The dark side is a concept created by George Lucas for the famed movie series he directed, called Star Wars. The dark side refers to the evil force in the Star Wars universe which certain characters derived from their harmful emotions to attack others.  Yoda trains Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi and guides him about the light and dark sides of the force. The Jedis follow only the philosophy of the light side of the force, to maintain the peace in the Star Wars universe. In the same way, SEO has a dark side and light side. The dark force is referred to as Black Hat SEO and the light force is known as White Hat SEO.  There is a temptation for many Offshore SEO companies to use Black Hat SEO techniques for Outsource Article Marketing. But by reading this you will hopefully understand why it is not worth it.

source: http://en.easyart.com/content/

Article Submissions as I’ve discussed in the past, are a major part of off page SEO campaigns. Outsource Article Marketing helps websites increase their number of quality back links and consistently builds traffic for clients. There are a number of good article submission sites such as Ezine Articles, Article Dashboard, Knol, Isnare, Article Alley, Article Click, Article Factory and thousands more. The idea is to distribute informative content to boost the credibility of a website.

Use The Force Only For Good Reasons.

Just like Jedis use the force only for good reasons, article submissions should be used only for distributing informative content and boost the credibility of your website. In Star Wars, Jedis would use the force for training, defense and knowledge purposes. Outsource Article Marketing involves the submitting of content to Article submission websites which pertain to industry related topics to help and inform consumers. Submitting article content that is self promoting and spam filled would be against the Jedi ways of thinking.

Jedis are Compassionate.

A Jedi’s life revolves around his ability to show compassion. The light force brings about the philosophy of thinking about others before yourself. When you create article content, think about what your readers would want instead of what your website wants. Do the industry research in order to find out what has not been answered and what consumers are curious about. Writing about hot topics will help you gain a massive fan following and will give consumers a personal experience to relate to your website.

Luke Skywalker asks during one of his training sessions with Yoda, “Is the dark side stronger?” Yoda answers,”No,No,No. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”

Some dark force or Black Hat SEO marketers are tempted into taking a shortcut with article submissions by “spinning an article” over and over again and submitting it all over the Internet. Article Spinning is the process in which an article is created from an existing article by changing certain words and phrases to make it look like a completely different article. This may seem to others like unique content when actually it is the same article. There are even softwares available which help Black Hat Marketers spin articles, but little do they realize how pointless it all is. By creating a low quality article from an article spinning software your website will lose credibility when readers come across such low grade content. Most article submission sites also check to see what kind of content you are submitting, and ban your articles and even cancel your account if you are not following submission protocol.

source: http://en.easyart.com/content/

If Darth Vader was an Internet Marketer, he would be a keyword stuffer for sure. Don’t stuff your article with keywords just because you want your website to rank well for it. Keyword stuffing is a dark force practice and another reason why article submission sites ban articles. Your article content should include strategically placed keyword throughout the content and no more than 2 hyperlinked keywords, if the website allows.

Let me give you an example from my personal experience. Once I submit an article to various submission sites, I’ve noticed that people who are interested in content for their blog, use my article and post it on their website. I don’t find that a problem as long as they keep the hyperlinks intact and give me recognition as the author. In fact, I find it helpful for distributing my content and optimizing my website further. But then there are those who use my article to create unique content and end up slaughtering my article to bits. Some also use my content without giving author recognition, making it seem as if it was their own work.  Back in June, I had written an article about how the breaking news of MJ’s death had a major impact on most social media websites and search engines. Here’s a link to the article:

http://knol.google.com/k/angira-pandit/social-media-taken-hostage-by-michael/3i5btgxwds9eg/7

And after someone decided to use an article spinner software to butcher my article to pieces, it ended up like this:

http://michaeljacksondead.ws/?tag=fail-whale

After making the comparison between the original article and the spinned article would you even consider using Black Hat SEO techniques such as article spinning to fulfill your Outsource Article Marketing needs? The spinned article doesn’t even make sense! So yes, the Black Hat SEO techniques may seem seductive, but are they really worth it?

Jedi Are Mindful Of Their Thoughts.

