Steve Shaw
The HTML resource box is a wonderful thing–we call it "The Advanced Resource Box" because it goes one step further than the text resource box and allows you to hyperlink specific keywords/keyphrases, rather than just supplying a linked URL.
In the plain text resource box, you can only supply a URL; in the advanced one, you can link specific text to this URL, which can help search engines listings for those keywords/keyphrases.
Using the HTML resource box also presumes that you have researched and selected keywords to use –these would be the keywords of your website which you will also use in your article marketing.
It seems like for many of us, we may have started using the Advanced HTML Resource Box before we were advanced enough to understand why we were using it (This is me too!)
We live and learn though, and doing article marketing is a growing process for everyone.
Try to see if you can spot yourself in any of these 7 common HTML Resource Box slip-ups, and then you can make improvements on the HTML resource box you submit with your next article:
1) Using too many words in your anchor text.
Some of the major article directories restrict the number of words that you can use as anchor text (EzineArticles.com allows Anchor Text Link descriptions to include a maximum of 3 words as the description text.)
What does this mean?
First off, when we say "anchor text" we're referring to the words that you're hyperlinking, for example, in the following resource box the anchor text is "organic gardening tips":
Now, not all article directories have this restriction, but it's something to keep in mind seeing as though at least one of the big article directories will not publish your article if it has more than 3 words used as anchor text.
I think this should be pretty easy for most of us to accommodate if we also correct the other faux pas listed here.
2) Hyperlinking your name or business name.
If you are doing this now or have done it in the past–don't feel bad I have done this too before I understood the reason for using the advanced HTML resource box.
Here's the deal–the reason why using the Advanced HTML resource box is supposed to give extra SEO ooomph to your articles is because it allows you to hyperlink your keywords, and the word on the street is that Google pays special attention to words that are hyperlinked.
By hyperlinking your keywords in your resource box, you're basically saying, "Hey, Google! The content on this page is about "organic gardening tips" (or whatever). Remember this page when someone types a search for those keyword terms!"
When you look at it this way, you can understand why it's not really that effective to hyperlink your name (Is that one of your keywords? Probably not ) or your business name.
3) Not hyperlinking any keywords at all, but just hyperlinking your regular text URL (http://www.yoursite.com).
Yeah, I have done this too when I was just starting out–Doh!
When we just hyperlink our regular URL, the HTML resource box is no different than the text resource box where the URL is highlighted.
(In the text resource box, if you type in your URL it will automatically become an active link when your article is published, but in the HTML resource box, you have to do the whole song and dance of highlighting the anchor text, then specifying which site you want the words to be hyperlinked to.)
So, I would say that if you're just going to by hyperlinking your website URL–why not just use a text resource box?
If you're going to use the HTML resource box, then you should by hyperlinking your keywords.
4) Submitting an HTML resource box with just a hyperlinked word or phrase (and no author bio).
Ugh–this is one I don't enjoy seeing. Whenever I see a resource box that only includes a link I think, "They are just trying to build links and are not really interested in luring anyone back to their website."
I don't like seeing it and neither do many quality publishers, which is why just including a link in your resource box will get your article declined by some publishers. If you only include a link and no bio info, then it makes your article look promotional and self-serving, and that's a big turn-off.
So, please–write out a whole resource box with author bio info and everything (I'll give you some resources at the end of this post in case you need some pointers on how to do that.)
5) Linking to the same site more than once.
This is pretty pointless, and I'm not pointing any fingers because I'm pretty sure I've done this myself at one time .
Here's why you don't want to do that:
For one thing, you have a limited space in your resource box, so you want to focus on convincing the reader to click through to your site. Really, if you have only 450 characters to make your case, why take up some of those characters putting in an extra link to your site?
I know because you think you're building two links instead of just one?
Yes, I know, because I've been there too–let's evolve and stop doing stuff like that! It's pointless, and many publishers will decline an article that links to the same site twice in a resource box since it's an obvious ploy to get more links. Remember, publishers are looking for articles (and resource boxes) that serve your readers–if there's no logical reason for having 2 links to the same site in the resource box, then it looks like you're trying to serve yourself, which publishers don't care for.
The Exception: I think a great way to create an HTML resource box is simply to make a great text resource box. If you use the copy from your text resource box in the HTML resource box area, you can just hyperlink your keywords, and then of course you would also hyperlink your written out URL. So, that would be 2 links, both going to the same site, but one is hyperlinked keywords, and the other is a hyperlinked URL. There is some benefit to having a text URL linked in your resource box rather than just keywords–it can help build reader awareness of what your URL is, so that they might more easily remember it (and share it with others).
6) Too many links in the resource box.
So what about having multiple links going to different sites? For maximum effectiveness, just use a single link.
Did you know that you decrease your chances of getting a click through the more links you include in your resource box? It's true–the more options you create for your reader, the more likely that they will not choose any of them.
Here's what to do–use a single link and focus all of your energy trying to get the reader to click that link.
7) Great text resource box, bad HTLM resource box.
At SubmitYOURArticle.com, members will always include a text resource box, since all the publishers will take a text resource box, but not all publishers accept HTML resource boxes. So, you'll always fill text resource box out, even if you also fill out the HTML resource box.
When we're submitting your articles, if you've provided a HTML resource box and the publisher accepts HTML resource boxes, then we'll submit your HTML resource box. If they do not accept HTML resource boxes, then we submit your text resource box. Each publisher gets one or the other–not both.
Sometimes I'll see folks with a gorgeous text resource box, but then when they get down to the HTML resource box, they skip the author bio and just put in a hyperlinked word or phrase–eek!
I see this often enough, and I'm not sure what the person is thinking–if I had to guess I think they must think that a reader will be seeing both the text resource box and the HTML one when actually they aren't.
Keep this in mind–your HTML resource box has to be as strong as your text resource box. Spend just as much effort crafting it, and know that if someone is seeing your HTML resource box that they are not also seeing your text resource box.
As I said earlier–a great way to make a strong HTML resource box is simply to craft a great text resource box. Use the copy from your text resource box, but hyperlink the keywords, and also hyperlink the written out URL.
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