Articles are immeasurably important in today's websites and internet based companies; they are a huge factor in the overall success and the general attraction of traffic into any site. Well chosen articles can now be a key element of making a site work and earn a profit. Any website operator and owner with good sense will include articles in his or her site that will work for them and earn them the many benefits relevant articles can give to their site.

Articles have been known to be the driving force in getting traffic to a website; they are also a factor in giving sites a high ranking in search result pages. The higher a site ranks the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie it gets; and the bigger the traffic flow, the greater the profits and potential for other income generating schemes.

But, you can't just stuff your site with articles and expect the money to start rolling in; for articles to give their maximum benefit, there are certain requirements which must be met to enable your articles to provide the best results for your site. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be able to recommend your site to others.

The important tips below will help you choose or write articles that will have the effect you desire. Below you will read about four things all articles must have to make them successful, and which are essential if you want them to help make your site attract more traffic and earn more profit.

Keywords and Keyword Phrases.

Keywords and keyword phrases will always be at the heart of a good article. As each website visitor goes to a site, they may be merely browsing but most are actually looking for something specific. If that is the case, they usually go to a search engine and type in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Toyota Camry, Meningitis, Tax Lawyer, Discount Designer Clothes and Etcetera). It could be anything! Everyone wants something different.

The important thing is that you choose articles that have the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, the best articles for you will be cars, their components and parts, and repairs. There are many tools in the internet that provide services to help a webmaster find out what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly entered into search engines. You can use this tool to determine what keywords to use, write about and find articles for.

Keyword Density

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article compared with the total number of words in the article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. A low number may be ignored by the search engines. However, with a very high density, the meaning of the article is lost and it will be difficult to read. Then 2 things will happen: you'll lose a person trying to read the article and thus a potential visitor and the search engines may just see the article as keyword spamming and your ranking will reduce not increase.

Once you have your site's keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to 'feel' its presence. Articles should have at least five to ten percent keyword density in their content for search engines to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank or improving a rank is what the right articles will do best.

Good Article Content

This rule seems obvious, but as some articles have obviously only been written to include particular keywords its worth restating. If your articles are to be successful, they cannot just be riddled with keywords; they must be good reading material as well. Articles with good content are able to entertain people as well as provide valuable information that will meet their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, increase your credibility and thus attract visitors to your site, your work needs to be of high quality – well written and well thought out.

People respond well to facts, figures and statistics. Try to incorporate as much relevant, interesting, up-to-date information as you can in your articles. A good, well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you, they will be able to trust you and your products, then buy them and recommend them to others.

Linking Articles

If you are planning to submit articles to ezines and/or contribute your articles to newsletters and other sites, DON'T ever forget to include a link to your site. It should always be placed just at the end of each article you submit, and is usually in the form of a small 'resource box' that has a brief description of you and your site or at least your name and site name, all hyperlinked to your site.

So one last important thing to remember: your articles will only bring traffic to your site and make your efforts worthwhile if you submit them with a link to your site. If people like your articles, they will then be able to click straight away on that link.