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Wednesday 21 February 2007

Article Marketing is a Waste of Time?


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In previos posts I have made about blogging for money, a recurring tip has been to 'submit your articles/best posts to article directories such as ezine articles and Go Articles. I have been doing this for a while and I am now officially an 'expert ezine author', which means I can keep submitting for free. I have submitted a good 10 articles to both those directories, but do I have the results to show for it?

yes and no

Positive results
- I have received 2 inbound links from people using my articles and referring to me. (2 people have re-posted them their blog).
- I have received a small amount of traffic from people reading my articles (the screen shot is of one of my submitted articles which has been viewed 65 times, some of that traffic will have filtered down to this blog)
- I have spread my name and gained a small (very small) standing as an author.


Negative results
- I have only received 2 inbound links, by submitting over 20 articles which I laboured over like a dog (although I do enjoy writing them).
- The traffic received was very small given how long it took to write those articles.
- I now have duplicate content which the search engines don't like, and to make things worse it's a duplicate of my very best content.
- The sites that re-posted my articles were rubbish and had no authority or original content.
- isnare still have not approved any of my articles, and they say it could take up to 6months unless I pay (which I’m not going to).

So there is a bit of a mixed message there, over all a negative one. I don't really know what I expected. If you think about it, none of the top sites, or even half decent sites got to where they are by re-posting free ezine articles. All that’s going to happen at best, is I would get a whole pile of links from crap sites. Maybe I will have more luck in the future, although I doubt it.

I am eager to know of your experience with article marketing, so do comment if you have any article sites that have worked well for you, or if you agree with me and think its not really worth it.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to let you know that this is one of the best posts you've written here. Rather than recounting the usual 'tips' that you find on many money making blogs, you're sharing your real world experience with article marketing.

You tried it, it was a bit of a disappointment, but now others can learn from your experience.

I agree that submitting articles to these free directories is a complete waste of time, and your post inspired me to write a bit more on the topic and suggest an alternative. Check it out here: Making Article Marketing Work

608 said...

wow thanks kevin! (I agree it was a pretty good post lol). I will take a look at your post! (feel free to refer me lol).

Anonymous said...

I can't place the following link as my optional webpage when posting a link like I normally would, as the URL is too long.

I think this article will help you because it gives you an idea about layout.

The headline isn't ideal, but take a look at the resource box. A link to the original article on my blog, and also to a related article.

I don't gain a huge amount traffic from the articles I write either, at least not short term. Article Marketing is a long term investment.

I have some picked up by PR8 sites, but it all depends on many factors.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Your-Articles-Are-Seeds-of-Knowledge---A-Biblical-Look-at-Duplicate-Content&id=438201

Kevin is right though, you should always quetion everything you read and some of the best blog material is writing about a step by step process you followed, and then a followup later on with results.

608 said...

Your Article raises some interesting points Andy, but as of yet I have no proof that you are right. Untill I see better results with the articles I have published I won't be publishing anymore.

Anonymous said...

You always have the option of editing an article to improve the resource box and make the most of the allowed links, anchor text etc.

vijay kumar said...

submit just one article to 100 article directories and it is approved for

publication and receive 100 back links to your website.
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