You can't choose just one because, of you are referring to the value of those backlinks in the Google's eyes, no one is sure. And all other reasoning is limited by an individual's experience and perception. You can rate each one from your list on par with a hint of more importance to article submission and press release (of course, this is my opinion, as I said earlier)
Yes, you are very correct. Taking any of the above methods alone for search engine optimization is not going to help anybody. But if you try a mix of these services definitely things will work
Im a big fan of article marketing, but I agree with the above in that it is important to get a mix of sources for backlinks over the long term - this spreads your risk, and looks more natural in Google's eyes. Personally though article marketing is pretty broad and that can extend to making mini blogs, posting articles to various web2.0 sites and much more than just article submissions to the main directories.
I feel bad that I had never tried article syndication to a big level. Now realizing that many people give extra care about this. I may be starting an article distribution campaign soon. Can anybody share a few good article websites please?
Myself and a couple of other people posted some lists of article sites on this thread just earlier http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1699328
What you need is link diversity. Links from the top article directories like Ezine Articles, Article Base, Go Articles, and Buzzle (find a list of the top 50 on the site in my signature). Do some directory submissions to high PR directories, do social bookmarking to delicious, digg, and mixx. Do related forum posting and high PR forum profiles. Make comment posts on blogs. Submit your RSS feeds to DO FOLLOW RSS directories (find a list on the site in my signature). With diversity Google will rank your site better.
You can do all the above techniques but you should never abandon having the simplest method in the world that gets you relevant links in your sleep with no effort on your part..... Join my site, install the software, and make it a permanent fixture on your site.
Hey, you don't need to feel bad for not having tried something in the past as you can do it now or even in the future. Simple, right? By the way, you can try your hand out here: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=13640923&postcount=15 I have had some good results from the first service above but I would still rate both of them on par.
In my opinion, blog commenting can be the most effective IF the commenting is done on high PageRank pages. Article submissions can also help. I really don't think directory submissions are useful, though.
Thanks for your concern friend.. Yeah.. but the important factor is the blogs you choose must be good at PR and SERP also they must give good weight to the links (less OBLs)
my fave is commenting on do follow blogs like so: http://clickonportal.blogspot.com/2010/02/do-follow-blogs-directory-1-updated.html
Wow, with the poll it seems mostly supported method is blog commenting - 25.49%, Article submission just behind it. But these two are not my favorites. Mine is profile link building and press releases. P!
I find that directory submission can be useful when marketing for Google Local (maps) I work with a lot of small businesses and its pretty much a must for them.
Friend, I don't understand this fully. Are you talking about directory submissions for link building? As far as I know, directory submissions can only help us to get our pages indexed soon. I've no idea whether it will consider as a backlinking methods..