Content marketing is a popular place for online marketers to begin their career. Offering a low-cost alternative to expensive pay-per-click advertisements and SEO services, it is certainly one of the most viable and opportunity-filled avenues for new online marketers to take.

Despite these advantages, content marketing still manages to have its detractors. From people that simply do not have the time to put into content marketing to ultra-experienced marketers that have found more lucrative marketing methods, content marketing occasionally attracts negative comments and criticisms.

It is time to wipe those criticisms clean. Content marketing is the most effective marketing method for beginners. If you need conclusive proof that content marketing is the best way to start as an online marketer, check out these five reasons, then get out there, get writing, and get busy building your content-based websites.

1. It is 100% free.
Very few marketing methods can beat content when it comes to sheer cost effectiveness. Sure, SEO is inexpensive, but it takes months or even years for websites to rank within an ultra-competitive keyword. With the right article and an authoritative content directory, you can have your content ranking within a couple of days. Five days vs. a year? It is not a very hard choice to make.

2. Writing is fun, especially if you love your niche.
One major advantage that content marketing has over other marketing methods is that, simply put, it is more interesting. Writing is a learning journey — with every article that is written, you accrue more knowledge and understanding of your niche. For beginners, there is nothing better than marketing your products, gaining valuable SEO article marketing tools, and taking in knowledge at the same time.

3. With enough optimization, it is highly effective.
Article marketing can be one of the most effective marketing forms around if you give it your all. Ultra-detailed articles can lead to instant sales, and with hundreds of articles indexed at once, that could make you a mighty successful marketer. Beyond the fun and inexpensive qualities of content marketing rests a very effective platform for marketing products and services.

4. Long-term free marketing? Sure is.
When you write and submit an article to a major directory, it is going to be there for a long time. In fact, with the incredible online archiving tools around today, chances are quite good that your article will be there forever. Before you think of article marketing as a beginner marketing method, keep in mind that it has some of the best long-term potential of any online marketing strategy.

5. It is ultra-low maintenance.
Set it and forget it. Once you have written and submitted your articles, there really isn’t much more to do but sit back and watch the traffic come in. Of course, if you are the type of marketer that has built a network of articles, you will no doubt be working even more while the traffic comes in. Either way, articles require absolutely no maintenance to continue bringing in traffic, which certainly places them above PPC advertising and active SEO when it comes to traffic simplicity.

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