Free Website Promotion Methods : Is Article Marketing Really One?

Article Marketing is one of the many "free" website promotion methods

From the outset, let me state that it is clear that there is no 100% free website promotion method. If it actually exists, the cost in terms of time will be so much as to render it uneconomical.

Since we know that there is actually no 100% free website promotion method, it ordinarily seems a misnomer to then ask : Can article marketing really be classified as a free website promotion method?

In this case, it is not a misnomer. The reason is because article marketing is so expensive that it should not ordinarily be classified as a free website promotion method.

Let me say at this point that this article does not set out to detract from the effectiveness of article marketing. It is without doubt a very effective website promotion method.

Let us now begin to itemize and analyze the cost of article marketing.

The cost is best identified by breaking article marketing into its core components which are :

1. Article creation or generation

It is obvious that to create or generate an article worth its salt on the very competitive internet market, which can be used either on your blog or distributed to article directories, it is either one is very skilled or gifted in that area or one develops himself along the line or one outsources this aspect.

Now, of the alternatives above, let us first assume you outsource since this is a very real option for most budding internet marketers given that most are not skilled or gifted in that area and sufficient time has not elapsed at that stage for them to become skilled in the art of article writing.

It is common knowledge that to outsource just one article you need between $5 and $40 depending on the quality of the article freelancer or other company. To make a significant impact in these days of web explosion, you require a large number of articles both on your website/blog and distributed to article directories.

Simply multiply the cost of each article with the estimated number of articles required and you come up with a staggering/colossal sum.

Are you beginning to get my point as to why article marketing is not at all a free website promotion method?

Let us now consider the other alternative of generating your own articles yourself. First of all, while many will wish to do this, it simply is not possible for them because they lack the skill.

The few who have the skill also have an opportunity cost of the time they spend writing articles. Here again, this is the point. Probably because i am an economist and chartered accountant, i know that the actual cost of any asset utilized by you in your business, even if owned by you, must be imputed to get a true picture of the real return you make from that business.

Let me illustrate this. If you are a good writer, you probably could be spending your time as a freelancer writing articles and getting paid rather than writing articles "free" for your own online business.

You get the gist? What you should otherwise have been earning had you been deploying your asset (article writing skill) otherwise, is a real cost of article marketing in the sense of the alternative forgone. Remember opportunity cost in elementary economics?

Another key indicator to the staggering cost of article writing evolves when it is realized that you have to keep on writing articles virtually for the life of your website as a promotion tool. Is it now clear as to why it can indeed be very costly?

Let us go on to the second core component of article marketing.

2. Article Distribution or Syndication

For your articles to have the reach necessary in modern internet marketing business, with the attendant web explosion, you have to distribute your articles to various article directories using either an article software or an article distribution service. The days of 100% manual article submission is over.

What does this entail in terms of cost?

You have to keep paying about $50 on a monntly basis for article distribution services. Article softwares are in the hundreds of dollars and get outdated frequently with new ones introduced into the market.

I have no hesitation in therefore concluding that article marketing is in fact a paid promotion method. I rest my case.