Article Directory Submission vs. Content on your Website

[doughayman]

Hi,

I know there have been several posts that talk about both of these, but I was looking for some expert opinions on the specific issue for me, that pertains to both:

- I am an avid writer, and am capable of writing coherent and unique content on a variety of subjects, which map to my numerous websites;

- I am obviously looking to improve my ranking in the SERPs for keywords that pertain to my websites. That is my ULTIMATE goal.

My question is, should I consider writing unique content and placing it on my website directly OR should I consider submitting my content to A SINGLE REPUTABLE article directory (I think we all know which one is the best in town) ?

The advantages of submitting to a REPUTABLE article directory, as I see it are:

1) Receive a strong one-way backlink from a site with a high PR;

2) Possibility of related sites "syndicating" it, & carrying a backlink to me (if they follow the rules);

3) Possibility of a small amount of traffic from those that read the article, and click on my resource box link;

The advantages of adding the content to my site are:

1) Adding value to my website content-wise;

2) Adding the possiblity of one-way links to my articles, from those who like it;

So, for you experts out there, which is the BETTER method ? I'm interested, and capable of, writing 100's of articles for my websites, and am wondering which would benefit me the most from a Google SERPs perspective ? I want to build back-links to my site as well, which is certainly a supporting measure.

Thanks in advance for any input provided. I am looking for strong opinions here.

[Robert Charlton]

While there have been several recent discussions on this, this set of questions goes to the core and lays out the basic alternatives very clearly... but I feel it omits the choice I'd recommend, which is to do both... and always to keep the article directory article different from your own website content.

My reasoning is onsite articles and offsite articles do different things, as you've described above. One provides offsite publicity and a link to you. The other provides increased credibility on your site.... it's a link magnet, and it's also spider food.

With regard to "syndication" of the directory article... backlinks from duplicate articles may not carry the full weight of backlinks from unique articles. This is theory only. It's hard to test. If a really major site wanted an article, I think I'd write something unique for them.

Another recent discussion that touches on this topic...

Article Directories with NoFollow Attribute
[webmasterworld.com...]

And for a discussion about onsite content and how it works on your site...

To create content or not create it, that is the question
[webmasterworld.com...]

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 5:54 pm (utc) on Nov. 8, 2008]

[doughayman]

Robert,

Thank you for your prompt and thoughtful comments. Actually, your answer was the one that I was hoping to hear, and I purposely left that out as an alternative, since it somewhat borders on the unethical a tad. Also, your referred link at the bottom of your post, makes some excellent points:

1) Be wary of the Article directories that engineer a rel="nofollow" attribute for your backlink;

2) From article directories, those that like your article are more likely to link to the article itself,
than back to your site directly (which is referenced in the article).

[Robert Charlton]

...since it somewhat borders on the unethical a tad...

I don't see anything unethical about looking at the same subject from different angles. Just changing a few words is closer to manipulation... and it's also less likely to be effective, both for readers and for search engines.

[doughayman]

Yes, that is a good point. Thanks.

[outland88]

Hasn't Google itself already become pretty much an article directory?

[tangor]

Do both. If the gift of gab is really there (as stated) then it will not be difficult to write about the same widget from different perspectives...over and over and over. As long as each article is fresh why not take advantage of both opportunities?

[tigger]

I've only recently started using article sites myself and tend follow Robert thoughts in so much that with "some" tweaking an article can be used on both the directory & your own site - although I have also stumbled across "some" article sites that use the "nofollow" tag, fortunately they removed it when requested

[Nuttakorn]

I think for the content that you spread outside your website, if it is interesting content, it can help you gains more links ,some might be feature in magazine or publish in the well-known places which lead you create trustworthy of content and also get link back to your website as well. Article distribution is similar way of PR your company via media publisher.

[vero]

I seem to have had an increase in traffic when I do a mix of the 2 - add articles to my site, plus write articlesfor directories that then link to me. And yes - I am careful that the copy is very different (not always easy to do) I use Alexa to see how the directories rank, and generally write for those that have a decent rank - unless it's a directory that is targeted to my area, rather than a general-interest article directory.

Tigger - can you list some of the directories that are using nofollow? Or is there a way, short of looking at the source code, to know? Thanks.

[wheel]

Or is there a way, short of looking at the source code, to know?

Just install searchstatus plugin for firefox and turn on highlighting for nofollow links. It turns every nofollow link a very bright pink. Hard to miss :).