Article Submissions: Do They Work?

[mtb167]

So everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon lately (including myself) of submitting articles to article submission sites.

It's a great way to get back links. Why I wrote me an article and submitted it to article submission sites under a month ago (Dec 6th-8th, 2006) and I already have 44 links (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22mike+bradbury%22+employee+objectware&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) in Google.

Not bad right? My question to everyone now, especially to the seasoned article writers is:

Why is this a good link building technique?

Lets Go through the Pros right quick:
1. You get a backlink each time the article is republished
2. You can deep link (unlike most directories and some links exchanges)
3. The anchor text can be optimized (some of the time).
4. IF its a quality article, there is no teling how many links you'll get.

But now lets take a look at the cons
1. Every new link is duplicate content (presumably)
2. Mostly scraper sites, or crap blogs will pick up the article (unless it is totally kickass)
3. Its more quantity than quality...

Ok. So. My thoughts on the matter are this:


Article submissions is a crap shoot. As in, you sling enough shit against the barnyard door and some of it is bound to stick... meaning one of those crap links that you get will eventually turn into a quality link.
links back from the article submission sites are the real gold mine because the more other sites pick up your article from a certain article submission site, the more backlinks your article page gets at that submission site, and the more backlinks your article page gets, the more quality the link on that article page is to you.
Once you write a bunch of articles, better sites will begin picking them up and publishing them.


Not really sure if any of these ideas are correct.

But I think you see my point. Article submission links appear to be largely crap links, so why is everyone jumping on the bandwagon?



Your thoughts... Holla.

[ServerUnion]

I published an article to around 300 sites. for a while I got traffic and even links. After about a year, all the links seem to have been filtered off and do not show. Not sure if I will do it again as the sites that I have done articles for seem to have been filtered by google for an extended period of time.

[candid_kris]

it might be a crap but IMO it still helps even for just a little...you just have to create quality article that many would link to...just like link baiting...

[mtb167]

Here's another question though, if I had a seriously great article, why would I submit it? Why not just link bait it?

[indepth184]

If you have a 'seriously good piece then just post it on your site/blog and link bait it, you could also use the submission of articles to start the ball rolling on the link bait

[FlyingBear]

It's a great way to get back links. Why I wrote me an article and submitted it to article submission sites under a month ago (Dec 6th-8th, 2006) and I already have 44 links (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22mike+bradbury%22+employee+objectware&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) in Google.

Not bad right?

If you only got 44 indexed (not links since you only checked index), it means 1) the article is not good; or 2) you need submit to more sites;

As someone said at above, if you post the exact same articles to many sites, eventually, SE will filter them out after some time. It will be much better if you submit different variations of your articles to different sites. Even just use several variations, it will be much better.

Of course, it still depends on the quality of the article. The quality is decided by SE, not us.


bear

[Vigor]

Article submission is just another way to get exposure. Why do it? Why do we submit to directories? Or buy links – to get that extra bit of exposure that’s going to increase our SERP ranking.

[Bombaywala]

I can't say for long run because I have had my articles for last 6 months and I get good BLs. I did write 2 very good articles which got BLs from popular sites.

It is definitely more towards quantity, however if your articles are very very good and on niche - chances are your BLs will turn up as High Quality. With directory submissions there is no chance for you to have a high quality BL unless it is paid.

Plus no one knows for sure whether article BLs are penalized as oppose to some surety towards directory BLs

[mtb167]

It will be much better if you submit different variations of your articles to different sites. Even just use several variations, it will be much better.

bear

Holy tedious, FlyingBear. Do You mean to Tell me that you very your articles with every post? Or at least with every 5 posts?

That's a lot of work. however, I can certainly see how it would come in handy.

[Mywill]

Well the reason why I have been doing it is not only for the traffic I get, but I found that my ads were being clicked more than they were originally so I got a little boost in revenue.

[FlyingBear]

Holy tedious, FlyingBear. Do You mean to Tell me that you very your articles with every post? Or at least with every 5 posts?

That's a lot of work. however, I can certainly see how it would come in handy.

I used a software to do this, so it is much easier. check http://www.articlepostrobot.com .

bear

[Christine8]

Article submission (http://www.colizer.com/magazine-article-submissions.php)- just like everything else - has gotten so complex that some people make a living doing only that (and hence have better tools and more experience doing it).

[Bofia]

Article submissions are the fastest way to get backlinks for most people. This is because directories take weeks to add your link.

[mtb167]

I understand that they're fast, but the question is, are they any good?

i'm looking for quality not quantity, and it would appear as if they aren't quality.

[Bombaywala]

I understand that they're fast, but the question is, are they any good?

i'm looking for quality not quantity, and it would appear as if they aren't quality.

Write an amazing article - submit to high PR sites and get a featured listing. That will be a quality BL.

[MattKNC]

I have written and submitted more than 700 articles to over 20 different article directories in an 18 month time period. Most were written by me for my customers but posted under my name. They received excellent backlinks, at least via the directories, but I have noticed that many times a webmaster who seeks to reprint the article leaves out the resource information.

If the article is well written, it will have legs. If not, it will drop off the face of the internet quickly IMO.

[mtb167]

Yes, but do they help you rank? That's the big question.

[MattKNC]

Yes, but do they help you rank? That's the big question.
Yes, IF they get picked up and displayed on a PR site. One of my articles was republished on a site that is PR5 with the backlink to a site I control.

[kh7]

I think article submission has to be part of a general PR vision. For a site I am doing SEO work on, I found some good related sites that target their very audience. In a case like that submitting an article makes good sense, because that site has an audience that is likely interested in what they have to offer. I don't count on the backlink for more than a year, but the traffic will be worth the effort in that case.

[paul4848]

I really like that avatar Kh7 could you tell me what it is / what it means ?

thanks

[kh7]

[off topic] The avatar is the AUM (or Om), the sacred mantra (or sound) from India. It is used in both Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist mantras. It is generally recognized by people interested in Eastern Wisdom and therefor fits the topic of my website (mostly spirituality, though I also have some stuff on webdesign, SEO and myspace on there - see my sig). [/off topic]