If you’re going to use article marketing as part of your Internet marketing efforts, you’ll want to get the most out of your work.

Simply mixing up a few words and pasting them into a directory is not going to be the most productive use of your time. Instead, you should plan your strategy to include these three very important article marketing tips to maximize the return on your hard work.

#1 – Write well

You don’t have to have a Pulitzer Prize to write a good article. You have to be attractive because no one will read all the text if you put them to sleep. Let your personality shine through and write as if you were writing to a friend.

Always check and use your spell checker. If you’re not that good at grammar, see if you can ask a friend to proofread them for you.

Unfortunately, if your article is riddled with errors, many people will see it as a sign of carelessness and assume that’s probably the case with whatever product you’re promoting.

#2 – Target a specific keyword

If you do your research first and find a keyword or keyword phrase that is frequently searched for but doesn’t have a lot of competition, your article has a good chance of being seen at the top of the SERPs.

Now you will not only get directory traffic, but also organic traffic directly from search engines. That’s a real power boost for your efforts.

#3 – Reuse every piece of content

Too many people put up a great article in directories and think that’s it. Never limit yourself to using content just once. After all the care and work that went into it, you should get the most out of that work.

You can start at least by sending it to other directories, but you can also do more with it. Create a Squidoo lens, use it in an email campaign, or even incorporate the piece into a larger product like a report.