directory to thousands of information and resource on the web..
There are many websites that will host your articles on the Internet. Some small, some large, some with guidelines, some without, some support streams of topics, some have a limited focus, some charge a fee and some are free.
With so many places to post your articles how can you maximize distribution with the least amount of effort? You can do so by being selective. Post your articles only on sites that support your topic, have integrity, and have a win/win approach. Since no two websites are alike. Here are a few features to watch for when considering your articles for submission:
1. Search capabilities. When you are at the website is there a search feature visitors can use to find a certain topic? If the page or pages list articles one after the other down a long page readers will not get past the first 20 names. Actually they will not even read that many. Web viewers do not have the patience to scroll through rows of titles trying to find the right subject.
2. How user friendly is the website? If the article section is buried inside a website and you have difficulty figuring out how to submit your article you will want to consider submitting your articles to this site.
3. What is the purpose of the website? Is that purpose supportive of your article, topic, and purpose or detrimental? Is it a sales page just trying to drive up search engine optimization under false pretenses? don't be fooled there are many of them out there. Is the host of the website apparent or nonexistent? Can you find a phone number or location -- city, state or country?
4. Submission guidelines. Some websites stipulate a word count, minimum, maximum or range. If your article doesn't meet their word count stipulations your article will normally not get published. Take them seriously and take the time to read them. More importantly find a system to track these. I have a rating system I use with 1 being the perfect submission site on up to 15 being an absolutely no. I keep track of the no website sites so that when I'm looking for new sites I know which ones I have already reviewed.
Since website owners change, just as we do as we learn and grow with our skills, guidelines change occasionally as well. I recommend reviewing the guidelines either every three months or at least ever six. Some sites have gotten sneaky and post good guidelines and then change to "we have the copyright now" sites when you are least expecting it.
There are also a few sneaky submission sites that are counting on you not reading their guidelines. These sites stipulate in their guidelines that upon submission the author gives up their copyright on the article. Some are blatantly labeled while others are hidden inside obscure legalize.
Some sites stipulate that you give them permission to use your material in anything they print or publish. This means that they can accumulate articles on a certain subject, and this is their usual intention, put them together in an ebook and sell the ebook. While some of you will not mind this and consider it viral marketing there are some dangers in this. And this author knows because this has occurred to her materials before she became wise to the secret purpose.
5. Statistics. There are very few websites that provide reader statistics. I love the websites that tell me how many people read the article. I want to know if a particular topic is well read. Many sites prefer not to post reader statistics. I suspect it is because writers would see that there is a very low count and submitting their articles. Voting on the article is a nice feature, however, it is not really a vital statistic counter. Maybe 1 out of 10 to 15 views will someone take the time to vote. If the voting feature is remotely positioned viewers never know of its existence. Even if this feature is position well on the page -- above the article to let readers know its there and immediately below the article -- readers will rarely vote unless the article was awful.
Article hosting and posting is a joint venture -- view it as such -- and you will maximize your time and effort.
Copyright 2005, Catherine Franz.
Catherine Franz, Millionaire Coach, thinks outside the box naturally when it comes to attracting money. Order her latest strategy, How To "Get 'Them' To Follow Your Yellow Brick Road" report (for professionals, consultants, employees, and retail store owners). http://www.marketingstrategiestogo.com
Most website owners fail to differentiate between a directory and search engine, failure to do so has resulted in failure to harness the powers of Internet directory effectively.
Search engine uses the spiders – (an automated software program) to locate and collect data from web pages for inclusion in a search engine's database and to follow links to find new pages on the World Wide Web. While directories depends on human editors, who in most cases examine every single new listing before they are added to their directory. Most major search engines these days use links from human edited directory to measure the quality of the site they index. That is why you should place emphasis on the type of website or directory you list to and how to do that effectively.
Below here are the steps to be followed, before you will list in most human edited Internet directories that place emphasis on building an effective directory. DMOZ, Yahoo and other new human edited directories consider the following before they consider your site for inclusion.
