Best Ways to Leverage PLR Articles – Your Own Private Label Rights Web Content
PLR articles are one of the more under-discussed topics in internet marketing for reasons I can’t figure out. I struggle to understand why not more discussion takes place about these because of their versatile application.
PLR articles, or Private Label Rights, are unique articles you can purchase in bulk and do a variety of things with. Only a few buyers will have a copy of these articles, therefore it is limited in its spread or availability.
Before I get into the details of why PLR articles can be a solid addition to your internet marketing arsenal, as well as the various ways you can use them, view this quick 4 minute video where the founder of Easy PLR Nicole Dean explains what PLR articles are in her own words.
These articles are available to anyone looking for content for their websites, blogs and newsletters (many often don’t think of newsletters as an application for PRL articles).
Why would anyone buy these articles? Well let’s see . . .
- To break through from mind blocks when you can’t think of what to write
- To add fresh content to your web properties
- To provide your newsletter readers with something useful
- To save time and brain energy
- To increase productivity
- To save money – in their most optimal package these articles are only $1.00 each on average. You cannot beat that.
- Many other reasons . . .
How Can You Purchase PLR Articles?
Because of the high demand, there are several companies that sell PLR articles. I get mine from Easy PLR because I know, like and trust the Nicole, the company’s owner.
Further, I have repeatedly done business with them and have always been pleased with my experience and the quality of the articles. Articles come in various packs (number of articles). They each come in word doc (.doc) and text (.txt) format.
Rules of Using PLR Articles
There are no rules when using PLR articles you purchase. However, there are search engines who we need to keep in mind when using PLR articles.
When you purchase PLR articles, you own the rights to them immediately – along with a few others as well (it could very well be that only you purchased the set you did but companies often sell the same set to a limited number of buyers).
When you post PLR articles to your website or blog, you don’t have to link back anywhere because you own these articles just as if you wrote them, however, because a small number of others may possess the same version, it is best to modify the content and add your unique twist to it before publishing it online.
There are people that buy PLR articles and post them online as they are. Not that there is anything unethical with this approach, but personally I like to modify the articles to add my own voice to them, as well as avoid any duplicate content penalties imposed by search engines.
My approach to using PLR articles is one of collaboration, where I look to leverage existing content and make it fit my tone, personality and experience. I don’t use PLR articles as filler content just to have something to post online or send in an email newsletter, however, you can and many do.
What Topics Can You Get PLR Articles On?
I have seen them all across the board, but there are certain areas or topics that get more attention than others. I am assuming because PLR companies produce more of what sells. I would too if I was running the business.
I have seen a ton of PLR packages in areas like financial services, general business, abs, weight reduction, self development, time management and technical articles on websites and blogs among others.
If you don’t see articles on a topic you are interested in, all you’ve got to do is email the company. This does not guarantee that you will soon find articles on the topic you are interested in, but there is a chance you will. You don’t know until you ask.
Where and When to Use PLR Content and For What
The good thing about most PLR content is that it is evergreen in that it will hold true and fresh yesterday, today and tomorrow, which means you have a broad application for these articles. Not only that, you don’t have to worry about updating the content once you use it.
This is where and how I suggest PLR content should be used:
Niche Site – found some profitable keywords from conducting your keyword research and want to establish a niche site? PLR articles can be the quick solution. I have taken this approach before (see below). Larger, authority sites are a different story.
Article Marketing – this one is a gimme isn’t it? Purchase them, tweak them and submit them.
Social Media Marketing – often not thought off immediately, you can use parts off, or the entire PLR article and post on your Facebook account. You can chop off an article into a multi-part series as well.
Email Newsletter – using PLR content in newsletters don’t even require you to modify the content. Newsletters go straight in your reader’s inbox and are not seen by search engines.
Blog Post – there are many bloggers who rapid blog for the sake of creating content. PLR content can be a quick way to boost content, or provide for filler articles (not an approach I take or recommend but there are many who do this).
Thought Starter – you don’t even have to use the PLR content. Simply refer to it to get your brain juice flowing for a particular topic.
Ebook / Free Report Giveaway – this one is also a gimme in my opinion, and one where you don’t need to modify the PLR articles. Simply compile them in a free report and wala you have something to give out to your readers for free and build rapport. Of course I am not advocating you do this without ensuring you add your own touch and see to it that the freebie delivers solid value.
