Article directories are websites that accept and publish articles from the public. Submitting articles to these directories comes with a lot of advantages. You can use them as sources of traffic and back links to your site. In this article we're going to look into 7 things you should consider or do before submitting your article to an article directory.
1. Make good use of the resource box
Articles submitted to article directories usually have a resource box that comes at the end of the article. The resource box is where the writer can promote his/her business and put links to his website. The number of words permitted in the resource box is usually limited so you have to make good use of it.
Always use your resource box to make a strong call to action. The most effective call to action is offering of free report, free ebook or any free stuff. The free stuff you offer must be related to the theme of the article. For example if you write an article on how to make money online with affiliate marketing, you can offer your reader a free affiliate marketing training ebook if they visit your site and sign up.
How well you make use of the resource box is what determines whether readers will click through to your website or not.
2. Number of links in the resource box
Most article directories do not usually allow links in the body of the article. Where they'll normally let you place your links is in the resource box (also called the signature box). The body of the article is your give while the resource box is your take. Some will allow you to put up to 3 links in this place while others will allow only two. Also, most of the article directory won't allow you to link to a particular page more than once (i.e. duplicate links are not allowed). Ignoring any of these rules can lead to rejection of your article.
3. Editorial Guideline
This is probably the first page to read when you visit an article directory. It contains all the guidelines you need to follow before submitting an article.
If you don't want your articles to be rejected or your account terminated, make sure that you read and understand the editorial guideline of all the article directory you register with. The editorial guideline contains information that range from the type of topics that won't be accepted, the number of links allowed in the resource box and many other important information.
4. Can you post your article to other websites?
Most article directories will allow you to republish your articles on other sites. This is called content syndication and there is nothing wrong with it. However, you just have to make sure that you are the sole copyright owner of the article and it contains no plagiarized content.
5. Page Rank
This is an important factor you must consider as you submit your articles to article directories. Page rank is a way Google use to measure the quality of a website and the value range from 1 to 10. The higher the value of a site's page rank, the higher the quality of the site. In order to award page rank to different websites Google use various criteria like the number and page rank of the websites linking to the website in question. So the page rank of a website is determined by the number of sites linking to it and the page rank of those site.
To improve the effectiveness of your article marketing campaign, always submit your articles to directories that have high page rank of about 3 and above.
6. Dofollow vs nofollow links
First, let me explain what is nofollow links and what is dofollow links. Nofollow links are links that have the nofollow attribute embedded in the html code of the link. That is, the link code contains something like this: rel="nofollow" or rel="external nofollow". When search engines like Google come across such links, they won't recognize it as giving any link juice, meaning that the site that link is pointing to won't get any page rank value from the link. On the other hand dofollow links are just the opposite of nofollow links. They are just normal links without the nofollow attribute and Google consider them as adding value to the site they're pointing to.
From the explanation so far, you'll see that it is better to submit your articles to directories that give you dofollow links. This is because writing articles isn't that easy, so you have to make sure that you gain maximum benefit from every article you write.
Most article directories will offer you dofollow links in the resource box. Only a few article directories like articlebase will offer nofollow backlinks in the resource box. Articlebase will offer you 3 nofollow links in the article body and 3 nofollow links in the resource box.
7. Alexa Rating
The Alexa rating is a popular way of estimating how much traffic a website is getting. A low Alexa rating for a website indicates high traffic and vice versa. So in your article marketing campaign you may decide to submit your articles to high traffic directories so as to stand a chance of getting some visitors to your site. To check the alexa rating of any site, go to alexa.com and type in the URL of the site.
Below are examples of high page ranked article directories:
1. Brighthub PR6
2. Selfseo.com PR5
3. Ideamarketers PR5
4. Sooperarticles PR5
5. Articlecity PR5
6. Articletrader PR5
7. Articleblast PR5
8. Articleslash.net Pr5
9. Evancarmichael PR5
10. Isnare PR5
11. Articledashboard PR5
12. Infobarrel PR4
13. Pubarticles PR4
14. Ezinemark PR4
15. Thisisfreelance PR3
16. Goarticles PR3
After evaluating all the points mentioned above, you'll be able to know the best directories to submit your article to for maximum traffic.
