I don't have to prove that CPA sites are becoming terribly hard to promote nowadays. Some practices have seen some significant success by exploiting a technique called article distribution. Unfortunately, a lot of these businesses are using it fallaciously and this is giving the approach a bad reputation.

You've likely encountered a lot of references to "keywords" and "article marketing". You've probably also run into some of the horrendous – and clearly keyword driven – articles online that may have put you off keyword use altogether. We don't blame you for not wanting to emulate this type of strategy. Stuffing a badly written article full of keywords is probably the very worst tactic a business can do to build up a decent online reputation.

The following two scenarios will show what search engines and customers alike think of a keyword stuffed – and then a well written – paragraph. The keyword – or rather, the phrase – in this instance is "Philadelphia CPA."

A Spammy Article

A typical keyword stuffed article might look something like this...

"Looking for a Philadelphia CPA? Our Philadelphia CPA can help you at our PhillyAccountants.com website, an outstanding Philadelphia CPA. Your Philadelphia CPA problems are easy for our high quality Philadelphia CPA experts. We have many Philadelphia CPA locations in Philadelphia to meet your Philadelphia CPA needs. You don't need to go any farther than PhillyAccounting.com to satisfy your Philadelphia CPA needs.

No website with a human moderator will EVER publish this article. It's spam, pure and simple. Back in the days of yore, like a couple years ago, this type of schwag actually worked. Not any more. Search engines can identify this kind of spam and ignores it.

What Search Engines "think:"

"OK, the keyword density here is WAY to high. This is suspicious, so we'll take a few points off. The article also does not seem to be written for a reader, so that's another few points lost."

And what about actual traffic? What will a real person think if they come across this "article"?

"Uggh, I hate spammers. This is just useless. Why should I click on any of the links to this CPA website if the article is just geared toward search engine rankings? I don't consider this company professional and I am likely to use a different business for my accounting needs."

A Proper Article

"If you are a company looking for a Philadelphia CPA, it's best to be discerning and look around for the firm that'll be most likely to fit your business needs. It's not as hard as you think to find a good practice. Just follow a few basic guidelines...

• A good CPA won't be afraid to provide real evidence of their skills, such as testimonials, figures and other useful information.

• Experienced firms won't have trouble with estimates. Find a CPA that's willing to let you know how much services will cost up front.

• Putting off your CPA can be an expensive mistake so find someone you like. Trust your instincts. If you feel like an accountant is hiding something move on even if you don't know exactly why."

What Search Engines "think:"

"This article is clearly written for a real person to read and includes bullet points and proper information about a real topic. It looks relevant to the keywords in it. Let's give this article full credit."

More importantly, lets look at what an actual person might think if they come across this article...

"This company obviously cares enough about their customers that they're willing to provide me with decent information and a good read. That's awesome. They're real professionals who may just be worthy of my respect. Maybe I should click on their link and learn more."

It's important when article marketing to write quality content that adds actual value to the publishers' websites. The rule is simple. When you compose an article always write it with the assumption that genuine people will read it. It won't have to be a masterwork, it just has to be acceptably informative. This will make publishers happy and add a first-rate article to their site, attract traffic who read it, and help your rank in the search listings.