Concluding Thoughts on PLR Articles
I have several websites that I generate passive income from. Of those, 8 are sites that I did not write the content for. They are a combination of ghostwriting (I hired freelancers) as well as use of PLR content that I modified before posting. All 8 are profitable, with 6 of them still on page 1 of Google (in spite of the drop some of my other sites have experienced due to algorithm updates) for their respective keywords.
I am currently focusing on other initiatives such as my iPhone applications, a couple new ebooks and the local SEO firm that I started, which is actually doing very well (we have secured a couple out of state clients and a few relatively good size local clients).
If I ever shift focus back to niche site creation, or to update some of my existing sites, I will certainly consider using modified PLR articles and share my experiences with you on this blog. In fact I’ve been wanting to create a site just with PLR content and do a case study.
I’ve always been curious about whether a site can do well with just PLR content as its foundation. It appears however that this would be a difficult task given how search engines have evolved but we don’t know that for a fact until we try. Too many interesting projects to do but very little time nonetheless.
If you are interested in trying out PLR articles, you can check out Nicole Dean and her Easy PLR company here
Note: I have been using PLR articles for various marketing initiatives and am an affiliate of Nicole’s Easy PLR company. I’d be happy to answer any questions if you are contemplating a purchase.
Were you aware of PLR articles before reading this post? What do you think about them? Would you consider using them? For what? What are your reservations? If you are already using PLR articles, please share how and your overall experience with them?
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26 Responses to “Best Ways to Leverage PLR Articles – Your Own Private Label Rights Web Content”
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Very true Sunil not a lot is ever written up on PLR articles and they are so useful. The problem is that there are a lot of lazy people out there who just buy them and throw them up. You need to use them as a source of new posts or change them up enough so that no one else has the same info that you provide. Too often people will buy them and post them and now you have 20-50 with the exact same content. I have used them both as the lazy person and just purchased and place on my site. Didn’t work out too well. When I bought them rewrote them and added them to Web 2.0 sites and newsletters that pointed back to my site they worked great.
they can be very useful if used the right way, i.e. as thought starters like you said. lots of other value in them as well
I’ve never bought any before but I have known about them for some time.
It seems like a lot of hassle to re-write someone else’s content when it might be quicker to write your own article.
I would always be worried I hadn’t changed enough of it for it to be unique enough for the search engines etc.
I heard about PLR videos the other day for the first time and this seems more interesting to me as how can YouTube tell if videos are unique or not?
if you know your topic very well it may be easy to just write freely, but it just depends on your objective. as the article demonstrates there are several uses for PLR, not just content on your blog or site. it’s a matter of time before engines “read” into audio and video as well and scan for duplicate content. while they may work now, I’d be cautious with my approach
I’ve never used PLR articles, and had never even heard of them until Pat Flynn did a podcast on them (I think he might’ve even interviewed Nicole Dean on there).
I definitely am going to look into them though. I don’t think I’d use them on my own site except for very specific informative purposes – after all, facts are facts no matter who writes them, right? 😉
But I think they’d be PERFECT for article marketing purposes, which is great, because I never do enough of that cause I’d rather be spending my time working on my site writing my own articles.
How much would you have to customize them for high-quality article marketing like ezinearticles or goarticles?
from personal experience I keep duplicate content to less than 15% when engaged in article marketing. I don’t know if there is a rule per se that has come straight from Google
Good info – thanks! I’ve read about these briefly before but I’m glad you included a list of possible uses; I think that I’ll be more inclined to check this out and eventually use PLR articles for niche sites and ideas. Thanks again for the info.
I’d be interested in learning more about your experience after using them
I had heard about PLR but I had forgotten about it, and your correct in that there doesn’t seem to be alot of discussion about it. I am glad that you brought it up again, I hope to see more posts about PLR
Randy, what specifically about PLR would you like to read more about?
I quite agree with you Sunil that PLR is good especially when we experience mind blocks. Most people always advise against using PLR though.
I have some of it that i bought when i was starting out, i think i have to start putting them to use.
Thanks for sharing Sunil and do have a great week.
I think we need to really look at the reasons why many people don’t advise using it. there are many valid reasons and methods where PLR is not the right answer
I do not use PLR content and have never really seen the benefit in it.
The duplicate content penalty as you mention means you cant use these without re-writing them.
