What is it about articles that attract so many to publish so much content to the net? Mainly it would be for one of three reasons, the first being that you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time. That is not entirely true but fact is that there are many people writing and publishing articles to websites and article directories simply to share information and knowledge.

The other two reasons are web site related. If you are a webmaster of an established site or your own newly self appointed webmaster of your own website aiming for the internet so you can kick your boss under the butt, the following would be your primary reasons for writing and publishing articles.

From a broader perspective the internet is filled with information contained in a variety of formats. Now those looking for the information use the search engines, quite logical. For the people who have the information published on their sites this is where the trick comes in. The search engines need to find that content and display it as a search result so that the visitor will land on the page of the publisher.

For a webmaster this means traffic and in turn traffic means money. The money can be generated from different avenues but without the traffic there will be no income.

The role of the article, first and foremost is links. Any site that has any hope of getting indexed by the search engines needs links pointing to it. The second reason is sales, at times also referred to as bum marketing, it is a proven method of creating sales and thus generating income using the internet.

Indexing Your Site Using Internet Marketing Articles

For any site to feature in the search engine rankings it needs links pointing to the site telling the search engines that there is a site. The link in the article normally placed in the resource box of the author is the anchor text, these words or key phrases are telling the search engine the content of the site that is linked to and that it should be ranked for those words. For the webmaster these are very important elements in generating traffic.

A site is judged on the links from other sites pointing to that site, the more links a site has the more highly regarded it becomes. This is a very broad description and many other factors play a role but for the purpose of articles these are the basic principals.

Using Internet Marketing Articles to Sell Products

The next very good use of articles is for what is sometimes lovingly referred to as bum marketing. You don't need to be a bum to use this method but it sometimes helps, on second thought, maybe not. In most cases you would not even need a website of your own but your own site would open up some doors to other forms of marketing like list building.

The principals remain the same as for indexing a site but the purpose of the article changes. The content and writing style is aimed at leading the visitor to a product he might be looking for and then sells the product to him. If you are an affiliate for a product the sales page would do the selling part, you just need to get the visitor to the sales page.

Many webmasters and non webmasters have used this technique successfully for a long time now. The problem you are faced with here however is the article itself, how to write it in such a way that you keep the readers interest and move him on to the next step which is clicking on the link leading to the pre sales page or the sales page itself.

Just publishing any old article will not achieve any success and it takes some real time and effort to learn the skills and the little nuances needed to write in such a way until it becomes second nature. Of course this does require practice, repetition and some experimentation.

If you want to write to sell, even if you have never written anything but a love letter before, in which case you sold yourself of course, here is a resource that will guide you through the process of successful writing to sell. If you have been struggling to get the results you are only reading about, now is the time to get what you need to succeed.

This is part one of an article series which will introduce some basic strategies, considerations, elements, and techniques for marketing tourism products online. We plan to update and refine these articles as situations change and when we have new knowledge to present. If you have comments or questions, or you are interested in Leave Home's travel marketing consulting services, please visit www.Leave-Home.com or contact the author directly. You can also request to be notified when a new article in the series is available.

OPPORTUNITIES AND ROOM TO IMPROVE

While most tourism organizations are by now familiar with the Internet, far fewer have really gained an understanding of the technologies, new resources, new communication opportunities, and the requirements that they represent. These tips and explanations should prove a useful introduction.

While new technologies provide new opportunities, they don't change the basics of marketing: people, product, price, promotion, and distribution. Know your target markets, understand their purchase decision processes, and offer them the right product, at the right time, for the right price--and correct your course continually.

SHAPING THE PURCHASE DECISION PROCESS AND THE TOURISM EXPERIENCE

Your online communication with customers can be used to shape outcomes in the following circumstances and stages, in relation to a potential tourist's purchase decision and tourism experience. Good communication can:

• Build awareness of a product or destination, and reshape existing perceptions;
• Generate interest;
• Provide information to turn interest into desire;
• Transact the actual purchase or series of purchases;
• Provide reassurance of a good purchase and offer preparatory information for the actual tourism experience;
• Continue to provide information, shape perception, and improve the experience during the tourist's journey;
• Aid and deepen memories after the tourism experience;
• Build upon your relationship to your customer, to add value for both you and the tourist; and
• Encourage referrals and generate repeat business.

There are different goals to achieve and appropriate methods of communication for each of these circumstances. Adding further complexity is the fact that different people (family members, friends, co-workers, etc.) may be involved and have varying importance at different stages of one purchase decision!

IN CONCLUSION

Despite these complexities, there are some basic guidelines which will help you communicate and market effectively online. The next in this series of articles presents advice for attracting visitors to your website.

(Seattle, USA; August 2004)

About The Author

Bryan Wilson is a travel marketing consultant and partner in Leave Home Productions. Leave Home Productions provides marketing services and tools to tourism-related businesses and organizations. Our clients benefit from strategies, tools, and creative concepts developed to clarify their needs, make use of their resources, and help them achieve their goals. We specialize in promotions, online communication, distribution and the creation of multimedia and Internet tools. Leave Home also supports marketing with traditional media formats and personal communication. We work to develop solutions that support healthy growth for our clients' business and sustainable tourism for the host communities and environments.

(Leave Home, tourism marketing consultants)

bryan@leave-home.com