subject: Five Article Marketing Myths Debunked [print this page] Five Article Marketing Myths Debunked Five Article Marketing Myths Debunked
Article marketing has long been a staple of online businesses. It's an inexpensive way to gain backlinks, drive traffic, and improve your search engine rankings. It's also totally misunderstood by a large percentage of new marketers.
Myth Number One: You have to spin your articles so you can give each directory a unique article.
The truth: To my knowledge, only one directory - Buzzle.com - requires unique content. The rest require it to be original, which is something completely different. Besides, have you ever read a spun article? Please, don't clutter up the Internet with more of that.
Myth Number Two: You have to post your articles to all 8,736 article directories to have an impact.
The truth: 8,702 of those directories won't be around in six months - or maybe even next week - so why are you wasting your time? This myth is perpetuated by the makers of expensive software packages that purport to automate directory submissions. Pick five or six good directories for your niche and don't worry about the rest. The number of visitors you'd get and the value of the links from the other thousands of directories out there really isn't worth your time.
Myth Number Three: You have to post your article to EzineArticles.com first or they'll reject it for being a duplicate.
The truth: EzineArticles.com actively solicits repurposed content, as evidenced by the fact that they developed a WordPress plugin designed to help you publish your old blog posts on their site. So stop worrying about pissing off the article directory gods and start worrying about your own site's SEO. Publish your articles on your site first.
Myth Number Four: Duplicate content penalties!
The truth: For your purposes, unless you are truly trying to trick Google, duplicate content penalties simply don't exist. There is an excellent explanation of what duplicate content is on Google's blog, but here's the short answer: Google considers content to be duplicate only if it appears more than once on the same domain.
Myth Number Five: The only places you can submit articles are to EzineArticles.com and the other top directories.
The truth: There are hundreds of places you can put your articles. Free sites like Blogger.com and WordPress.com are great for creating backlinks. Squidoo lenses and HubPages are popular and fun. Some forums allow you to post articles, as do Yahoo Answers and newsgroups. And don't forget about Facebook and guest posting on your favorite blogs. Just don't get carried away. Remember, you don't have to pose every article on every available venue. Mix it up a bit!
Article marketing isn't complicated or mystical. Just use your common sense, have some fun with it, and always keep in mind that it's not a get-rich-quick scheme. Like anything sustainable, it takes time to build.
