Article marketing is an free and easy strategy that you can use to increase your targeted website traffic. As a website traffic building strategy it works both directly and indirectly.

When you write and submit articles to article directories, people can download your article and use it on their websites or in their ezines as long as they include your resource bio information, including a link to your site. When people read your article they can click on your link and visit your site. In this way, article marketing directly brings visitors to your site.

However, article marketing can also increase your website traffic indirectly by creating a lot of one-way links to your website or blog. The number of back links to your site combined with the quality of those links (reputation and relevance of the other site) is used by search engines to determine link popularity. Link popularity is an important part of search engine page rank calculations.

Article marketing is therefore one of the best ways to promote your website or blog. Here are seven keys to success in article marketing:

1. Know Your Audience. It is important to know who you are trying to reach with your article. Your article should be written with the needs of a particular audience in mind, who would be interested in the information and products you offer on your website.

2. Consider Popular Search Terms. The most successful articles take into account the things that people are searching on within your subject area. This helps you narrow down your focus to address clear needs of your targeted audience. You can utilize helpful aids such as Yahoo's keyword analysis tool to identify niches of interest to searchers.

3. Incorporate Keywords Into Your Article. Once you have chosen which search term or terms you will use incorporate these as your keyword in the article title and body. Avoid using the word or phrase too often as search engines will penalize you. If you keep it to one to two percent you will be safe. By including a popular keyword, you improve your possibilities that people who are searching for your information will find your article in search results.

4. Give Good Value. The whole point of article marketing is to build website traffic. If you want your readers who click on your link in the resource box, your article needs to be interesting, informative and relevant.

5. Write Well. Your article also needs to be well written. If you are a poor writer and wouldn't know correct spelling or grammar from incorrect, consider a ghost writer for your writing work. The global marketplace has made it possible to get well written articles for very reasonable prices.

6. Write And Submit Often. Article marketing offers a long term benefit. To generate targeted website traffic in substantial numbers you will need to write and submit articles on a regular basis. Some will be more popular than others and you won't always be able to predict which those will be.

7. Choose Your Article Directories Wisely. A high traffic article directory is a necessity. Some other directories do not have their traffic but they have very high search engine positions which can generate traffic from search results.

If you use these keys to article marketing success, you will find your website traffic and therefore your profits increasing exponentially over time.