There are an ever increasing number of article directories springing up, attemting to take advantage of the popularity that has become of writing articles as a form of website promotion. I have seen many people on various article marketing forums asking as to how many article directories they should be submitting their articles to and which ones. In this article I write about the article directories which I use.

EzineArticles

The first directory that I ever posted an article to was the ever popular ezinearticles. It has only been around a year but I have to say that it seems like about five years. This directory was recommended to me by a friend who offers online guitar lessons such as the drifting guitar lesson and in my opinion is certainly one of the best. Prior to being published on their site they conduct a review of the article to ensure that it meets their editorial guidelines – this is what makes this article marketing directory stand out from the crowd – well it is one of the things.

I have noticed many of my own articles appearing in the main search engines, some after only a few days of being published. One of the first articles I submitted was called stuttering and its effects, this article is still placed in the top ten of google after many months.

If you are only planning on submitting your article to one directory this is the one I would advise that you use.

Goarticles

Many people, including a business contact who writes articles about obtaining cheap calls, have told me that they prefer to use goarticles when looking for an article to add to their site. For this reason alone, I always ensure that I submit my article to this directory.

Articlealley

One of the main things that impresses me about article alley is the fact that they also publish your articles on a couple of their other websites. What is more you do not even have to do any additional work. Additional exposure is always good.

Articledasboard

I been reading on some of the SEO forums that this particular directory could be the next “big thing”; I will keep my eye on its progress. The site has a page rank of six which is always a good sign.

Ideamarketers

This directory is my fifth choice in order of merit and has many interesting articles.

It is hard to know how many of these directories people should be submitting their article to. I have been given lots of different advice on this subject and have decided to come up with my own conclusion. I personally normally submit my articles to around twenty of these sites but always the five above.

Your website's content is the key to SEO.  While it is true that using title tags and meta tags may increase your presence in a search engine’s results pages (SERPs), if your keywords are not linked to interesting content, particularly that comprised of quality article writing, you won’t be able to hold the attention of internet users who manage to land on your site.

So appearing in the first page of SERPs is not enough – good SEO ensures that you remain there.  You should be able to create and arrange the content on your site to make it usable and valuable for your reader.  SEO, therefore, requires a special style of article writing.

Research has shown that people can spend less than 10 seconds on a page on average.  Moreover, internet users do not usually view the other pages of a website after checking the first page. For a reader to click through the other pages of your website, your site should have the following basic qualities:

Eye-catching subject heading
Your article should stand out in order to capture an internet user’s attention.   To do this, your title tag should contain interesting keywords that are sure to arouse the curiosity of your reader. Moreover, your page’s headline should also be relevant to the body of the article. 

Quality content
Articles need to be engaging to the extent that readers will want to click on any links you include.To get your site's visitors to return, you need to regularly provide well-written, original SEO articles.

Credibility
Presentation is important in article writing. Your articles should appear credible to your reader. SEO article writing, therefore, entails research and a good command of English to earn the trust and respect of your intended reader. Only use material from reputable providers and be sure to proof read before publishing.

Call to action
Your article should end with a call to action which will lead your reader to take whatever steps you want them to – try a new product, read more information on another page or avail of a special offer on your website. 

Improving your website's SEO can be achieved by a variety of techniques.Of the techniques that SEO experts use, excellent quality articles and dynamic title tags are shown to improve SEO, which in turn will bring targeted prospects to your website to then ideally become clients.

Almost anyone can throw an article together, but for it to become an SEO article requires special techniques, particularly the correct placement of keywords. Keyword stuffing – a technique used by poor quality article writing services – is frowned upon by the search engines.  Getting the formula just right requires practice.

If writing is not your forte, and outsourcing it will allow you to focus more on your business, invest in an top quality outsource article writer, who has proven success, and the ability to deliver to your high standards.