Google’s new Penguin and Panda updates have seen a dramatic decrease in the value of distributing your articles online, however is online article marketing really dead?

In our view, the answer is yes. In terms of helping with your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), it most certainly will, however not in the same way as what was previously acceptable.  However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, if you are producing quality content that people will likely want to read and share with their networks, then it is an extremely effective online marketing tool.

Take for instance our business: Media Messages specialise in the production of broadcast quality audio for a number of applications, including radio commercials, television commercials, messages on hold and in-store music and messaging.

It is up to us to produce interesting and compelling copy that shows us to be an authority in our field and adds value to our offering. This value being the content those potential customers will hopefully share with other potential customers. Furthermore, if our customers value the content we write, then it is more likely they are going to share the link, share your content with their friends, and hopefully their friends will follow suit.

Google has changed the way they rank pages dramatically; as they obviously want their searches to return valuable information that meet their customers’ search enquiries. And Google now rely on social media to help determine the importance of a website. So if you offer good content, this content should theoretically be promoted through social media.

Providing you have promoted your content. And this is where it gets interesting. Old school public relations is back. You obviously have to help your potential customers to find your content, so they can like it and share it – so you will therefore need to market your content online to get the word out there. This is where it gets tricky; Google doesn’t like duplicate content, so article submission in the old form is no longer acceptable, but through social networks it is.

As complicated as it may sound, it really is quite straightforward and easy. Quality content is most certainly key, you then need to get this content out to the masses and hope they consider your content quality also.