In this web-driven economy, it's more important than ever to be competitive online.

But a website alone cannot give you the Web presence you need to capitalize on all that Internet activity. With an estimated 8 billion individual documents on the Web, a single website is like a needle in a haystack.

What you need is a way to be more prevalent online -- a way to put your message in front of consumers who use the Internet to search for products and services like yours.

From a marketing standpoint, your website should function as Web-Marketing Central. It should be optimized to capture leads or generate sales. But you can't do either of those things without driving qualified traffic to your website. And you can't drive traffic without a strong Web presence.

That's where article marketing comes in.

What is Article Marketing?
Article marketing is the process of publishing articles online through an article distribution site. Article marketing takes an educational approach to marketing, which is part of the reason it's so effective.

Traditional marketing says, "Here's a product or service I want you to buy."

Article marketing says, "Here's a product or service I want to educate you about. And by the way, I also provide it. You can learn more about it by visiting www..."

What's the Purpose of Article Marketing?
Article marketing can increase your online exposure, improve your website's search engine rankings, drive qualified traffic to your website, and position you as an authority in your field. Each of these things can help you capture leads or generate sales through your website -- provided your website is optimized for that purpose.

What are the Benefits of Article Marketing?

* Website Traffic - when your articles get republished on topical websites relevant to your product or service, they generate traffic to your website.

* Search Engine Ranking - article marketing generated relevant links from other websites to yours. Thus, it can improve your search engine ranking.

*Positioning & Credibility - when your articles get published on other websites (especially prestigious websites), you gain third-party credibility.

* Simplicity & Cost - article marketing requires no special software or equipment, just a computer with Internet connection. And the only cost you'll incur is your time and energy. Try to find rates like that in traditional advertising!

Conclusion
Here's a picture I want to leave you with:

John and Jane Doe go online to research topics related to your product or service. They use a search engine and enter a few key phrases. On the first page of search results, they encounter a couple of helpful, well-written articles that give them the exact information they were after. And at the bottom of each article, they find an "About the Author" note with your name and a link to your website.

That's article marketing!

* Copyright 2006, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article in its entirety, provided you leave the byline, author's note and website hyperlink intact.

About the Author

Brandon Cornett wrote the book on article marketing ... literally. And you can learn about it or download it through Brandon's blog: http://www.articlemarketing101.blogspot.com. In a former life, Brandon worked as a web writer in the direct marketing industry. In this life, he manages a number of content-rich