So if you are going to change the article why not just go to ezine articles or somewhere else and get a free article for inspiration?
Maybe I am missing something but I have never seen a real benefit in using PLR articles.
one example is using it as newsletter content. I have one site where I happened to find PLR content that is not only extremely relevant but also authored very nicely. I felt I left with value after reading it. but yes, using it as your main site content is a different ball game.
Hi Sunil,
Impressive article and useful for many. The video was good enough to understand the concept of PLR. Thanks a lot for sharing this and giving us great inputs for future reference.
most welcome Sanjib
Thank you for the insightful article on private label rights (PLR) content.
An advantage of PLR is the cost. Most times a PLR article in a PLR content pack could be less than a $1.
Writing the content yourself or hiring a freelance writer has the benefit of generating / getting unique content. The cost per article, however, could be higher. Time is also another element that could affect your content plan.
So, which route to take? Buy a PLR article pack or DIY / hire a freelance writer? It depends on your needs. For your blogs/sites, unique content can be the right avenue; for other applications quality PLR could be a cost- and time-effective strategy.
In addition to e-books, e-mail marketing and newsletters, PLR products can be also be turned into podcasts.
The plr articles can also be used as video scripts for on-screen text and or background voice narration.
Some buyers of PLR content also use it as a resource for developing e-courses.
your alternatives are great considerations and can be good use of PLR. I agree that for one’s main website, unique content must be priority
Hi Sunil,
I’ve heard a lot of information on the web that these PLR articles are not good stuff. Have you used this system and is it really worth it? Does this suite every type of blogger? Appreciate your expert opinion.
I don’t use it as main content but in some of the many alternative ways I discussed in the article. I am happy with the value they provide, especially for the associated cost. also see Sid’s comment as he provides more alternative uses.
PLR is the secret weapon of many highly successful “guru” internet marketers. With so many other aspects of online business to tend to, using PLR can quickly and easily help draw traffic to a website provided it is high quality written work. Unfortunate much of it is not. With Google’s Panda algorithm release and it’s newest link disavow tool, the future of website success is going to hang on professional grade content more than link building (that’s the word from Problogger, Market Samurai, and SEO BrainTrust, not me) Not all website owners are authorities in their niche, nor do they enjoy writing. Finding quality PLR, written by experts in their field, to fill in the gaps will be a goldmine. Think of it as condensed, concise, source material.
Susan, I agree that PLR is not for authority type websites – you need intense knowledge and passion for that. for smaller, niche type sites, I agree that PLR can supplement a site owner’s marketing efforts. finding quality authorship I would say is a hit or miss with PLR in my experience. while some are great authors, the breadth and depth of subject matter expertise is simply not there. one may have to resort to professionals for that who charge a lot more for their articles.
Very interesting–I have never heard of these before. I enjoy creating the content; however, I only own one website! It is definitely more profitable to have several, and then coming up with original content for all of them would definitely be a challenge.
especially today with the direction the search engines are compelling us to head in
Interesting post. You raise some interesting points and I agree with you on that the concept of PLR content should be discussed more. However, there’s a few things I don’t really agree with… perhaps I’m misunderstanding the point made.
You mentioned that “only a few buyers will have a copy of these articles, therefore it’s limited in it’s spread or availability.”
However, this may not necessarily be the case. If you buy limited edition PLR content (also referred to as limited quantity PLR content, limited distribution PLR content and limited supply PLR content), then yes, only a limited amount of people have the same PLR content as you.
In other words, the PLR content provider decided to limit the amount of sales to that PLR. However, if the quantity is not limited, then (assuming it’s popular PLR content) it’s possible that a lot of people could end up having the same PLR content.
You also mentioned that “There are no rules when using PLR Article you purchase” But, there are rules… and those rules are decided by the PLR content provider.
The rules are set out in the PLR license that accompanies the PLR content or are specified on the PLR content provider’s website. The PLR license tells you what you can and can’t do with the PLR content you bought from that specific PLR content provider.
Thanks for the informative post.
John – appreciate the added value. the point on limited use is true. the company I use has this inherent, or at least used to. I have not checked whether this has changed, but even if it has, a buyer has the option to pursue either kind, the limited at a premium of course. as far as rules, what I mean is that one is free to use these articles in a variety of ways (i.e. as content, newsletters, forum postings, etc). do you have a specific example of a rule you are referring to?