Using Creative Commons in Conjunction With Article Marketing

By Jason Bacot

"Creative Commons" is a relatively new search concept that many of the major search engines are utilizing lately. Yahoo, Google, and Firefox have launched Beta versions of the "Creative Commons" search feature and they have been steadily increasing in popularity recently. The goal of this feature is to locate content posted on the Internet that carries a "Creative Commons" type of license. Content carrying this license can be shared with others and is of great benefit to article marketers all over the world because it greatly increases their exposure.

Exposure is very important to article writers because without it, their visibility is very limited. Articles given a "Creative Commons" license can be published on many different websites, thereby greatly increasing the writer's exposure. In addition, submitting these articles to the major search engines that are using the "Creative Commons" search feature will get the articles distributed to a huge number of people.

There are a few things you must do, however, in order to submit your articles to the search engines carrying the "Creative Commons" search features. First, you must decide upon the type of license you need by going to the creative commons website and studying the different types.

Next, you will need to decide if you would like to permit your articles to be used commercially, as well as if you would want to let your articles be modified in any way by the sites using them. You will be asked to make these decisions before proceeding so think about this beforehand and be prepared. Once you do this, you will need to select your license.

After these first two steps are completed, you will be directed to a page that will instruct you to cut and then copy some text displayed there. You will be able to paste this copied text onto your own website. The copied text will state that your articles now have a "Creative Commons" type of license.

Before making the decisions in the second step, you need to think carefully. It really makes no sense to allow others to modify your articles. Modification could render them confusing and less valuable. If you have worked hard to make your article persuasive and magnetic, you don't want someone coming along that will cut out or change part of it. This could change it in such a way that would render it useless. If you are trying to build your reputation so that you can increase your customer base, you should not allow anyone to modify your work. Doing so could really bring harm to what you are trying to do. Keep in mind, too, that "Creative Commons" licenses cannot be revoked. Once you make the decision regarding type and preferences, you won't be able to change it.

Once your decisions are made and you have the license displayed on your website, the "Creative Commons" search engines should start picking it up within two to three weeks. Make sure you place some well-thought-out back-links in various places on the web. These measures will cause many links to be created that will point directly to your website. You should really take advantage of the exposure the "Creative Commons" license will provide for you if you want your business to experience significant growth.

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