subject: Anatomy of an Article Directory Submission Form [print this page] Anatomy of an Article Directory Submission Form
Whether you are a webmaster with years of experience behind you, or a newbie about to make your first foray into the World Wide Web, whether you are a beginner blogger or a professional e-commerce guru, you should be aware that "Article Marketing" is an excellent way to drive free targeted traffic to your website. What is? "Article Marketing", in brief it is the process of producing quality articles then submitting them to "Article Directories", other webmasters, bloggers and publishers then copy these articles to their own sites, thereby creating even more quality backlinks to the article writer's site, that's it in a nutshell, in this article we are going to explore the "Submission Form".
While there are thousands of article directories online and there are a number of differences in their submission forms, for the most part they are quite similar at the very least all require the user to input an author name, article title and article body, the user is normally asked to choose a "Category" and even a "Sub Category" many also require a summary of the article content, a list of keywords and a brief author bio or added resources. Here we will analyze and explain each element of the submission for and hopefully clarify exactly what is expected of the user
1/. Author's Name
Obviously, this box is self explanatory, this is where the user inserts his/her author or pen name, most directories require the user to sign up for a member account therefore this box will normally be pre-filled with the name you signed up with, if the directory site allows members to use multiple pen-names there may be a drop menu which is pre-filled with all the names you have added, you simple choose the pen-name you wish to assign you article to, remember "People write articles" not companies or website urls so choose legitimate names, many writers use pseudonyms but they almost always use a "real" name, image reading a novel written by "websitename.com" or "the wemakestuff company"a real name, even if it's not your birth name instills confidence in the authoritativeness of the article writer.
2/. Category/Sub Category
How important is it to choose the most appropriate category and sub-category for your article? in a word Very! That's right the correct category and sub-category choice is "Very" important so important in fact, that many of the high quality directories will reject your submission if you choose an inappropriate category or sub-category. The best advice is take some time to peruse the options offered by the directory, many directories have the same or similar categories but some will offer more options than others there may also be more than one category/sub-category which fit your submission, so be careful with your selection and pick one best suited for your article. If your article deals with let's say, "Home Improvement/Installing Wood Flooring" do not submit it to perhaps "Health/Home Healthcare" O.K this is an extreme example but as the webmaster of an "Article Directory" I assure you I've seen this and worse. If you submit articles to inappropriate categories/sub-categories, expect to see your submissions rejected and if you continue to do so you may even find yourself banned from submitting to that particular directory what a waste of time which could be better spent creating more articles.
3/. Article Title
This is a pretty straight forward input box, your title should be reflective of the content of your article and should be neither too long nor too short, there are no "hard and fast" rule regarding length of your title, though some directories may restrict length due to formatting issues, however the general consensus is that between 40 and 80 characters seems to work best. Your title should contain a keyword or phrase; this will help readers and search engines to find your article
4/. Article Summary
The majority of directories will require you to add a brief summary of your article this is basically a "Teaser" or a short synopsis of what the reader is likely to expect from your article, think of it as a tool to market your article in the same way newspapers and magazines offer an outline on page one but you have to go to an inside page to read the article in it's entirety, so if the short outline does not grab your interest you'll are far less likely to continue to the page where the full article appears. While most directories will not reject your submissions if you use a segment of the first paragraph of your article, most consider this approach to be quite "lame". It is much better to create a "snappy" informative summary which will entice the reader to delve deeper into the subject matter of your article thus drastically improving the effectiveness of your article.
5/. Keywords and Key Phrases
This box may appear after "Article Summary" or at the end of the form depending on the particular directory, either way it seems to be one of the most miss-understood areas on the submission form. What the directory is looking for here is a series of "Keywords" or "Key Phrases" usually separated by a comma and a space or just a comma, you should check the directory's "Submission Guidelines" in case they have a different method delimiting keywords and phrases. Keywords and Key Phrases are simply what they sound like, they are words and phrases which relate to the subject matter of your article, I.E. if your article is about "Training your Puppy" then your keywords should be something like New Puppy, Paper Training, Pets, Obedience Training, House Training, Puppy, Dog, Leash Training. Do not neglect or under estimate the value of proper keywords and phrases, many if not all directories use these in there "meta keywords" to help major search engines find your article. Good use of Keywords both within the content of your article and in the "Keyword" area of the submission form can greatly affect the amount and quality of traffic your article receives.
6/. Article Body
Now we arrive at the meat of the "Article Submission Form", this is where you will enter the article you wish to submit to the directory. Submission guidelines differ from directory to directory to the best advice is, read them carefully, many directories will require specific formatting I.E. a single empty line between paragraphs (press enter twice) some prefer no line "hard line breaks" most will restrict the number of links you can place in your article, (3) three is quite normal, do not use excessive bolding, paragraph headings and/or one or two keywords are generally acceptable depending on the length of your article, remember excessive bolding can make your article look messy and readers will find it distracting, so use it sparingly the same rule should be applied to the use of italics. The article should contain a number of "Keywords and/or Phrases" but don't go overboard, they should blend seamlessly into the content of the article and not be blatantly obvious to the reader, 10% to 15% keyword saturation is usually considered to be most effective
7/. Resource Box
Sometimes referred to as the "About Author" or "Author Bio" This is your opportunity to shine, name of the author, a brief description of the author's qualifications and experience. Most directories also allow added links in this area, the "Resource Box" is possibly the most misunderstood and under utilized area of the input form and requires far more attention that the scope of this article allows, the best suggestion I can make is to do a "Web Search" on "How to create a killer Resource Box" and you'll find a wealth of information.
Best of luck in your future "Article Marketing Endeavors"
