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We've talked about the purpose of article directories and how when you get your article published on a directory that the chances of your article being re-published compound.
Now, who are these websites that are picking up your article for publication at the article directories?
Well, sometimes they're ezine editors, sometimes they're blog owners, sometimes they're folks with websites who want to have a good article waiting for their target readers when they arrive at their site.
You don't get to pick and choose which sites pick up your article for publication any more than the author of a book in the library gets to choose who checks it out.
But what if someone from an smaller or brand new website reprints your article on their site? That isn't a high ranking website that can bolster your rankings in Google–what's the purpose of that?
There are a few key things you need to know:
Article Marketing Builds Traffic In 2 Ways : Directly and Indirectly
Sometimes folks get "link building tunnel vision", and they only focus on the SEO benefits of link building, forgetting that the links that article marketing builds traffic to your website in 2 ways:
1) Indirect Traffic - by building up the value that search engines ascribe to your site leading to a higher ranking in the search engine results pages. This is what folks commonly think of as link building–by building links to your site, it affects Google's estimation of your site's value. It's true, not all links are created equal. A link from a higher ranking site will pack more SEO punch than a link from a lower ranking site, so that may make you wonder what's the purpose of having your article published on a smaller site. We'll get more into that in a bit, but one of the benefits of being published on any site is…
2) Direct Traffic – by people reading your article and clicking on the link in your resource box leading to your website.
So, when you do article marketing people may be directed to your website through finding you through as search engine, or they may be a reader of a website where your article is published. I think the best example of the value of direct traffic from article marketing is being published in an ezine.
Remember how when we talked about the special perks that go with being published in an ezine?
You reach the inboxes of a very specific target market. Most ezines are very specific in their topic and target market, so if your article is picked up for publication by an ezine you have the opportunity for your article to be emailed directly to people who are interested in what you're writing about (now that's a plus!).
You can reach people you might not normally come into contact with. People who read your article in an ezine did not have to do a search for your article topic in Google–they simply subscribed to a particular newsletter and then the newsletter containing your article showed up in their inbox. The reader did no work to find your article other than subscribing to the newsletter.
They can bring a dramatic surge of immediate traffic. Publication in a major ezine can bring a surge of traffic over a few days. Of course every time your article is picked up by an ezine editor your resource box is included along with a link back to your website. It depends on how big the ezine editors list is (it could be 50 people, or it could be 50,000) as to how much traffic publication in an ezine can bring, but even if the ezine subscriber base is on the small side, it's still exposure to a targeted readership, and every little bit counts!
Your article gets spotlighted attention. Most ezines are limited in length–they don't run on and on with hundreds of articles. Usually there are just a few articles in the ezine (maybe even just one), so if your article is chosen to appear in an email newsletter you are pretty much getting the undivided attention of whoever is on that email list.
Yet, when your article gets published in an ezine you do not get the SEO impact of the backlink in your resource box. Yes, the ezine editor will include your resource box with a backlink to your site, but when Google does its evaluating of incoming links it does not value a link coming from an email.
Still, without a doubt there is much to be gained from getting the direct traffic and exposure from being published in an email newsletter.
In the same way, there is still benefit to being published on a newbie website that isn't packing much SEO punch yet because…
Your Best Customers Can Be Found Anywhere
Even if a site is not HUGE, it still has readers, and those are targeted readers for your article.
When a publisher decides to reprint your article they choose your article based on the topic, that the topic of your article will appeal to their readers.
So, let's say it's a new site that is low in the rankings in Google, and they have 100 visitors a day. That's 100 chances that a potential customer from your target market will see your article published on that person's website.
Would you turn that opportunity down? I think not.
Anyone who is trying to market their website, business and products knows that your best customer can be found anywhere–there is nothing that says that your best customers will only find you through doing a Google search or through finding your article on a top ranking directory.
They may find your article on a smaller website that is developing very targeted readership.
Rankings Change, and Websites Grow
Think about this–the highest ranking websites on the net started out unknown.
All websites are at various stages of growth, and just because a website is brand new and small today doesn't mean that it will always be that way.
When the site gets more established, its ranking will go up and so will the impact of that precious backlink from that site.
So, if you're ever wondering if there is any point in having your article published on a site that's either small or in the growth stage, I'd say:
Think proactively.
Think about the long term impact.
Think about the potential.