Obi-Wan says to Anakin, “You’re focusing on the negative again. Be mindful of your thoughts.”Some Outsource Article Marketing strategies for off page SEO include posting comments on blog posts related to your topic or business. A White Hat SEO strategy would be if you post a comment that has a valuable opinion. After you write a worthwhile comment you can then casually display a url or hyperlink to your article for your optimization purposes. There are some who take advantage of this SEO strategy by posting a spammy comment. This means they will blatantly advertise and hyperlink without contributing to a discussion or topic. Follow the light force by providing mindful thoughts with your comments rather than promoting low grade spammy comments. So next time you decide to work on your off page SEO campaign, make sure you utilize the light force strategies for your Outsource Article Marketing needs and as Yoda always said, “May The Force Be With You.”

A press release is a brief news statement to inform the media and consumers about your company’s latest advancements. The idea is to inform people about what’s going on in your company and to build brand awareness. Outsourcing Press Releases are helpful for optimizing on popular online news websites. They are a part of off page SEO campaigns because like submitting articles, distributing press releases to a number of websites help build quality back links. This SEO strategy has been referred to as Press Release Optimization.

Outsourcing Press Releases allows you to expose your business on various news platforms and add to the credibility of your website. They are comparatively different from article copywriting as they use professional, proper terminology and refrain from including opinions. They only contain factual information and are written from a journalistic perspective as opposed to a marketing perspective. They are distributed to inform the masses as opposed to selling to the masses. Avoid using clichéd phrases. Instead point out what makes your website unique and different from other businesses. Don’t take advantage by self-glorifying your company, or your business won’t be taken seriously and your press release will not get published. Quotes from unbiased sources referring to your company are valuable to include for Press Release Optimization.

A press release should be clear about all the facts starting with the company being referred to, who in the company is organizing the event, what took place, when did it happen and the reason why. It starts with a captivating headline to lure readers to find out what’s happening with your business and website. Next is a summary so readers will know what you are writing about. Your statement ought to begin with the location, website and date of the press release. Your first sentence has to be interesting and attract the interest of readers. Search engines generally crawl the first and last paragraphs more frequently, so ensure those areas of your press release include the targeted keywords for your website. Just like any other piece of writing, this needs to be organized into paragraphs using clean grammatically correct language. At the end with a space to separate, list the name of your company. Underneath your company name include a brief introduction to your company with important contact information listed on the next line. Your contact information must include an email address, a phone number, and website address. After you finish, the very last line of your press release should have the following: “###” This marks the ending of your press release.

Outsourcing Press Releases can include hyperlinked keywords which are targeting a website. At the same time ensure, that you are not keyword stuffing or hyperlinking too many keywords. Attract interest by attaching videos, pictures, or even podcasts. Nothing can capture the attention of readers like imagery can. Pictures allow consumers and the media to relate with your brand name. It is important to link back to relevant pages rather than linking back to your main website for Press Release Optimization. There are a variety of Offshore SEO companies they provide Press Release Optimization services. These services help companies distribute press releases to the masses and effectively build traffic for their websites.

I decided that as a part of my trials and tribulations of working with off page SEO, I would reveal the things I learned about Outsource Article Marketing. Some tips may seem very basic but many people overlook these simple factors which make a significant impact on the exposure a website will receive. Article submitting is a major part of off page SEO, as it substantially builds the credibility of a website. When a company puts content out on the Internet by submitting articles to article submission sites, it provides the website with a number of valuable back links.  Articles can generate traffic for a particular website making article submission a powerful SEO tool. The idea of submitting an article is the strategic placement of keyword links within the content of the article to target particular pages of a website. A company should display their knowledge and experience through their articles with topics related to their website and business. Article submission is advertising your website in an indirect manner.

If you are submitting articles you must ensure the content of the article does not include self promoting information. If articles include self promoting information, readers lose interest and regard the article as spam. The websites that are used for Outsource Article Marketing do not approve your content to go live if your article is self promoting and spam filled. The idea is to advertise your website through your knowledge and expertise. Once readers see that you are well versed in your field they will be keen on visiting your website to learn more about your business. Readers will be able to directly connect to your website by clicking on the 1 or 2 keyword hyperlinks strategically placed within the article content and the author resource box. It is essential to hyperlink the right keywords that will help build traffic for your website.

