If there's one thing that Google loves, it's
content. Done right, a content rich website is almost guaranteed to rank
highly. But how to get that content? You can write it yourself, but
that takes a lot of time. You can pay an SEO copywriter to write it for
you, but that takes a lot of money. If only there was another option...
What if you could get your content for free? And not just a little
bit of content; a lot! What if you could get an almost unlimited supply
of keyword rich, expertly written content, specific to your subject
matter, absolutely free of charge? Would you snap it up and upload to
your site in an instant? Of course you would! Well here's the good news:
you can! Read on to find out how you can get a top ten ranking in the
search engines without paying a single cent...
Yes, content gives you a great ranking
Content is king. This is widely acknowledged as fact, but if you need further convincing, consider the following two points:
Point 1 - In Google's own words, one of the keys to a high ranking
is to "create a useful, information-rich site" (from “Google Information
for Webmasters” - http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html).
Point 2 - Google insider, codenamed 'Google Guy', advocates a list
26 steps to building a high ranking site. Step 5 of the list says,
"build one page of content and put online per day at 200-500 words" .
But why does content give you a great ranking?
I won't go into any further detail about IF Google loves content. I
will, however, briefly explain WHY. Google's love affair with content is
based on two key attractions:
1) Google loves sites with a lot of content because it assumes they
provide a lot of useful information. And remember, that's the whole
reason Google exists - to help people find useful information. The more
helpful Google's results, the more traffic (and revenue) it gets.
2) Google loves sites that have a lot of links pointing to them
because this means other webmasters hold your site in high regard, and
Google assumes this means the content is useful. And naturally, if you
create a useful site, other webmasters will link to it because this
makes them useful to their visitors (thereby developing site loyalty),
and they gain credibility and authority because they're associated with
you.
So how can you get free content for your website?
Three words: 'free reprint articles'. There are hundreds of
thousands of people out there writing high quality, helpful, informative
articles on virtually every topic imaginable, then giving these article
away to any webmaster who wants to publish them on a website. In
exchange for the article, the author asks only that you retain the
author bio at the end, complete with all links (e.g. "Glenn Murray is an
SEO Copywriter and Article Submission Specialist...).
To find free content for your website, simply visit any one of
hundreds of 'article banks' on the Internet such as
http://www.ezinearticles.com, http://www.goarticles.com, or
http://www.articleblast.com. Browse or search for the subject you're
interested in, then take the article(s) for free. There is absolutely no
charge. Some of these sites will even send a regular stream of articles
direct to your website (using RSS).
Alternatively, you can sign up to any number of article distribution
lists and get articles delivered direct to your email inbox. Again,
it's absolutely free! Some of the better known distribution lists
include http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce,
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content, and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Reprint-Articles.
TIP: The article banks and distribution lists mentioned above are
just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds more - just do a search
for "free reprint articles", "article submission", "article submission
site", "submit article", "article submit site", "free articles", or
"free content". You may even find a site or list which only deals in
articles relating to your particular subject matter.
Why is it free?
Why are these authors giving their articles away? Because it helps
the author's own search engine ranking. It's a promotional activity
known as 'article PR'. As explained above, Google loves sites with lots
of links pointing to them. Every time their article submission is
published, the author gets another link to their website. In fact, if
the article is really good, it may be published hundreds of times. And
each time, it's another link to the author's website. Put simply,
article submission is a writer's free pass to the top of the search
engines. (In this sense, the "PR" in article PR stands for PageRank.)
Furthermore, like traditional public relations, article PR also
conveys a sense of authority because your articles are widely published.
And because you're proving your expertise and freely dispensing
knowledge, your readers will trust you and will be more likely to remain
loyal to you. (In this sense, the "PR" in article PR stands for Public
Relations.)
How do I know if the quality is good?
It's a process of natural selection. The better the article
submission, the more often it will be published, so it's in the author's
interest to write and submit articles of the highest quality. Of
course, this doesn't always happen, but in most cases, you'll be
reviewing the articles before you post them anyway, so if you discover
one that's not up to scratch, don't use it.
In time, you'll become familiar with the authors who consistently
put out good quality content - you may even find enough of them that you
don't need to go looking for content from anyone else...
Where do I put the free content?
Most people put the articles in an 'Articles' or 'Resources' section on their website, but you can put them anywhere you like.
How much free content should I use?
As much as you want or as little as you want. It all depends on your
needs and the needs of your audience. If your audience expects that at
least some of your site is original content, then give it to them.
But what about the duplicate content issue?
It's not an issue!
There's a lot of a talk about how Google penalizes duplicate
content. The theory is that when the majority of the content on two
separate webpages (on different sites) is the same, the one with the
higher PR will be shown and the other one will not.
Whether or not this theory is true is still a hot topic in search
engine circles, but regardless, it doesn't affect people publishing
free-reprint articles. When you publish the article, just make sure you
have unique content around it. Generally, it's enough to have your own
unique introduction to the page (which may be common to all pages), and
your own navigation elements, headers, footers, sidebars, logos, images,
etc.
Conclusion
Free reprint articles are a great way for you to achieve a high
ranking. And you don't have to pay a cent! So what are you waiting for?
