I've been reading a lot about how writing articles and submitting them can help you gain back links and some good traffic. I'm somewhat new to this so I don't really know where to begin. Do I post these articles directly onto the site I'm trying to get traffic to? I'm assuming I would want to use some sort of content management system, any suggestions?
The articles you have been reading about are generally submitted to other sites or article directories. They should not be the same content you have on your site. They should be related to the topic of your site for best results. Your backlink comes in the resouce box. Something like: The author John Doe owns and operates the xyx.com site where there is a lot more articles related to "topic". To see how this works visit one of the article directories like articletrader.com
If you are trying to rank in the SE's for a specific keyword distribute articles to thousands of publishers and include your URL with anchor text. It is also a good idea to add unique content to your own website but do not distribute this content.
You can submit your articles to hundreds of article directories by using an article submitter. You will get backlinks from them.
when you write an article and post it on another site then you can add your link at the bottom or somewhere and it counts as a backlink for your site but if you post an article within your site, you can get a backlink if the users or guest that have read it took the link of your article and posted it on another site to recommend it to someone else
To use article marketing or link building through articles, you need to create articles with links in the resource box, submit them to as many places as possible and wait for results. Of course, poorly written articles are worth a link if they get accepted. Quality articles might get reprinted many more times than junk ones giving you potentially thousands of links if the url is copied correctly by those taking the articles. Take your time to write an article well or have it written. Then submit it manually with a well written summary - skip the auto submitters as they are usually rather pointless. Include relevant keywords in your title and content to help searchers find it in the article site. Then, those people searching for free content will hopefully take your fabulous articles and get your site all kinds of free traffic and links.
You need well written articles and a good article distribution service I use this article distribution service to destribute my articles http://www.submityourarticle.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=643 and I've been getting great results.