With Outsource Article Marketing, you have to keep in mind that each website has different guidelines and rules to follow. Some don’t like keyword hyperlinks within the article content and prefer the links to appear in the author resource box. Some websites allow keyword hyperlinks in both areas. It becomes complicated while submitting to a number of article submission sites, so when I write an article I create a format which makes it easy for submitting. Here’s a snapshot of how I format an article:

Below is a snapshot of an article submission form for submitting an article. Creating the above format allows us to easily copy and paste the information required to submit an article on such a form as shown below:

For the submitter, this format makes their task a whole lot easier. All they need to do then is to copy the right information where required.

The title should include the keyword and have some catch to it. “Internet Marketing” would be too simple of a title and would not attract readers as much as “Popular Internet Marketing Strategies & Helpful Hints.”  I keep a word count record for each article because most article submission sites require a minimum of 500 words. If your article is less than 500 words and a website doesn’t accept it, then you end up adding sentences which don’t match up to the same article submitted elsewhere. Because the article differs certain websites flag the article assuming it is plagiarism and remove the submissions. So it is better to keep each article at 500 words or more so you can submit it easily on all the sites and the content remains the same everywhere.

Author names are a tricky issue with article submitting. Article submission sites are okay with articles appearing on a number of sites as long as the author and article content is the same. To make sure the submitter is using the same author name it is better to list it in the article format and avoid confusion. The author resource box should include the URL and a keyword hyperlink wherever possible. If the article submission site does not allow hyperlinks, the URL directs readers to your website. Sometimes websites will not specify whether they allow hyperlinked keywords or not. In that case, try submitting the author resource box with the HTML code first and if the site does not accept it then fill in the author resource box without the HTML code. Checking the article preview will tell you if the site is accepting your HTML code.

When submitting a particular article, the most important part to highlight is the keywords. A list of keywords ready to submit makes it convenient. It gives the article site an idea of which keywords you want to focus upon. Articles require a small summary displayed to introduce readers as to what the content is about. It is recommended to include the keyword in the article summary even though you will not be allowed to hyperlink it.  Most search engine crawlers look at the first and last paragraph of the article so you should include the imperative keywords in those areas as well.

Check for keyword stuffing. If your article has the same keyword an excessive number of times it is called keyword stuffing. This would also be considered spam content. The keyword should be used sparingly. For an article about 500 to 800 words it should appear within the content from 5 to 15 times.  If the article site allows you to use keyword hyperlinks within the article body they should appear no more than two times. In my article submission format I display the article with and without HTML code so it can be copied and pasted accordingly for each submission site requirement. Having to just copy and paste leaves no room to make any mistakes with the HTML codes.

Hyperlinked keywords should not appear within the first paragraph. The best place for hyperlinked keywords to appear are within the 2^nd and last paragraphs. If you are hyperlinking keywords, use the correct HTML code so the links work. If the keywords are not hyperlinked correctly there is no point to the article submissions because readers won’t be able to access your website. Almost all of the article submission sites allow you to preview the article before it is submitted for review. Viewing the preview also allows you to check if the keyword hyperlinks are working. I personally like keeping keywords in title case so they pop out and are distinctly visible to the reader. I noticed that websites that don’t allow HTML code within the article body or author resource box will sometimes display hyperlinked keywords using the hyperlink tool in word. “Like This” So my non HTML boxes all show hyperlinked keywords using the hyperlink tool so that hopefully the websites that don’t allow html code are still able to display the hyperlinked keywords.

Sometimes even though you submit your article with proper spacing between paragraphs, the website will submit your content as one big mass. If you experience this problem, putting two spaces between paragraphs helps. You can test the article a couple of times with the preview option to see how the content looks before you submit your article.

Once you submit articles to a number of quality article submission sites, it takes approximately 5-7 business days for the articles to go live. Once your article appears live you can further optimize your article by posting the link on social network websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Squidoo. Take a look at the diagram below to review what Outsource Article Marketing websites and social networks you can utilize for off page SEO:

I hope these tips will help make article submission an easier task for you. If you found anything missing or would like to make any suggestions about Outsource Article Marketing, please feel free to leave me a comment below.