Looking at my EzineArticles stats this morning, a flash of inspiration hit me.
I have submitted a lot of articles to EzineArticles now, but the success rate of people visiting them and clicking through to my sites varies a lot. However, there is something of a pattern forming.
The first thing to say is that my rubbish articles do rubbish. Few people read them, and virtually nobody clicks through to the underlying web site I am trying to draw attention to. OK, fair enough. I must not write rubbish.
It gets more interesting though..
The next class of articles are those that are what I would call self-contained, where you read it, and you have everything you came for. A good example is the safety guide. You know the thing “Steam Iron Dangers – Don’t Fall into These Traps”; or “Folding Snooker Table – Avoid These Hidden Hazards”. The thing about these is that once a reader reaches the end, your invitation to “visit folding-snooker-table-today.com for more information and some amazing bargains” is pretty empty – because the reader found your article by searching for safety tips – probably. He has all he needs thank you very much, and has no reason to visit your site.
This brings me to the third class of article. This is the one I am aiming for from now on. It’s the sort of article that’s a real “hook” or a “teaser”. I have found that things like “Folding Snooker Table – A Beginner’s Guide” have worked well for me, assuming of course that the object in question is something that people are interested in.
The point is that this sort of article is giving people a start in the subject; giving them the information and confidence that they need before they can choose and buy a product that perhaps they have not bought before. Having read such a “primer”, it’s a very natural step for the reader to capitalise on this new-found confidence and click on the link to see some examples of the product on your niche site.
In a nutshell, it’s about sowing seeds rather than giving a bouquet. Seeds are a starting point; a bouquet is the end.
