Every business owner with an online presence should become familiar with article directories because these have become important online marketing tools. Article directories are websites that feature collections of articles about many topics. Most sites accept submissions from any author adhering to certain guidelines and rules. Authors market their business by including their site links in the article resource box.
Using Article Directories Effectively
In addition to permitting site links in the resource box, some article directories allow page links from keywords in the article body. There is also usually a box for categories or tags, which are essentially keywords used to attract readers. This box helps directories organize the articles and assists search engines with indexing. Effective use of a reputable article directory increases web traffic, which should boost sales.
Selecting an article directory is an important choice. The site should have a page ranking of at least five because search engines consider these authority sites. The directory should also have follow links, which means the search engines follow the backlinks contained in the articles. Search engines are constantly crawling these directories and indexing content. Linked sites will experience an increase in search engine rankings simply by being included in articles within the directory.
What Are the Best Article Directories
Ezine articles, Squidoo, and Hub Pages are three of the best article directories available. Ezine began in 1999 and currently features original, high-quality content from more than 440,000 expert authors. Ezine caters to millions of unique visitors and has more than 700 email alert lists and 100,000 RSS feeds that publicize new content to more than 100,000 permission-based publishers and members.
Established in 2005, Squidoo is a free, open platform that allows people to create web pages, called lenses, about a topic or opinion. Authors may add attractive features including images, video, and other multimedia content to their pages. When a Squidoo page does well, its author receives a royalty. Hub Pages is a place to share thoughts, opinions, reviews, tips, and advice. People publish content-rich Internet pages, earning money and recognition through a community ranking system.
Submitting articles to directories is a great way to increase traffic, get backlinks, increase exposure with target audiences, and improve search engine ranking. The process is free and requires only creation of original content that is useful to readers. By creating content and publishing it on Ezine articles, Squidoo, and Hub Pages, website owners enhance the online presence of their sites.
