Three Things You Must Do Before You Submit To Article Directories

To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills.With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is

Writing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of articles and making them available for distribution is one of the best ways to ensure that your website gets surges in traffic over the long-haul. Why? Let me explain:

When you put your articles into distribution (meaning you submit them to ezine publishers and the article sites that ezine publishers visit for fresh content), you increase your chances of your article getting picked up as supplemental content by ezine publishers. They take your article and send it to their email newsletter membership or add it to their website.

Why would you give them your article for free? Heck, you're a paid expert, right?

The answer is because good ezine publishers will leave your article in tact and provide you with an active link back to your website. When they send your article to their list, you can expect an immediate surge in traffic. Most of the time, you won't know who sent your article to their list, but you will see spikes throughout the year if your articles are quality.

There is another technical reason that you may get surges in web traffic from your articles: Every time your article is reprinted on a website with an active link to your website, your articles help you increase link popularity which may elevate your rank with the major search engines. More rank means more natural traffic to your site.

Having worked with thousands of article authors and tens of thousands of articles, I can tell you that there are clearly two types of ezine articles:

Ezine Articles Type I Designed for mass distribution:

How can you setup your article to be picked up by the largest number of potential ezine publishers? Easy: Write 250-500 word articles that are easy to read, bullet points and lists, and only 1 or 2 links in the resource box below the article (and never more than 2). You also don't want to pitch affiliate programs with your links as ezine publishers frown on this and won't pick up your article. Lastly, don't lace your article with heavy HTML code or HTML tables or anything complex. Lowest common denominator (plain text) rules.

Bottom line: The easier you make it for ezine publishers to use your article, the higher your distribution rate. Your goal is increased distribution and exposure.

Ezine Articles Type II Designed for value only from originating site.

How can you limit distribution and only get value from the article directories that you submit your articles to? Easy: Include anchor text links instead of full http:// URL's and bloat it up with HTML garbage and cute HTML code that adds value to the article but would make any ezine publisher cringe because they can't work your heavy article into their ezine template.

As you can guess, I favor "Ezine Articles Type I" authors as they really "get it." Type II article authors are missing out on the viral nature of article distribution.

Tip: If you're going to be a "Type II" article author, at least include one http:// URL in your resource box instead of only anchored text links. This way your article will still generate an active link for ezine publishers who might use your article to their text-based email newsletter audience.

Crank Up The Traffic:

Don't be a 1-trick article author and only post 1 article to 1 site and then call it a day. If you want to crank up the traffic, you've got to crank up the quantity of quality articles you put into distribution. Only the rare article author hits the jackpot with tens or hundreds of thousands of views to their article while the greater majority needs tens, hundreds or even thousands of articles to do the same traffic.

Set a goal to write 4 articles at a time, 250-500 words each and submit them to ezine publishers from your core niche along with submitting them to websites that archive fresh ezine articles daily. It is possible to crank out 100-500 new articles per year for most authors in their spare time. Those who say it's impossible are usually passed up by those of us who know it's possible.

There is no doubt that there is an article writing labor investment here, but the payoffs are in surges in traffic to your website this year many years to come without having to buy the traffic. Consider it an investment in building your websites's foundational traffic-future. :-)

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best quality original articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ expert author community. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

(c) Copyright - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.