Article marketing has become one of the most talked about strategies for Internet marketing lately. As one of the chief components in the bum marketing, and its newfound popularity is due to two significant characteristics: it’s free, and it works.

Article marketing provides Internet marketers with two important benefits. First, it creates wider exposure for the author and their website. Secondly, it provides valuable inbound links or IBL’s.

As with most bum marketing techniques, article marketing is a numbers game. In order to be effective, it requires ongoing and consistent effort. One article submission may not do much for you, but one article submitted every day for two weeks provides an overall benefit greater than the sum of its parts.

Maximizing your article submission strategy means targeting a single keyword or phrase, one per article. It’s equally important to optimize each article, similar to each page in a website. In fact, each article acts as a one-page mini site.

Optimizing an article for the search engines is very similar to optimizing a webpage. Use your keyword or phrase in the article title, the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and as the anchor text in your link or resource box.

Taking those few simple steps will insure were that you get the maximum return for your effort. While article marketing should be one part of a multipronged approach, it can be extremely effective and extremely inexpensive.