Article Marketing: 7 Steps to a Great Author Resource Box That Drives Targeted Traffic to Your Site

Syndicating your articles online, also referred to as article marketing, is the #1 way to drive traffic back to your web site, if done correctly using an author resource box. Why? Because content is king in this new age of Internet marketing. While I've always advocated great content as a part of your marketing strategy, it's even more vital today as the search engines continue to change and update their algorithms to determine what sites they display on the first page of a search.

What is an author resource box? When you go to submit an article for syndication to an article directory, there is a box at the bottom of the article submission page where you get to add some information about yourself as the author.

However, too many authors spend too much time in their author resource box touting themselves or their accomplishments. Consequently, I think the Author Resource Box is really misnamed, as the content of this part of your article should be all about the reader rather than about the writer. When the reader reaches your author resource box, the last thing you want her to think is "Oh, this is the end of the article. Time to go to the next one." Instead, you want to create an experience where they keep reading through to your call to action.

Your author resource box plays just as strong a role in the makeup of your article as does useful content. Here are 7 steps you can take in your author resource box to drive targeted traffic back to your web site:

1. Seamless integration. Create a resource box that appears to be part of the article rather than a separate component. Compare these two versions of a resource box:

a. Jane Doe helps busy professionals get more time out of their day by helping them get organized. To get more great tips like these, grab a copy of her free ebook, Jane's Ebook, at this URL .

b. This strategy is one of many ways that you can get more hours out of your day. If you have more things to do than time to do them, discover professional organizer Jane Doe's 7 additional powerful strategies helping busy professionals get organized and buy back time at .

Which version more seamlessly integrates into the copy of the article?

2. Strong call to action. Your call to action is what makes or breaks your article. If you have a wimpy call to action, readers won't click on the link you have provided back to your site. Your article's call to action should always be to get them to opt into your list by picking up your client attraction device (free giveaway).

And, please don't use the terms "subscribe to her ezine" or "join her mailing list." Nothing will make prospects run faster than seeing those words in the author resource box. Of course, this is what ultimately happens when they opt in for your free giveaway, but with a giveaway, you are providing something of value in exchange for their opt-in action. Give your target audience a reason to build a relationship with you.

3. Engage, don't sell. Don't try to sell to readers in your call to action. Rather, use your article and your resource box to engage them and lead them to opt into your list so that they can get to like, know, and trust you as they receive your sequential autoresponder that has been set up to educate them about you and your products and services.

4. Unique landing page. Don't send readers to your home page. Instead, send them to a unique landing page where your call to action is obvious -- they get your free giveaway by opting into your list. You do need to inform them that they are also joining your ezine list or blog broadcast list when they opt in, so that they can make an educated decision. Find a compelling domain name for this page that is forwarded to this landing page, as well, so that your domain name silently markets for you due to the implied benefit or solution in the meaning of domain name, i.e. JaneDoe.com vs TakeBackYourTime.com.

5. Keyword-rich anchor text. Anchor text is a keyword phrase in your resource box that is linked back to a page on your web site. So, for example, if you wanted to be found in the search engines for the term "take back your time," you would then hyperlink that phrase to a page on your web site that relates to that phrase. This isn't always possible, as some article directories permit only plain-text resource boxes in their systems. However, for those also permitting HTML resource boxes, use anchor text as a way to create a one-way inbound link back to your site.

Keep in mind to vary the keywords that you target in your HTML resource box. You should have a list of 5-10 main keywords that you alternate in your resource boxes.

6. Matches article. Many authors get lazy and create one resource box for all of their articles. I'm guilty of this. Author resource boxes work best when you invest the time in creating many versions of your resource box and saving those to a resource box swipe file. In this way, you should have a resource box that best matches the topic of your article, which helps the article flow seamlessly into the author resource box.

7. Short and sweet. Your author resource box shouldn't exceed 3 sentences. Keep it focused and directed on your call to action, with the goal of persuading your reader to click on your call to action link and following through with an opt-in on your landing page. Many article directories limit your resource box to 450 characters or less -- that means you need to make the content in that resource box really work for you!

Try this new resource box strategy in your article marketing efforts. I've been watching the development of this style of author resource box for some time, and while it's taken me awhile to switch over, I'm a big convert of this "new and improved" resource box method.