Building Websites with Articles

I've been blogging occasionally over the last two months about my ongoing experiment with writing articles. This is a super hot topic lately with the changes going on at Google and Yahoo that are impacting many websites and basically freaking people out.

Now everybody knows that writing articles is a powerful technique. You knew that, right? And everybody is writing articles, right? No. Did I? Not until recently, though I wrote a lot in blogs and did post some articles I wrote on my sites. There's two parts to this for me. Writing, which I have been doing. Distributing. Which I hadn't been doing.

I finally came out of that fog and decided that I had to see what distribution might really do. Content, such as original articles is still the basic currency of the internet. People come onto the web looking for information. Content provides that information.

But, if the content is just sitting on a blog or posted in an article directory on one website, it has very limited exposure without links. Content may be the flesh of the web, but links are the bones, the underlying structure that allows things to found and accessed.

It's in our faces right here - the two basics that you can combine to really power a successful website. Content and links. Write articles AND publish/distribute them. Simple, basic, old style site building.

One technique many are using to build sites is to get other people's articles and put them up on their sites to provide related content. I do it, you do it, nearly everyone seems to. Other people publish ezines, but can't possibly write all the content they want to provide. This is the demand that exists, right now, for your articles. There is a deep, apparently bottomless need for quality content on nearly anything imaginable. And it won't go away.

Original content on your site is a great traffic booster. Distributing your content all over the internet gets you lots of incoming links - which over time could well continue to increase as your articles are picked up and redistributed. Plus you are generating a name for yourself and qualifying yourself as an expert. Experts write about what they know and discover. They share their knowledge. I'm not talking about anyone being a genius and discovering anti-gravity (and finally eliminating rocket science). I'm talking about what's already in your head and what you can learn, research and write about.

I wrote three articles on some basics concepts to keep in mind in building and developing successful eCommerce websites. They aren't hot hot hot 6 steps to infinite wealth type writing. They're basic and based on research. Then I distributed them to a couple (not all) of the big article directories and to a large group of relevant directories and lists through SubmitYourArticle.com (which I do recommend if you're looking for an excellent and reasonable article submission service). Here are the results as of this writing (June 28, 2005):

======== Pages Reported
======== Yahoo = Google = MSN = Pub Date
Article 1 . . . 610 . . . 320 . . . . 436 . . May 19th
Article 2 . . . 253 . . . 246 . . . . 269 . . June 1st
Article 3 . . 2060 . . .1000 . . . .239 . . June 14th

. . Total . . .2923 . . .1566 . . . .944

That's a lot of pages. Now, some of those won't have any live link. Yes, it does happen even though it really shouldn't. A lot of the sites it's on won't have much or any page rank and probably quite a few sites are not relevant. People aren't always careful about selecting relevant articles. Some will be on pages that won't pass rank. However, what's left are relevant incoming one-way links - some of which will be from sites with at least some authority. Say even 20% of the links are relevant and/or from sites with some rank. That's a minimum (I believe I'm being pretty conservative with the 20% figure) of over 1000 useful incoming links based on relevant content.

I was astonished. And then I felt really stupid - I knew this, but I really didn't GET it or I would have been writing and distributing from day 1. You're looking at the truth behind the power of articles and article distribution. No tricks, no fancy high powered tools, no big expensive anything at all.

Are you telling yourself you can't write articles? I'm telling you that you can. If you can talk, you can write. If you need help, there are lots of resources about how to write - some very good ones are free, some are quite inexpensive. Other tools are more expensive.

Ghostwriters are another alternative. A little tricky and possibly slightly expensive for really high quality work, but there's also a lot of information available on how to do it right.

My advice here is - whatever it takes, start publishing your own original content on your website and start distributing it now. For building long term success, there's very little you can do that will have anywhere near the same results.

Copyright 2005 Richard Keir

Richard teaches, trains and consults, on and off-line, on business and professional presentations, programming, site building and eCommerce. Visit http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.com for eCommerce articles, information, resources and links and check our blog at http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.com for opinion and ideas.

tidy up service Glenview ..
In The News:

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.
New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.
A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.
AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.
A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.
New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.
The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.
Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.
Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.
Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.
Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.
Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.
Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.
Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.
iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.
Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.
FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.
Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.
Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.
Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.
Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.
Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.
The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.
Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.
New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

Eight Tips for Ezine Writers

Have you ever wondered why Ezine Articles have become one... Read More

20 Ways Posting Unique Articles Online will Bring You Fame and Fortune

You're Invited... Visualize your article going out like a party... Read More

Seecrets on Website Promotion: The Hard Truths on Writing Free-reprint Articles

This author started with a clean website and wrote 5... Read More

Article Queries That Sell

Queries are not written like business letters or emails; they... Read More

How to Write Articles that Sell

In order to sell your article must do three things:1.... Read More

Article Marketing for Real Writers: Launch Your Freelance Career!

Looking to build your freelance writing career but don't know... Read More

Your Resourcebox Giving You Profits?

Rule number one - You must write ezine articles and... Read More

9 Top Ways To Get Ideas For Your Next High Quality Article

Thanks to recent information that leaked by Google within their... Read More

Article Syndication for Better Search Engine Position

If you're sick of being #987 for your best Google... Read More

Writing Articles Can Improve Your Online Marketing and Sales

Many people which in online business world find difficulties in... Read More

Article Marketing: the BETTER Offpage SEO Solution

Been reading up on SEO? If so, you know that... Read More

What to Look for in an Article Submission Site

Ease of Submission With so many article distribution sites out... Read More

Microsoft Word Smart Quotes and Article Marketers Dont Mix

By default, Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks (... Read More

How to Write Great Movie Reviews for Your Entertainment Website

If you have an entertainment website then you're always looking... Read More

Consultants - Writing Articles for the Internet Blankets the World with Your Expertise and Style

A Consultant could be an expert about absolutely anything.Calling yourself... Read More

How To Write and Publish A Successful Ezine Article

The ezine article is of major importance to the world... Read More

Do You Know the 7 Essential Parts that Make Up a Resource Box

The Whole reason you write those articles is so you... Read More

Why a Good-Quality Photo Should Accompany Your Articles

I'm betting that that 3 out of 4 of you... Read More

How To Massively Multiply Your Web Exposure AND Position Yourself As An Expert

What's the quickest, easiest way to get exposure for your... Read More

Do You Have the Characteristics of an Article Writer?

In order to answer the question I've just asked in... Read More

Why Article Writing is Increasingly Important in This SPAM Era

There is no doubt that Spam has affected online business... Read More

50,000 Articles Indeed

How is it possible to turn an idea into the... Read More

Article Writing: How to Sound Like the Expert You Are

You, too, can become a recognized expert in your specialized... Read More

Four Article Marketing Secrets to Boost Your Internet Home Business Profits

Many internet home business owners today have learnt that one... Read More

Article Writing: Breaking Writers Block

It is amazing to see how much we all still... Read More

maid service near Winnetka ..