Articles created for the purposes of generating traffic to a blog or web site are increasingly popular on the World Wide Web. This is proof that they work. One of the things that promotional articles have going for them, is the quality of traffic that they are capable of producing. Not only that, most of the traffic is already prepared and in a receptive state of mind when they arrive at the web site. What this means is that visitors arriving at a site as a result of reading an article have a much higher chance of making a purchase when compared to visitors arriving via search engines and even PPC ads. However one of the major problems most webmasters still have with articles, is that they do not quite understand how to use them to maximum effect and so as to gain the utmost benefits. Different Articles Have Different Objectives To start with it is important to appreciate the fact that different articles have different objectives. There are promotional articles written with the accumulation of links in mind. These are usually carefully targeted at a particular controversial or hot topic and the idea is to get as many related web sites as possible to link to it. Links, apart from generating traffic of its’ own, impacts search engine rankings and can result in tremendous search engine traffic. Then there are articles whose main objective is to build up the image of a site or individual. Image sells and well written articles can be extremely effective in helping to quickly build up the image of a new business or a new online consultant. One of the ways they do this is by showing off the expertise and knowledge of the person. The most common articles will often be designed to direct as much traffic as possible to a site. Usually these articles will seek to display such knowledge that those seeking more information will feel compelled to visit the site. To be effective with your promotional articles, you will need to clearly understand what the objective of your article is. Although an article can have more than one objective, having a single objective for each article you generate will always produce much better results. Resource Box Blues A vast majority of promotional articles are not effective because many webmasters do not realize just how important the resource box is. No matter how good your article is, the quality of the resource box will dictate how many visitors you will end up receiving at your site as a direct result of the article. Basically a good resource box will give the reader a good and compelling reason to visit the site, if that is the objective. Some sort of special offer usually works well. Distribution, Distribution, Distribution Although it is true that useful articles usually enjoy some sort of viral effect, it is also true that the way you distribute your article will have a major impact on the results you receive. Most so-called experts advice that one should try and distribute their promotional article to as many article directories and sites as possible. Actually it is a better idea to distribute your article to 10 high traffic relevant sites rather than blindly post them in 400 sites. In most cases the traffic received by just 5 sites can exceed that of all the other 400 sites where you choose to distribute your content. Always remember that the objective here is to get the highest possible relevant audience for your articles. It is always a good idea to carefully monitor every article directory where you post your promotional articles. You will quickly find that different article directories have different strengths. If you understand them, then it puts you at a great advantage. For instance some directories will greatly enhance the viral effect of your promotional article. Others will just get you extremely high readership. Articles Can Build Up Opt-in Email Lists Fast Articles can also be used for the purpose of building up an email opt-in list. Actually it is a little known secret that promotional articles can be very good at this. By including your opt-in list information in the resource box, you can attract subscribers from all over the World Wide Web who read your article, and not just the ones that visit your web site. So valuable are opt-in lists in generating online profits and revenues that you can launch an entire campaign with the sole purpose of building up an opt-in email list. This means that the more promotional articles you produce, the quicker your opt-in list will grow. Took from TheSiteMarket