I've Decided to Stop Article Marketing

Shaun Connell · #1 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008, 03:45 PM

Yesterday, I concluded that I won't be "article directory marketing" for my sites any longer. Article marketing is when you submit an article to dozens of online article directories, guaranteeing duplicate content in your links. My reasoning for not doing it for my latest site is threefold:

1. Future Penalties. In the future, Google will probably be cracking down on article marketing, because most articles are useless, poorly written, and are generally just low quality links. Even if Google doesn't now (I think they might be a though, considering Josh Spawlding, one of the big "article marketers", just recently lost his #3 slot for "Make Money Online" and is now on page 5 or something. :P)

2. Bad Habits. I find that when I start article marketing, my writing slides downhill, and I'm writing just to get the link, rather than for the topic. I try to speed through it so I can write another article. This cheapish approach lowers my writing skill.

3. Guest Posting. Rather than write for cheap links, I'll just offer to guest post for other blogs, usually "small" pr4 blogs. Considering I'm basically writing about a topic where any blog that is ranked for "money" would be appropriate, it's extremely easy to guest write for relevant websites.

What about you guys? What do you think? Is article marketing worth it?

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008, 03:57 PM

Yeah, the whole point of article marketing was to build up your backlinks and since the SEs devalue those kinds of links, it just hasn't been worth the time anymore.

TechieGuy · #3 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008, 06:42 PM

I tried to briefly (still get a few visitors from the articles), but I just didn't have the time to write proper articles. Some times I have difficulty coming up with content for my blog, let alone for articles.

Jazzy · #4 (**permalink**) 07-16-2008, 07:04 PM

I didn't know those links were devalued.

I just started article marketing and I've seen my rankings climb a little. I wrote 5 articles today, so I hope it pays off, LOL!

TryUsOut · #5 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 02:46 PM

Its always best to just keep your unique articles in your own site. Once other sites sees the value of your article, they will link to it organically. If you submit it to article directories, they may link to the directory instead of linking to your site.

jonathanfigaro · #6 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisa

Yeah, the whole point of article marketing was to build up your backlinks and since the SEs devalue those kinds of links, it just hasn't been worth the time anymore.

Isn't the point of article marketing is to provide value so you can build credibilty and promising sales?

Shaun Connell · #7 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009, 08:43 PM

Ironically, I'm starting to do a lot of article marketing now. I'm using Unique Article Wizard, which is a cool way of submitting 3 similar articles as "one" article. I'm getting maybe 10-20 backlinks from google per article submission, and a dozen or so click-through traffic. Pretty nifty.

Jordy3738 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-23-2009, 09:30 PM

I have used article marketing as a back-door way to compete with competitors that where ahead of me or above me in the SERPS for certain keyword phrases.

Even though the links have been or will be devalued, I still get traffic from my Ezine articles that get top placements in the SERPS.

So, two beneficial things out of three are favorable reasons to still write ocassionally.

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