3 Simple Steps To Get Free Original Content for Your Website

As a web business owner you will be well aware that content for your website is good. The more content the better, but of course it must be relevant and of high quality. If you know anything about search engine optimisation you know that Google loves content. The problem most webmasters face is how to get the content without writing it yourself, which takes time, or without spending money to pay someone else to do it.

I recently faced this problem. I wanted some fresh content for one of my sites, but beyond sales pages and basic features such as contact information I really didn't have the experience with the subject matter to produce good content. To get around this problem I came up with a method to attain good quality content, for free, which I could use for my web business site. It's not the easiest method, but to get good content you sometimes have to work a little harder. This is how I did it.

Step 1: Think about your customers needs.

Before chasing content you have to think what sort of content your customers want and what needs they have. Obviously you want people coming to your business site that are interested in what you offer so think about what other things complimentary information they might be interested in. For example if you are running a website that sells tennis racquets then you should fill your site with quality articles on how to improve your tennis game.

If you can provide valuable free content then your traffic will increase but it's important to make sure it's the right kind of traffic. By providing content that attracts your target market you have the best chance of converting those prospects into customers.

Step 2: Locate the best articles based on customer needs.

Now that you have a good idea what sort of content your potential customers would be interested in you need to get out there and find the best articles to meet this need. Thankfully it's Google's job to do this so all you need to do is think like someone that would be searching for content in this area and pump it into Google. The search results at the top should be the best and most relevant content on the subject matter you are looking for. If it's not then you might need to adjust your search terms until you find some good articles.

The ideal situation is to find a hobbyist fan, someone that writes articles for fun to indulge in their hobby and happens to be an expert too so they write good stuff. You can usually spot these types of websites because they are not professional, after all they are not trying to run a business, they just want to help others out while they enjoy their hobby. So continuing the tennis example you should hopefully find a few mad keen tennis fans or trainers that have written up some good content.

A note on PageRank:

Try and pick the articles that have a high PageRank, at least a 4 or more is best. The first page or two of results on Google should bring in those types of sites. If you don't know what PageRank is read about it. When a page has a high PageRank and shows up in the first few results in Google you can assume the content is of a high standard. If in doubt, sit down and read the article, you should be able to judge for yourself if it provides something of quality.

Step 3: Ask for permission to publish the content.

This is the tricky part. Write out an email template to send to the author of the article explaining who you are and what you want to do with the article. Be sure to be completely honest and tell them that your site is commercial although you will not be selling or making any direct money from the article. Make sure you state that the article will be clearly sourced with a link back to the author's homepage. Here is an example from an email I used: ******

Dear INSERT AUTHOR NAME,

My name is INSERT YOUR NAME and I am the owner of an INSERT YOUR BUSINESS located in INSERT YOUR CITY, COUNTRY AND URL. We are looking for resources to add to a new online library that we are developing. I came across your INSERT ARTICLE NAME and I believe it would be perfect for our library. In fact I think it could be one of the main features, if you are willing to share it. We will of course list you as the author and link directly back to your website.

The library will be completely free to use and we are presently putting together a collection of quality articles to help our visitors with INSERT YOUR SUBJECT AREA (E.G. TENNIS GAME). We do not intend to make direct profits from the library, it is intended to add value to our website and hopefully indirectly increase the sales of our INSERT WHAT YOUR BUSINESS DOES. The business is a commercial enterprise. If you have any questions regarding my business or intentions please contact me.

******

Be certain to sign it off personally and make yourself available for any questions. I also request a response from the author regardless of their decision so you can be certain the email made it through. You have to ensure the author has some potential value from allowing his/her article to be re-published. In this case it can be fame and traffic back to his/her website.

This technique will not always work. Every single author may reject you, some may never respond. Your business may operate in an industry where there just isn't any good individual authors writing good content that isn't in some way linked to a commercial enterprise. To get around this you can offer to buy the content if you have the available funds, but I advise against paying much unless the article really is top class and not distributed anywhere else.

