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.
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" (from Brett Tabke's
26 steps to 15k a Day,/a>, advocated by
Google Guy in a WebMasterWorld QA session.
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
EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, or
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
Article Announce,
Free-Content, and
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?
Happy reprinting!
About The Author
* Glenn Murray is a director of Divine Write. He is a renowned SEO copywriter and an article PR specialist. For more information,
please visit DivineWrite.com. Glenn can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at
glenn@divinewrite.com.
