Did you realize that writing and publishing articles online represents one of the best-kept website traffic secrets?

It's true! In fact, if you learn some basic principles, you can drive thousands of visitors to your website without spending any money on advertising. Publishing articles not only establishes you as an expert in your chosen field, but also allows you to fly under the natural "radar defenses" your prospects have against advertising.

But, beware! My experience as a syndicated newspaper columnist has shown me that people who would otherwise succeed massively promoting with articles actually fail because they consistently make one or more of these five critical mistakes!

Mistake #1 - NOT Defining Your Target Audience

Many article authors make the serious mistake of not clearly defining a niche audience before writing their article. Successful article authors always know the exact "niche" audience they want to reach before they write the first word.

When targeting your audience, remember this rule: Narrow and Deep! Always pick an audience with a specific, pressing, or major interest in a narrow topic!

Mistake #2 - Spamming Ezine Editors

In their desire to cover as much ground as possible, many article authors resort to spam techniques for submitting their articles. Instead of tightly targeting appropriate ezines that cater specifically to their audience, these authors try to hit "everyone."

By trying to save time, they actually waste every minute spent writing their article because most ezine editors will just delete their submissions as spam!

Mistake #3 - Milktoast Topics

You can write the best article in the world, but if your headline doesn't grab a reader's eyeballs and pull them into your article - you lose!

Article authors should spend at least half as much time writing the headline as they spend writing their actual article.

In fact, an "average" article can get superior results simply from having a great headline at the beginning.

Mistake #4 - "What's In It For Me"

If they manage to make it past the first 3 pitfalls, many article authors trip on their shoelaces at this stage of the process! Don't write about what you want to write about, only write on topics of high interest to your target audience.

In other words, give them exactly what they want and they will love you. Nobody cares how much of an expert you rate on a particular topic until they know you can deliver information they need in a way they can use - now!

Mistake #5 - "No Shoe Polish"

You could write an article worthy of the front page of the Wall Street Journal, but as soon as somebody spots a typo or misspelling, they immediately put your article lower than a Sunday sales circular.

Seriously, if you want to undermine all the good you can do with a great article, send it out without proper spell- checking!

No matter what product or service you sell, once you understand the promotion power of free articles, you'll never look at website traffic generation the same way.

But remember, if you abuse the power, spam ezine editors, or blatantly pitch people instead of providing real information, you might as well skip the whole process altogether.

Resource Box Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-\ author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic,"\ that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly \ drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or\ affiliate link! Visitr: http://www.ebookfire.com/ezwords/