6 EzineArticles Myths Dispelled!

I keep noticing these EzineArticles questions sometimes in emails and other times on public forums. Let us see if I can solve some of them :)

Question 1. Shall I Submit the Same Article to EzineArticles and Other Directories?

Yep, that is what I do. First of all, I submit my article to my own site. Since the article appears on my site first, Google gives my site the 'unique content' tag.

This is has however no effect on my rankings. I have found that when I submit the same article to my site and EzineArticles, obviously the EzineArticles version gets a higher placement in Google. 

There are some content directories which insist that you submit only unique content to them but fortunately I don’t work with such sites. I would like to spread my wings and showcase my content on several sites, not just one.

There are several reasons why I do not want to limit myself to just EzineArticles:

1. When I submit the same article to my one site, I get the benefit of organic traffic (the more content your site has, the more traffic you get).

2. When I submit the same article to other article directories, I may not get as much traffic as EzineArticles, but I sure get one-way backlinks. Remember that the more one-way links point to my site, the better would be my position in search engines.

Also remember to think beyond the limits of an article directory. Every publisher has his or her favorite article directory from where s/he picks up content; so if you limit yourself only to EzineArticles, your article will get published on a limited number of sites only! After all, not everyone hunts EzineArticles for content! :)

3. When I submit my article to multiple directories, I am also showcasing my article to several publishers. The more my article gets published, the more backlinks and traffic I get!

I submit my articles to the following directories:

http://ezinearticles.com/
http://goarticles.com/
http://zimbio.com/
http://ideamarketers.com/
http://articledashboard.com/
http://www.articlealley.com/
http://www.articlebiz.com/
http://www.articlesbase.com/
http://www.easyarticles.com/

Notes:

1. DO NOT use searchwarp.com: you will neither get any traffic from them nor backlinks (they use 'no follow' tag)

2. Buzzle.com is okay but since their approval process takes way too long and I cannot submit more than two articles at a time, I have stopped using them

Question 2. Shall I rewrite the article before each submission?

Do you have more than 24 hours in a day? I don't! Since my time is limited, I would want to make the best use of it. The time I would spend in rewriting the same article for each new directory should better be spent in writing another unique article. I hope you will agree that unique content always beats a rewrite by a hundred miles!

Believe it or not, I submit the same article to my own site first and then to all other directories. My rankings have not been affected at all and I have been doing this since 2006.

Question 3. But If I Submit the Same Article to EzineArticles and Other Directories, Won't I be Penalized for Duplicate Content?

Duplicate content? What is that? For your information, you will be penalized for duplicate WEBPAGE (provided that you copy a webpage word for word, with all its style sheets, HR tags, etc. and paste it on your site) You DO NOT get penalized for duplicate content!

For all you guys and girls out there trying hard to fight against duplicate content – good luck to you; but keep in mind that you are fighting against a 'nobody'!

If duplicate content were really an issue then all of my websites would have been in Google's supplemental index today!

I have written before on duplicate content, but no one really cares. The person who can shout at the highest pitch gets the most votes, at least in IM niche:

http://flexiblewriter.com/duplicate-content-code-cracked

Question 4. If I want to get on Google's first page, I got to use EzineArticles, right?

Another myth. I do not know which pedagogue has preached this stupid concept that EzineArticles is the only way to get on the top. There are better and faster ways to achieve the same results within shorter time.

Consider these two scenarios, and the take your pick:

Scenario 1: With EzineArticles, you will wait at least 1-2 days to get your article approved. Google will take another few days to index the article. I have found that it takes at least 5-7 days for Google to index an EzineArticles article!

Scenario 2: You post the article only on your site or blog, and then social bookmark it on Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit and Delicious. Your article gets on Google's top page within 6-7 hours.

Which one would you choose?

I myself use this technique and I have proof that it works!

http://flexiblewriter.com/how-i-got-indexed-in-google-within-hours

Bottom line, if your aim is to get on Google's first page, use the power of social bookmarking instead of EzineArticles.

Remember though that getting on Google's first page is like receiving fifteen minutes of fame- it is short-lived! Search results are updated regularly and no one knows when you will fall on the last page :D

Question 5. In my article resource box, I would always link to my squidoo lens, ok?

No you shouldn't – instead, alternate it! 60% of the time you should link to YOUR website, while reserving the other 40% for your Squidoo lens, Hubpages hub, etc.

Why let others always reap benefits from your hard work? Looking at it another way, you are doing nothing better than a 'job' – you are essentially working too hard to get traffic to someone else's site!

While you should be using and exploiting things like Squidoo to YOUR advantage!

To be frank, I don’t have a single article resource box where I link to a Squidoo lens or Hubpages hub- all my links point to my OWN site, my OWN server and domain. Doing so not only gives me the benefit of backlinks, but assures me of regular, permanent traffic as long as I have my site in place.

Right from the start, I have outsourced the squidoo work to a guy I found on the Warrior forum: I have found that it is a lot cheaper that way!

Squidoo is not your website; they may delete your squidoo account for some reason or other (I sincerely hope this doesn't happen). But your website is your own asset, and you will have it forever (as long as you don’t default on your hosting and domain fees, of course).

Also, there are several other ways to send traffic to your Squidoo lens (hint: RSS, social bookmarking, etc.)!

In which part of your website should you send people from your article resource box? You may send them directly to a squeeze page, but I prefer to send people to an article page, where I either have an inline opt in form or a link to my squeeze page at the top fold.

Whatever you do, you shouldn't send them to an empty website, ok? That is not acceptable to EzineArticles. ;)

For this purpose, I write two articles on the same topic: I submit one to the article directories and keep the other for my own website. From my article resource box, I send people to this second article where they can get more information on the subject.

(For clarification, I submit both the articles to my website first; then, one of them is used for article marketing).

Question 6. I submit the same article first to EzineArticles and then IMMEDIATELY to other directories. Am I doing anything wrong?

This procedure is okay on its own, but I would suggest that you submit your article to your website first and then to EzineArticles, and wait for your article to get approved by them. If the EzineArticles editors see your article on other sites, two things might happen:

1. If they notice that both the publications have the same resource box, they will assume that you are the original author of the article, and will approve the article right away!

2. However, let us say that your article is picked up by some publishers (from the 'other' article directories) even before EzineArticles has approved your article. Let's assume that some of these publishers don’t give you the proper credit.

EzineArticles authors happen to find those 'unaccredited' articles, and they ask you whether you are the original author of the article or not.

In most cases, you will be able to solve the imbroglio, but it will slow down the approval process by a couple of days. For us marketers, time is money, and even a delay of a day or two can cost you money!

In rare and extreme cases, EzineArticles might suspend your account!

I hope this article helps a lot of newbie EzineArticles authors. Next EzineArticles question please! :D