Using social media and posting at designated times within the day to generate traffic to your site can be time-consuming, especially if you are doing it alone. But many website owners can create traffic on a steady basis. How?

What some writers do is create SEO-enhanced niche articles and submit them to other websites, blogs, e-zines, and directory sites. Welcome to the world of article marketing.

This is a method that some freelance writers use. Why would a website or e-zine owner post your marketing content on their site? It’s a win-win situation for both parties. Your articles help the website owner rank higher on Google, provided that your articles create content that is specific. High-quality content helps to create awareness because there will always be a need for specific topics, and this can lead to website owners getting subscribers and mailing lists.

In return, you provide a link to your own website. Your site serves as a “resource box” and allow website owners to use your content without making changes to it. Your link to your own site, in turn, generates potential subscribers.

Consider these advantages for article writing and article marketing:

* You can gain expertise in your chosen niche. You become a go-to authority for specific content. Just look at how financial advisors and self-help gurus win loyal followers. You gain traction when your articles are published in article directories when you write about any popular topic.

* You can throw in some selling. For example, if you write about holistic medicine, and you provide a link back to your own site, you can introduce them to health supplement products and what it can do for them.

* You win new subscribers to your site. More subscribers help your search engine ranking by mere popularity. When you post an article on a website that has been running for quite some time now, and it helps to generate traffic, it will likely stay there for a long time. This provides you with the benefit of linking visitors to your site.

* It makes for a great affiliate marketing strategy. Affiliate marketing requires promotion. If your affiliates see the effort you make in promoting their brands, they are likely to promote you more in return.

* It helps to build your own email list. Studies show that only two out of 100 that visit your site will join your email list. It may sound distressing, but publicity can help increase your conversion rate, say, five or ten out of 100. If you are consistent in delivering content, the odds will be in your favor. New subscribers allow you to build new relationships based on trust.

Do you need to be a very good writer to do this? No. Just write what comes naturally to you. By “naturally,” it means that you put down your thoughts the way you would write a letter or explain something to a friend over a cup of coffee. Make it an easy read and if you are addressing a problem, provide a solution. You can get someone to look through your article. A fresh set of eyes is an invaluable help.