If you want to submit by hand, and want to submit to more than
the 5 sites listed above, head to http://www.arcanaweb.com/resources/article-directories.html and there's a list of 100 (as of the date this article was submitted).
However, not all article sites are created equally. Here are
my 6 tips of things to look for when you're choosing which directories
to submit to.
Tip #1 - Make sure the site allows for SEO
- Do they allow you to choose your own keywords? If the directory
doesn't allow you to choose keywords, you could possibly lose
some SE traffic because of untargeted or less-targeted results.
Entering your own keywords also helps with searches within
the site, if the search operates on keywords.
- Do they put your keywords and article summary into meta tags?
Yet again, this ability is great for SEO. It allows the search
engines to index your article more effectively, giving you the
best traffic you can get to your article.
- Do the major search engines index the site regularly? If a
site isn't indexed regularly, your article will take awhile to
show up in search results. Not a huge deal, but it could delay
some traffic.
Tip #2 - Make sure the site offers RSS feeds
- Do they allow your article's content to be syndicated? RSS
Syndication is a big thing right now, because it makes it very
easy for another site to feature your article's title, body,
and author. If a site doesn't offer RSS, you may not want to
waste your time posting there, as you probably won't get as
much traffic from them.
-
Is syndication by category only, or can more parameters be
submitted? Some
sites allow the RSS feeds to be customized by
category only. Others allow syndication by any combination of
category, submission date, and author. This is very beneficial
to you, because 1) your article could remain on a syndicated "archives" page,
where the site gets the specific date RSS feed, and 2) you can
have all of your work syndicated - sites can choose to be fed
only your articles!
Tip #3 - Make sure the site is easy to use
- Can visitors to the site find articles quickly, or do they
have to dig around? I'm sure you've been to sites that have
horrible navigation. The same is true for some article submission
sites. When you get there, make sure the articles are easy
to find. If they're not, don't waste your time.
- Does the site have a category list and search function? Make
sure the site has both, as some users will want to use the categories,
others will search, and still others will do both.
Tip #4 - Make sure it's easy to submit your article
- Can you submit articles quickly and easily? Some require you
to login, which is okay, because then you'll probably have
an 'author page' where you can add a bit more information about
yourself, and people can find a list of all of your articles.
However, if the site makes you enter very much personal information,
confirm more than once (most will require you to confirm your
email address) or scan your fingerprint (haha, that'll be the
day), you can probably skip them. You don't want to do that
every time you want to submit an article, especially if you're
submitting to more than 5 directories.
- If they proofread your article, how long does it take? Some
sites proof-read your articles, which is okay, as long as it
doesn't take more than 24 hours for your article to be approved
and made active on their site.
Tip #5 - Is the site popular?
- Have many articles been posted in the past few weeks? If the
site hasn't has submissions for a few weeks, or they're trickling
in, chances are that's because it's dead. Do keep in mind,
though, that submitting to a brand new site is always great,
because chances are the owner is promoting it as much as possible,
which means great exposure for your articles.
Tip #6 - Do they offer a large list of categories?
- How many categories do they have? Most sites have quite a few
categories, or they're targeted to one area (like Internet
Marketing). That's perfect. But if you come across a directory
that isn't targeted, and doesn't have many categories, skip
it. Publishers probably won't pay it much attention because
less categories means less targeting, and more articles to
sift through to find what they want.
Congratulations you on choosing article writing to boost your
online exposure! It's an easy technique that, if done correctly,
will more than pay for the time you spent writing the articles.
Ok, now go out there and start submitting!
Jason is an Internet marketer and owner of Premier MicroSolutions,
LLC. Submit your articles to http://www.Content-Articles.com
- The Free Web Site Content Article Directory
Check
out our other library articles for more information.
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