The Worth of Article Submissions

Article Submission can be used in two ways, but the bigger question is whether article submissions are worth it anymore? One thing article submissions were always known for was spreading the word about your services and knowledge; and two, you would usually boost your website’s popularity in search engines by increasing links to your site. Times have changed. Now, submitting to multiple article sites can be a disaster if you plan on simply submitting the same article over and over. Even if you plan on submitting fresh content everywhere, you still have to wonder – is it worth the effort? If you think it is, here are some tips to follow.

The number of characters allowed in titles will vary widely from site to site so pay particular attention to this. Links may be restricted to one, or they may allow up to three. Sometimes they must be hyper linked in the body, at others they can only appear in a resource box, and others may only allow them on the signature portion.  Resource boxes (where the links typically go) will carry specific instructions as to what is allowed and what isn’t.

Using article submission software can get you banned so fast you have no idea what hit you. Take the time to submit your articles manually, or hire a professional article submission service to manually perform the process for you. Yes it is a pain and it is a waste of money considering these content farms are nearly worthless for link juice anymore, but if you feel the need to use them, do it right.

Here are a few tips that will make submitting much easier. Write the article according to an approved template. This will save you time later when you are struggling with figuring out what to do about subheads, paragraph length, bullet points and all those other little lovelies!  Also keep in mind you need to prepare a specific template for each article directory you choose to submit to, and you have to keep them straight or you have wasted your time.  SEO friendly article writing can help your article rank well in search engines, but article submission sites have been so decimated they need you more than you need them. It really has gotten that bad.

Many article directories want articles to be at least 350-400 words – some peg the minimum as high as 500 words. 1000 words is the top range – one page articles are best even though some swear two page articles work better. That is generally only true if you are a writer begging for PV because you need 8 page views to make a penny. If you are looking for links only – one page. Get in and out fast.

Try linking related articles together instead of having one huge long article. This way, you do not unnecessarily waste original content. Links are queen, but original content is king, and it is original content that makes links viable. When you get good original content, use it wisely!

If you’re still hot to use article submission sites,  use single quotes when possible instead of double quotation marks. Also be vigilant with spell checkers and grammar checkers.  After you check everything ten times, your article is ready for submission. Use  Notepad to get rid of any excess formatting (for example, copy and paste from Word into Notepad, then cut and paste from Notepad into the article submission system.) Do a final double check for spacing, paragraphing and other formatting. Yes it is a lot of time and effort, but the last thing you want to do is submit to a content farm like Helium or YCN and have lousy content. It will tank your reputation – and in some cases you may be stuck with that bad content onsite, unedited – indefinitely! Their TOSs are horrendous for submitters!

Title should be 60 characters or less, with keywords close to the beginning of the title. Pay attention – some article directories use title case, while some don’t. (Title Case is Like This, With Nearly All Words Starting With a Capital Letter.) You have to get these details right! if you mess this up, your article won’t even be reviewed.

Some sites will require a brief summary of about 250 words describing the point of your article. You will also need to fill in the resource box and tag your article with keywords. If your article has been appropriately optimized and submitted, you should receive a link to your site. Change your article slightly for each site you submit to so you can avoid duplication across the web.