1. Make good use of the resource box
Articles submitted to article directories usually have a resource box that comes at the end of the article. The resource box is where the writer can promote his/her business and put links to his website. The number of words permitted in the resource box is usually limited so you have to make good use of it.
Always use your resource box to make a strong call to action. The most effective call to action is offering of free report, free ebook or any free stuff. The free stuff you offer must be related to the theme of the article. For example if you write an article on how to make money online with affiliate marketing, you can offer your reader a free affiliate marketing training ebook if they visit your site and sign up.
How well you make use of the resource box is what determines whether readers will click through to your website or not.
2. Number of links in the resource box
Most article directories do not usually allow links in the body of the article. Where they'll normally let you place your links is in the resource box (also called the signature box). The body of the article is your give while the resource box is your take. Some will allow you to put up to 3 links in this place while others will allow only two. Also, most of the article directory won't allow you to link to a particular page more than once (i.e. duplicate links are not allowed). Ignoring any of these rules can lead to rejection of your article.
3. Editorial Guideline
This is probably the first page to read when you visit an article directory. It contains all the guidelines you need to follow before submitting an article.
If you don't want your articles to be rejected or your account terminated, make sure that you read and understand the editorial guideline of all the article directory you register with. The editorial guideline contains information that range from the type of topics that won't be accepted, the number of links allowed in the resource box and many other important information.
4. Can you post your article to other websites?
Most article directories will allow you to republish your articles on other sites. This is called content syndication and there is nothing wrong with it. However, you just have to make sure that you are the sole copyright owner of the article and it contains no plagiarized content.
5. Page Rank
This is an important factor you must consider as you submit your articles to article directories. Page rank is a way Google use to measure the quality of a website and the value range from 1 to 10. The higher the value of a site's page rank, the higher the quality of the site. In order to award page rank to different websites Google use various criteria like the number and page rank of the websites linking to the website in question. So the page rank of a website is determined by the number of sites linking to it and the page rank of those site.
To improve the effectiveness of your article marketing campaign, always submit your articles to directories that have high page rank of about 3 and above.
6. Dofollow vs nofollow links
First, let me explain what is nofollow links and what is dofollow links. Nofollow links are links that have the nofollow attribute embedded in the html code of the link. That is, the link code contains something like this: rel="nofollow" or rel="external nofollow". When search engines like Google come across such links, they won't recognize it as giving any link juice, meaning that the site that link is pointing to won't get any page rank value from the link. On the other hand dofollow links are just the opposite of nofollow links. They are just normal links without the nofollow attribute and Google consider them as adding value to the site they're pointing to.
From the explanation so far, you'll see that it is better to submit your articles to directories that give you dofollow links. This is because writing articles isn't that easy, so you have to make sure that you gain maximum benefit from every article you write.
Most article directories will offer you dofollow links in the resource box. Only a few article directories like articlebase will offer nofollow backlinks in the resource box. Articlebase will offer you 3 nofollow links in the article body and 3 nofollow links in the resource box.
7. Alexa Rating
The Alexa rating is a popular way of estimating how much traffic a website is getting. A low Alexa rating for a website indicates high traffic and vice versa. So in your article marketing campaign you may decide to submit your articles to high traffic directories so as to stand a chance of getting some visitors to your site. To check the alexa rating of any site, go to alexa.com and type in the URL of the site.
Below are examples of high page ranked article directories:
1. Brighthub PR6
2. Selfseo.com PR5
3. Ideamarketers PR5
4. Sooperarticles PR5
5. Articlecity PR5
6. Articletrader PR5
7. Articleblast PR5
8. Articleslash.net Pr5
9. Evancarmichael PR5
10. Isnare PR5
11. Articledashboard PR5
12. Infobarrel PR4
13. Pubarticles PR4
14. Ezinemark PR4
15. Thisisfreelance PR3
16. Goarticles PR3
After evaluating all the points mentioned above, you'll be able to know the best directories to submit your article to for maximum traffic.
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