Handling the Linked Pages From Your Article Marketing Content

In a recent article I wrote about the conflict we face in trying to serve two masters in content marketing. Here’s the problem boiled down to its core: Readers of our content are still in the early part of the information gathering stage of the purchasing decision continuum. Yet, because we want our links to optimize our income pages in our sites, the readers’ clicks on our article links will take them to a web page that assumes that they are ready to buy a particular alternative. In that article, I combined that conflict with another related issue: With good website design, each page should have a single purpose. That purpose is to satisfy our visitor’s desire. In other words, we should not [deliver a prospect to our money (product) page until they already want to go there--in other words, they're ready to buy.]

I did not offer a solution in that original article. Simply bringing the problem to the attention of article marketers was my goal in that previous piece. With this article, I’ll try to bring some resolution to the dilemma.

Two ways to solve the problem present themselves. The first option is to ignore the rule of website design for marketing purposes and have our landing pages attempt to offer two different objectives (both learning more and buying) for our readers who click through. Another solution to our dilemma is to include two different kinds of links from our distributed articles. One of those link types will take the clicker to a landing page filled with valuable, additional content (and an opportunity to learn even more by signing up for our newsletter); the other type of link leads to our “money page,” primarily for the purpose of search engine optimization. In these cases, our anchor text must make clear what to expect on the landing page.

I recommend the second of those two options. I’ll explain why I believe that this approach is a workable solution, and then I’ll describe, in general terms, the landing page of each of those article links.

Recall that the readers of our syndicated article want to gather information. The only likely way we are going to attract those readers to our site is to offer them even more information than our article provides. I trust that I don’t have to tell you that we always must deliver what we promise our prospects. Thus, our article marketing content must be interesting, accurate and informative, but it must leave the impression that we still have more to tell them. We must subtly persuade them that our site will provide all the remaining necessary information, and we make sure that link delivers them to a content page.

We also want to move them along that decision making continuum by implying that there is a product or service that will provide the ultimate solution to their current problem. By making the implication that our product or service will be their ultimate solution, even after they have gathered all the necessary information, we have justified linking to our product or money page.

It is always easier to logically include both types of links within our articles if we syndicate directly to websites that are within our general niche category; in those cases we can make our links contextual within the article, itself. On the other hand, when we publish on article directories, we must make the connection between our informational link and our selling link more quickly as it must fit within our resource box and not within the article.

On of first type of linked page, we will move our prospects along the decision continuum. Remember that the visitors have already been persuaded to accept our initial offer by clicking on our link, so they are in an agreeable frame of mind. They are no long “just readers,” they have become serious prospects. We shall offer them a link to the page where they can actually buy, but we focus primarily on getting them to take one more small step by asking for the contact information in exchange for the promise of even more valuable content.

In our syndicated article we use our content to sell our expertise. On the linked page, we’re selling our credibility and integrity. Once we have their contact information we can begin selling our product, subtly at first and then with increasing urgency.

The second type of link from our article marketing content leads directly to a product page. The primary purpose of that link is increasing our SEO, so we must be especially careful to research and have anchor text that is a long tail keyword with commercial intent.

As marketers, all of our efforts are toward increasing revenue through a sale. As writers we must make the sale without disturbing the flow of our content. First we sell the article readers on their need for more information and convince them that they can find that information by clicking our link. Then, with the second link type, we need to demonstrate to the search engine spiders that we have provided link text that is an accurate name for the content that we have on our selling page to which that link leads. Thus our anchor text and the landing page content must be very similar.