I sent out about ten emails and four authors agreed to have their articles published. This provided me with thousands of words of quality free content. Best of all these articles are probably only published in a handful of places, perhaps only on my site and the author's site. It was definitely worth the time and effort I put in and I recommend you give it a try too, you may be surprised at how generous people can be.

By Yaro Starak
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com

Do you want to profit from your own successful home based Internet business?

Learn from Yaro Starak, a young entrepreneur from Australia. He works part time from home on several web based business that generate between $2,000 and $8,000 per month. Get your free articles and audio now - visit his Internet Business Blog.

---

Internet Marketing Strategies

The right strategies to win a share of the Internet... Read More

You Gotta Think -- Strategic Internet Marketing!

Have you ever been lost in the woods - wondering... Read More

The Truth About Info Business

Let me save you, at least, several hundreds of dollars... Read More

Seven Reasons Why New Products Fail

The most optimistic success rate I have run across for... Read More

Website Marketers Enemy No. 1

There comes a time in your efforts to market your... Read More

Joint Ventures - How They Can Benefit Your Business

Joint ventures are partnerships in which two or more businesses... Read More

Marketing Strategy

With the plethora of websites online and hundreds added each... Read More

How SPAM Sells Sex, Greed, and Survival

The unsolicited email people react to most is what yells... Read More

Internet Marketing And Public Speaking: Ten Tips For When The Twain Shall Meet

Internet marketing and public speaking? Not quite ham and eggs,... Read More

Secrets Of An Internet Marketing Newbie - Or How I Fell On My Face Trying To Get RICH

A Cautionary Tale for the Internet Marketing NewbieIn an attempt... Read More

Internet Marketing Is No Big Secret

You Do Not Need To Be An Internet Marketing Guru... Read More

Getting Some Good Ol Internet Real Estate

Real estate has made many people large amounts of money... Read More

Niche Marketing Nuggets: Picking the Gold from the Internet Mine

Building an Internet business based on a specific niche is... Read More

When Is An Ad Not An Ad?

One marketing technique used by advertisers old and new is... Read More

Website Marketing: 10 Smart Ways To Profit In An Uncertain Economy

When the economy is booming, you may do well in... Read More

Scam And Scheme Free Advertising For Your Business Web Site

Since I own my own business web site and have... Read More

The ABCs of Online Customer Support

Want to provide great online customer support? Want to provide... Read More

You Know Youre an Internet Marketer When...

Did you make the switch from corporate slave to independent... Read More

The Free Viral Marketing Technique You Cant Afford to Pass Up

Have you ever seen the movie "Pay it Forward"? This... Read More

6 Ways to Guarantee Your Website Will Fail (and how to fix them)

1. Your website is an electronic brochure 2. Can't be... Read More

Make Internet Marketing Work for You Via RSS

RSS marketing is a tool used by many on the... Read More

Six Lesser-Known Online Marketing Ideas

Uniqueness is what separates each business, its services and its... Read More

Why Should I Visit Your Website?

If we can't attract visitors to our websites there's little... Read More

Weird Sells: Get Noticed on the Internet

What is weird?, well in the 21st century it's getting... Read More

Internet: The Darling Of Business

Internet has become indispensable in our lives. It has become... Read More

If you Sell a Product, Use Online Marketing, Part 1

When you offer your products via an email campaign to... Read More

Website Marketing: 10 Killer Website Marketing Tactics To Boost Your Profits

Here are 10 killer website marketing tactics to boost your... Read More

Targeting Online Customers

Although generating online traffic is an important goal of any... Read More

What Does It Take To Become An Internet Marketer?

I have heard many people say all it takes to... Read More

Using Ad Boards in Your Marketing Campaigns

Are free advertising boards a waste of time?Not if you... Read More

Build Your Marketing Muscle

During a saxophone lesson the other day I realized how... Read More

You Can Become A Successful Internet Entrepreneur!

Everyday people ask me if they will make money with... Read More

Arrgh. . .Those Stupid Internet Marketing Cliches Are True!

If you have read any internet marketing resource ever created,... Read More