Online PR in the form of website and ezine article placement can be a great way to build your personal brand. You showcase your expertise in the article and raise your status. You get an author's box at the end of the article containing a bio, as well as email and website contact information. Readers may click-through on your URL to learn more about you. More links improve your search engine rankings. The benefits go on.

Here are my top 7 tips for online articles:

* develop an enticing title

* make the article informative and useful, and without hype or jargon

* keep it focused on a relatively narrow topic

* keep the length under 1,250 words

* proofread to ensure there are no typos, punctuation or grammar errors

* end with an author's box of less than six lines, complete with short bio, email address, web URL and telephone number

* develop a list of article archives and ezines that publish features on your area of expertise.

Some archives you'll want to review are Articles 911 and Ezine Articles. A number of online directories provide lists of ezines in your topic. Check out EzineLocater and Ezine Search.

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX and Verbatim.