Still Using Article Directories to Build Traffic and Page Rank? Why You May Want to Re-Think Your Strategy

Until recently with the Google Panda update, several article directories ranked highly with the search engines.  Prior to the algorithm changes, many marketers were using article directories to drive instant traffic to their websites and help increase page rank.  When you think about it, this wasn’t really a very smart move for marketers.  Why?  Because in doing so, article directories were getting all of the Google love, while the marketers’ own sites still floundered by the wayside.

Posting original articles to directories before you post them on your own website is a huge mistake – here’s why

By submitting your articles to directories first, they essentially “get credit” for that article; the directory is the first place that search engines detect the article, instead of your website.  Always place your article on your own website first, then wait until it has been indexed by the search engines before submitting to directories.  This way, search engines “see” fresh, unique content on your website when they crawl it, content that is original and not already posted on another site.

Here’s another little tidbit of information that may come as a surprise to you if you are an article marketer who relies on directories for backlinks:  Because a directory has a page rank of 6 (for their home page) does NOT mean you will have a strong PR6 link pointing to your website!  The page on the directory where your article gets posted (and where your keyword text link points back to your site) will have a page rank of 0!  Now THAT’S food for thought . . .

Article directories are for syndication purposes, not article marketing

Originally, article directories were meant to be a place where other website owners could go to find new content for their websites that was relevant to their niche.  Nowadays, marketers use directories for all the wrong reasons.  Many work themselves into a frenzy trying to write 5 or even 10 articles each day, hoping to drive hordes of traffic to their blogs and websites via articles.  This is all wrong!  If marketers were to work as hard writing quality content that is well-optimized for their own websites, they would enjoy much greater success.

Not to say that submitting articles to directories is all wrong, but place your content on your own website first.  When you do place an article on a directory such as Ezine Articles, make sure it is your best work – only so that other website owners will want to pick it up for their own site, which will essentially drive traffic to YOUR website from theirs.

If you’re still using article directories to drive “instant” traffic, re-think your strategy.  Work smarter, not harder!  And also, think long-term success instead of instant gratification.  Use article directories for their intended use (syndication), and propel your own website to a whole new level by adding fresh, original content often.  Think of it this way; by placing your articles on your own website, you’re building your own real estate in cyberspace rather than the real estate of the directories.