(1) Design or look of your website:
Is your website properly designed? Most website owners do not take into consideration on how their website is designed. The look or design of your website is the most important factor for success in web marketing – its effectiveness also applies to site visitors. Website designers offer to help you create an effective website that will boost your website marketing and also enhance your site visitors experience thereby increasing sales or repeated visits. Spending money in building an effective website for Internet marketing should be the first step for Internet marketing success.
(2) Follow Directories Submission Guideline(s) Carefully:
Reading the instructions before submitting to directories is one of the keys to success to listing effectively in directories. You can neglect or even bypass the instructions in most search engines since spiders can take care of your listings, while in directories the result is the opposite. Make it a point of duty to read twice the instructions in every directory you are listing in and follow what they need.
(3) Telephone Number in Shopping Sites:
Most directories rate shopping sites without a phone contact as an affiliate sites. Telephone also plays a very important role in selling products to Internet shoppers. Most 85% of Internet shoppers may not buy from shopping sites that do not include a contact address or telephone number or both. One question that goes in the shoppers mind is – what will happen if I need to call for help? For technical support, returns etc. The same emphases are placed by editors of most directories like Yahoo, Dmoz and other new directories.
Although this rule may not apply to some paid directories, but there are some paid directories that still adhere to the above principle. Most paid directories may not refund your payment when they fail to include your listing in their directory.
(4) Listing with the Right Title, Description and Keywords To Appropriate Category:
Lay emphasis in the Title, Description and Keywords you are using when submitting to directories. Make it a point of duty to study the directory you are submitting to, prior to submission and find out how majority of their listings are placed. Use simple keywords or phrases that relates to your site content. Do not include keywords that do not relate to your site content, since most directories rely on keywords to structure results, placing wrong keywords may inflame some editors.
Since most major search engines these days lay emphasis on quality links from human edited websites like directories, make it a point of duty to do your homework and save time doing it.
Copyright © 2005, Ezilon.com
Charles Hopkins is a developer and senior editor for Ezilon Search Engine and Directory. Website: http://search.ezilon.com - North American Directory (Submit your website and search The United States and Canadian Websites).
Now I know many people will say what? That goes against everything most have learned. You start a website then submit to search engines. That is something we need to do and something that is very important but it's not the most important and not the only thing we need to do.
We do need to submit to the search engines, but you should not pay to submit to hundred's and thousands of search engines. Think about it, there are only a handful of popular search engines. You've never heard of the other thousand engines, so chances are millions of other people have never heard of them either. So why pay $50 or more to a company who claims they will get you top spot in a bunch of search engines that most people won't use.
You can be the only website listed in that engine and it wouldn't matter. If no one is there to search on it, then they can't find you now can they? There are also businesses claiming that they will get you into google, yahoo, msn, and other popular search engines in 24 hours. Those claims are hard because I don't know the methods or if they are even ethical, but most popular search engines, especially google, can take weeks and months to get into and it's hard to say whether or not this company is actually telling the truth about letting you in.
There are many ways to get your website out there. After submitting to the top search engines, search for popular directories and submit your website. This can be more time consuming because there are hundreds of directories. Start with yahoo and dmoz directories. They are two of the most popular ones. There are also software in which you can submit to directories semi-automatically. Not fully automatic because most directories need you to fill in information that the softwares usually can't.
Another tip for getting your website noticed is to get a budget you can live with and advertise with adwords. If you do it right you can be spending less money than if you go with an advertising company. They can cost hundred's and thousands of dollars.
The most important one, but the hardest is getting sites to link in. Linking in means that other websites have a link to your website. It's really good because if this site is in high standing with google, yahoo, alexa and has a good page rank, then google will take notice that and your page rank can go up. Doing this is hard because you need to find similar websites that aren't direct competition and see if they will place a link on their site or trade links, or even sell a little ad space. If you ask 20 websites, then realistically only 1 in that 20 might say yes. So like I said it's difficult. Also only trade or get linked in with sites that complement yours. If you sell clothes you shouldn't link to a site that sells car parts. That will only hurt you with the search engines.
Written by Marsha James
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