Article Marketing Basics: What Are PLR Articles?

When I first realized that articles were going to be the primary source of traffic generation for my business, I wondered how I could produce more articles in a shorter amount of time. More articles = More traffic right? The whole "outsourcing" trend wasn't hot then, but there was a lot of buzz around the web about PLR articles.

PLR is an acronym for private label rights. What that basically means is that someone else writes the articles and then sells you the rights to those articles. You can reprint the articles with your own byline. You can edit and make revisions to the articles, to make them your own. Basically, you can do anything you want to a private label article once you have paid for it.

Now I was not an easy convert when it came to using this type of content. I think the main reason why was because I am a writer by nature. I love to write and have been writing to make a living for many years. So I really didn't want to use someone else's content and pass it off as my own. But that it isn't the case for many article marketers. Some find it extremely difficult to produce article after article and are looking for that "magic solution" which looks something like publishing more articles without having to do any of the work.

But the great thing about article marketing is that you do not have to be a great or even a good writer to make it work for you. There are so many short-cuts that you can use to produce your articles quicker, so let's take a closer look and see if using PLR articles should be one of those short-cut solutions.

Pros The obvious pro to using PLR content is that someone else is doing the majority of the work -- writing the articles. You can find articles that are specific to your niche and you can even join PLR clubs where you can regularly obtain new articles in your niche on a monthly basis.

Cons The problem with some PLR articles is that they are often sold to many, many people. People who rarely tweak the articles to make them their own. So what you will find on the web, is a LOT of duplicate articles. And the bigger problem with this is if the article that your site is on is not "important" in the search engine's eyes - your article will fall into the content filter trap and never see the light of day in the search engine results.

Solution? Use At Your Own Risk.

1. Choose where you buy your private label articles carefully. Look for exclusive PLR membership sites by reputable marketers.

2. Do not use free PLR articles. Hundreds if not thousands of people have them. You are sure to fall under a duplicate content filter if you try to publish them.

3. Also, make sure that you tweak the articles to make them your own. Do not use them in the format that they were sent to you. You wouldn't want a competitor to have the same articles out there as you do.

4. Try not to use ONLY private label articles - but publish them sparingly along with your own articles.

5. Read the guidelines for article directories before you submit your PLR article. Many will not accept PLR content because no article directory wants to host duplicate content on their sites. For example, you cannot submit PLR articles to major article directory EzineArticles.

Would you like to read more powerful article marketing strategies like this? Then I would like to invite you to get your complimentary copy of my Article Marketing Success Kit.

Learn how to write, publish, promote and profit from your articles while easily positioning yourself as an authority in your niche! It's easy with me as your article marketing coach:)