We all know that websites change ranking all the time and that we're not confined to staying at the same ranking forever (thank goodness!)  .
Some of the newbie sites that pick up your article are quality sites that will grow and get more powerful as time goes on. It's nice to get a link from that site and ride the upward escalator of their success.
So, this is a bit like independent bookstores vs. the mega bookstores–if you had a book that you wanted folks to buy, would you decline to place it in the smaller independent bookstores? Those stores don't do the volume that Barnes and Noble and Amazon do, but the exposure they offer is still of value
And to top it off, when you submit your article to an article directory, you don't have any say over the size or powerful-ness of the website that picks up your article for publication–so why sweat it?
Folks who use a quality article submission service like SubmitYOURArticle.com do so because they want to save themselves time and increase the scope of their articles' exposure. We submit to the "mega-sized sites" on the net, as well as the "independent bookstore size sites" and everything in between, radically increasing the chances of your article being seen by your target readers and driving traffic to your site. If you'd like to sign up, we'd be happy to welcome you.
Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)
Posted: Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 12:00 am
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September 26th, 2008 at 1:18 am
So true in regards to wanting the smaller sites as well as the large one. Picking up pockets of readers from all over. This also keeps your links spread out and varied – and natural.
Paying attention to who has posted your articles can also be a good way to discover sources of people in your niche. Locate these smaller sites and perhaps there are some additional business things you can do together to boost your client lists.
Once your article is posted, that should just be the beginning – marketing that article will not happen by itself. There are many things you can do to enhance the readership of an article to increase your site traffic. Insn’t that what it’s really about?
September 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Hi John,
Yes, you’ve got some great points. Thanks so much for chiming in
January 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
[...] Is There Any Benefit To Having A Smaller Website Publish My Article? Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com) [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Hi Steve,
Is there any way to know which article directories give permanent links and which do not? About 18 months ago I spent a lot of time getting my articles on a lot of sites. Recently, I have started round two – only to find that many of those sites have deleted my articles (thus, links too). So, I decided to check a backlink service and find which sites have kept my articles live – and I want to commit to getting more of my articles with them. I guess I see this as they have been faithful to me so I want to be faithful to them and give them more of my work. Am I mistaken in this?
January 15th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I recommend submitting to all regardless of date of rank. The site will have some traffic that may be interested in your site.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Thanks for the article…I think it is important that writers/publishers don’t forget the small sites/businesses out there.
I am always seeking new article submissions on my parenting resource site http://littlebytesnews.com…and moms blog at http://mamastimeout.com if anyone is interested in reaching that demographic feel free to contact me or join the sites to get published.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Re: John Halderman
Excellently said, my man.
James Mangosteen Dean
January 15th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Thanks Steve,
Article writting has never been something that i have done or like to do. I just don’t like to write,…plain and simple. Yet, i have within the last week finally outrsourced this requirement because of all the benefits you’ve stated. Benefits which i have known for quite some time.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I have to say that out of all the emails I get, yours is one of the one I must read. Keep up the good work.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Hi Robin,
You had asked “Is there any way to know which article directories give permanent links and which do not?”
It’s always up to the publisher as to whether they give a “permanent” link or not, and I’m not sure of the circumstances as to why your articles were removed from some of the websites you submitted to, but I can say that generally speaking that article directories like to accumulate quality content (articles), and I have not noticed a lot of publishers removing content soon after it’s published.
Again, it’s sort of like the library–there are books in there that have been in there for years and years (”permanently”), and then sometimes I’m sure that they “clean house” and remove some books so that fresh ones can come in, but the majority of books at the library stay where they are for years and years.
But no matter what website you submit to, you will not get a guarantee that your article will remain there forever and ever (although many times it may!)
–this is why I think it’s important to submit to as many quality publishers as possible using an automatic article submission service like SubmitYOURArticle.com
For one burst of effort with an article the article is distributed to many target publishers most of whom have directly requested to receive articles from our members. That really helps save time and maximizes the exposure of your article and the impact of your article marketing campaign.
I hope that helps!
June 4th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
[...] Is There Any Benefit To Having My Article Published On A Smaller Website? – explains the 2 ways that Article Marketing builds traffic and why it’s important to submit to as many targeted websites as possible, both big and small. [...]
August 31st, 2009 at 1:08 am
I never ever post but this time I will,Thanks alot for the great blog.