The importance and effectiveness of articles in today's websites and internet based companies are extremely important. They help ensure internet business success and work tirelessly to drive traffic to your site. It has always been a key element that determines whether a website fails or earns a serious profit. Any successful website operator and owner must have the good sense to include unique article content in his or her site that will work for them and provide them the many benefits articles can give to their site.

Articles have been proven to be the driving force to increase traffic to a website. Articles are a major factor in enabling a website to get high rankings in search result pages. Obviously, the higher a site ranks the bigger piece of the traffic pie it gets. As you probably know, the bigger the traffic flow, the bigger the profits and more potential for other income generating opportunities as well.

But, it is not just about stuffing your site with garbage articles; for articles to bring the traffic, they have to have certain requirements to help them along. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article will provide for your site, not only in the short tern but for a long time to come. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be more inclined to recommend your site to others.

So before you just start adding articles for the sake of content, use these 4 effective article marketing tips to ensure your time and efforts aren't wasted and you benefit from every aspect that article provides:

1. Keywords or Keyword Phrases.

An article, just like your website, must always be created around your keywords and keyword phrases. Most people start with the internet when shopping to get an idea of what hey want and what they can expect to pay, or even which brand is the best. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Chevrolet Malibu, Memory Foam Mattress, Tax Lawyer and Weight Training Program). It could be anything they want.

The important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site and specifically each product. For example, if you own an auto parts site, you should have articles about cars and their parts. If that searcher sees you sight or article that answers their question, you've got a great chance that they will be paying your site a visit and potentially buying from you.

There are many tools in the internet that provides service in helping a webmaster out in determining what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. The most popular is the Google Keyword Suggestion Tool. It's free and you might as well get the keywords fro m the horses mouth.

2. Effective Keyword Density

Know that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them so the search engines rank them well. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to "feel" its presence. Articles should be in the ten to fifteen percent of keyword density in the article content for search engines to rank an article high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best, but they also need the help of a popular article directory as well, like ezinearticles.com.

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article. The number varies depending on the number of words an article has. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the point of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as spammy, alternatively, a lower number may not be picked up by the search engines.

3. Quality, Unique Article Content

As I mentioned before, you cannot just hammer an article with your keywords. They must also be good reading material; articles must be able to keep people interested as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be well written with correct spelling and proper grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.

People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good content, well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.

4. Linking Your Articles to Your Site

One of the most important things to remember when submitting articles to ezines and/or directories, DON'T ever forget to include a link to your site. Every directory or ezine will have a little resource box that you can include a brief description of your site. This gives you a little room to promote your site and get visitors to click your link and get them to your site. Check out other articles and see what they use to entice readers to click their link. This link is the key to open the door to your site.

Use these tips effectively and with quality content and consistent article writing and submission, you'll see a crazy amount of traffic growth in no time. If you're serious about your online business, writing articles and submitting them should be even more routine than checking your email.