SEO For The Common Webmaster

One of the ways that many webmasters build their sites back links is through submission of articles to article directories. This is said to help build links when someone uses the article on their own site.

I am not a big fan of this way of building links. However, many are very successful at this. The basic concept is that you write an article and include links back to your site in the source box. When someone uses your article on their website or blog, they are required to keep the source box which includes your author information and links.

If you decide this is a method you wish to try, there are some rules. Most articles should be in the range of 500 words or more. Most directories have a set range that you must abide by. The article should be of very good quality. This means that you should be able to write good articles or hire a professional writer to do it for you. Cost for such an article would range from $.01-$.05 a word. Do not submit junk because no one will use the article and your reputation is on the line by being on the source box.

Write about a topic that is related to the topic of your website. When people place the article on their site with your links, you want links to sites that are going to interest that audience. For example, you would not write an article abut new video games if your site is about elder care. You want to target the people who are most likely to visit your site.

Here are my problems with marketing through submitting articles. First, I always want my best articles on my own site for the enjoyment of my readers. Second, many articles are used without including the links back to the original owner. There is no real enforcement of requiring the use of the author’s links. The user of the article could face copyright problems in the form of their host suspending their account but this does not always happen and your article could be floating all over with no credit to you.

My final problem with this form of marketing is that many of these articles are simply stolen by slight rewriting of the article. There are people who rewrite articles for a living and resell the article as their own or are hired in the first place to rewrite an article. I take too much pride in my work to have it stolen by others with no credit to me.

That is my opinion; many others are very successful at this form of link building. One could generate a bunch of traffic if the article is well written and a topic of mass interest. If you do not share my concerns or you hire someone to write the article, this could be a great way to market your website and build both back links and traffic for your site.

I will be working on compiling a list of article directories that are free to submit to and post the list here on SEO for the Common Man.

Please feel free to share your opinion about article marketing by leaving a comment.

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