, share that content on reputable sites, rinse and repeat, and you should have no problem what so ever.
If you write with the intention of educating your traffic and do the right thing with that content, Google will love you.
Have a great Sunday!
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..How To Turn A Browser Into A Reader – Part Three
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Nicky Reply:
May 6th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Hey Thanks Sylviane and yes I think it is all about quality – there will always be people who are advised wrongly or who try to take a short cut with their marketing, but quality should always win in the end – it may just take a little longer!
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
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Nice article Nicky and there’s always going to be Google updates to deal with and some will always catch many by surprise. For example, I just removed an internal linking plugin from my blog in case that triggers “shady looking” links. This is why I think it’s very important to take traffic we do get from Google and quickly convert them into subscribers, social contacts and new friends. Eventually we can become all but self-contained when it comes to site traffic.
Brian D. Hawkins recently posted..Blog Monetization – Top Strategies for Conversion Optimization
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
May 6th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Hi Brian and thanks for your visit to my blog,
You are right – there will always be updates, but some are bigger than others – would be interested to know what internal linking plugin you were using?
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment,
Nicky
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Hi Nicky,
You have done an excellent job and simplified the changes that the Google Pengium has brought and how it will affect our business as a whole especially when it comes to content writing!
Elizabeth recently posted..The 30 Seconds Elevator Pitch : 4 Best Effective Strategies on How To Prospect Strangers
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Thank you Liz, I ‘m glad it simplified things – ultimately if we want to be ranked by Google, then I guess we have to tow the line and do what they want.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment,
Nicky
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Hi Nicky ,thanks for this great post on artlicle marketing strategy ,its true alot is happening in the world of Google and to be successful you have to keep up todate with the changes.
thanks for sharing with us.
lucy recently posted..Network Marketing Team Leader.6 Key Secret Qualities Revealed.
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Nicky Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Hi Lucy
Great to see you here. Yes I guess we just need to do what Google wants if we want to use Google ranking as free advertising. Ultimately a front page Google ranking for a blog post on a highly searched term, can give a LOT of free traffic and so if it means we have to adapt slightly, then that’s what we will do!
Thanks for stopping by,
Nicky
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Hi Nicky,
This was chock full of great ideas and insights, thanks for sharing on this topic. I have been seeing tons of people literally ticked and discouraged at the Google changes.
You know me, I’m all about moving past it and just doing what works, like you! So I appreciate the constructive approach to helping others get back on track! Sharing this one with everyone!
Hope you have an amazing week!
Cat
Cat Alexandra recently posted..Reputation silent killers, purpose and integrity in marketing | Perception equals reality
[Reply]
Nicky Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 8:38 pm
Hi Cat
Yes I know of quite a few people who lost rankings with this latest change and most (if not all) of them were not doing anything spammy, just using some backlinking tools that use low quality article sites. It may take a little while but if they all keep churning out the content and listening to what Google is asking for (i.e social proof) then they will soon start to rank again.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your wisdom as always,
Nicky
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Hi Nicky,
Some great points, lots of people got love letters from google due to unnatural link profiles and another bunch took hits with the penguin update. But you are absolutely right, put out great content and have a good strategy in place and you will prevail. Let’s hope some of the spammers now will finally give up and move on. The penguin update however seems most likely to be related to what is happening on the page rather then links. I recently read an article that link plugins and affiliate cloaking plugins are some of the culprits.
Have you lost rankings?
Nik recently posted..Top 10 CV Resume Mistakes INFOGRAPHIC
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Nicky Reply:
May 8th, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Hi Nik
Yes it would seem no-one quite knows exactly what they penalised, but it does seem to be un-natural link patterns, links from low quality blogging neighbourhoods, links from low quality article sites and over-stuffing links in blog posts. Excessive anchor text linking also seems to have played a part – evidently Google now want to see variations to the anchor text keywords.
I also heard in the last couple of days that it could also be down to interlink plugins like you mentioned, so I was tempted to remove my “link within” plugin, but I am reluctant to do so because Google also looks at length of time on site and since I installed this plugin my bounce rate has gone down dramatically and my average pages per visit has gone up dramatically. Catch 22 !!
My website seemed to take a hit for 2 days about a week after the initial changes, my page rank slipped from 3 to 2, but then two of my articles which were ranking low down on page 1 of Google are now in the top position on page 1 and my leads are up……??? Who knows!!
I am no guru on this subject, although I do know my way round SEO, so I will just continue to try and answer the questions of my target market and the keep the links from quality sites.
How about you? – Did you notice any changes?
Thanks for stopping by Nik,
Nicky
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All most excellent and helpful points. Every time Google makes one of these updates everyone panics but usually only the “bad” sites get hit hardest. Unfortunately, some good pigeons do lose their heads…
For the most part if we’re doing things on the up-and-up, following best practices and not trying to get away with something quietly and hoping nobody will notice, I think we’re ok. Google for years has told us that “it’s about the quality of the content”. More and more, they really mean it!
I’ll add that I think Google+ is more important than we think. After all, Google is in the business of promoting Google, so the more you can be part of that culture, the better. Tie your authorship to your G+ account at the very least, and by all means get those articles on G+ and get comments and shares!
Thanks for your insights and a thorough overview of how the heck to do search right!
Carol Lynn recently posted..You’ve Got Facebook’s Timeline For Business! Now What?
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Nicky Reply:
May 9th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Thank you for pointing out about Google+ – I totally agree with you. Of COURSE they are going to promote their own stuff and although Pinterest is breaking all records at the moment for speed of growth, the wise marketers will also focus on building their Google+ profiles despite what the media says about it being another flop for Google.
You know I have tried about 3 times to tie my authorship to my G+ account, but it needs some code posting after the head tags or something and my blog template has to be the most un-user friendly there is! Now you have reminded me of this, I think I will seek a css code specialist who can just do it for me!!
Thanks for your valued input Carol, I appreciate it!
Nicky
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