Owning a website is easy-with many web host providers, free website creators are included in the monthly or yearly cost. Owning a successful website is a whole other story. You can build a website, but that doesn't mean that readers will discover your site. Traffic rankings are the best way to ensure internet users are accessing your site.

There are many ways to increase your traffic ranking.

1. Establish links between your website and similar websites that have high rankings.
2. Visit related websites or blogs and leave a comment with your internet address included.
3. Optimize your website with effective keywords.
4. Make sure your website is listed with the major search engines (Alexa, Ask.com, Google, Live Search, Yahoo, etc.)
5. Market your website with articles that are posted online.

Writing and marketing with articles may be a new concept to you. The goal is to create an engaging, informative article relating to your website that is then posted online in as many locations as possible. The article links back to your website drawing reader's interest. Readers find the article, become interested in your ideas, and access your website via the article links. This is an extremely effective way to market your site, providing you follow a few steps.

First, your articles must always be enjoyable. If you bore your readers, they will abandon the article and never give your work a second glance. In essence, you must relate to your target market. Avoid generic writing packed with facts and little personable material. Articles should be full of stories to which many can relate. Getting your reader to empathize--"Hey, I know exactly what you are talking about!"--is the key to success.

Articles must contain excellent grammar and no misspelled words. Everyone makes mistakes, but if you are touting yourself as an expert and your article is packed with spelling errors, you will lose impact. Have a friend or family member check articles for errors. In addition, many freelancers offer inexpensive editing services. It might cost you a few dollars, but having a clean, error-free article will be extremely worthwhile in the long run.

At the end of your article, place a brief bio about yourself and/or your website. Include contact information and a link to the web page. Always check that links work. One misplaced symbol or a typo can turn a website link into a useless entity. If readers cannot get a website to work when clicking on it, very few will stop and verify that the link was written correctly.

Writing clear, catchy articles will increase your web traffic. Think of a well-written article as a business advertisement. Your website will be promoted, readers will flock to your site seeking more information, and best of all you can get these articles out on the world wide web for free! It's comparable to taking out an ad in the newspaper, but you don't have to pay a cent!

If you want to learn how you can write your own articles for business profit and exposure, visit http://www.articlewritingpack.com for easy, step-by-step guidance that will have you writing, and earning, like a pro!

A common mistake made by many inexperienced copywriters is to focus too much on a product's features and not enough on the benefits it provides. While features are important and should be mentioned, if you want consumers to take out their wallets and hand over their hard-earned money you need to convince them of the benefits your product offers.

What's the difference?

A feature is simply a characteristic of a product.

A benefit explains what the customer has to gain by using the product.

Anyone can make a list of a product's features. But it takes a bit of work to convert each of those features into benefits.

A handy trick you can use is to add the phrase "which means..." to the end of each feature.

A feature of a razor blade for women could be that it has 3 blades. That in itself is unlikely to win many sales because it means nothing to most people. But add the phrase "which means you'll have smooth and sexy legs" and women will know exactly what they will gain when they buy it.

Let's look at a few more examples of benefits vs features:

A Car

Feature - All wheel drive.

Benefit - You are less likely to get stuck in the snow.

Feature - Gets more miles per gallon than competitors.

Benefit - You'll save money on gas.

Feature - Side-impact airbags.

Benefit - Your family will be safe in an accident.

A DVD Recorder

Feature - Time shift recording lets you pause live TV.

Benefit - You will never miss a second of your favorite show.

A Pair of Boots

Feature - Waterproof.

Benefit - Your feet stay warm and dry.

Not long ago I was stopped at a red light, and as I looked at the van in front of me I saw the perfect example of focusing on benefits over features. The van belonged to a small handyman business that does small jobs in several neighboring towns.

On the back of the van was a simple drawing of a man carrying a small child on his shoulders. Underneath it read, "We'll take care of the little problems, so you have time for more important things."

As a parent who struggles to find every minute I can with my family, that simple bit of copy struck a nerve.

Rather than listing the various types of projects they specialize in (which I would never bother reading), they tapped into a common problem (finding time for the family) and offered a solution.

Sure, I could power wash my house, clean my yard, and paint my garage myself. But if I hire these guys to do it I can spend more time with my kids.

Brilliant!

Remember, always focus on benefits. Show customers how your product solves their problems or makes their lives better and they'll line up to buy from you.

A swipe file is a collection of ads, headlines, sales letters, and other marketing materials. Every successful copywriter has a swipe file that they use for inspiration when they're hit with a case of writer's block. If you're an aspiring copywriter yourself, you should start building your own swipe file too.

You can then use it as a study guide to learn more about the craft and as inspiration when you're stuck. But let me make it clear that you should NEVER just copy someone else's work. You can borrow ideas and learn from the structure and voices used by other copywriters. But copying an ad word for word is just stealing.

What should I include in my swipe file?

Start with your mail. Look at the sales letters, flyers, and postcards you receive every day. When something catches your interest and makes you reach for your wallet or your checkbook, put it aside. The same goes for advertisements from newspapers and magazines.

But how do you know if an ad is good at selling? A good rule of thumb is that if you see an ad repeated again and again, it's probably a good seller. All ads are tested to determine which ones sell and which do not. They're constantly tweaked and adjusted, and unprofitable ads are eliminated. So if you find an ad that has been running for some time, it's a good bet that it has already been tested and proven to be a winner.

How you store your swipe file is up to you. I like to laminate the ads and place them in a binder where they are safe and easy to pull out when needed.

Don't forget about ads and sales letters you read online. There are many excellent examples of copywriting available only online.

You can keep these organized and easy to find by saving them to a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us.

Simply go to http://http://del.icio.us and create a free account. You can then save web pages to your favorites, and access them from anywhere.

It's a good idea to print these out and add them to your binder as well. If not you'll lose them all if the website ever goes down.