Imagine the scenario: you’ve just completed an amazing article, you know in your own mind it will be well received, everything about this article is great – but you have nowhere to put it!

So where do I place this content refugee? Article directories, on my website, on an online newswire or do I find a great third party site? There is no one answer, but one thing is for sure: article directories are a no- no. Quality content should be positioned in such a place so you gain a readership, links, social media signals and a return on the time you invested in writing the article. Here is our breakdown of the pros and cons of posting on each platform…

On my own website

If possible, always post your content on your own website. Not only does it create fresh content for your site (ideal for the post -Panda world) but it also creates those much sought-after links pointing back to your site. Links are not the only perk.  An increase in site traffic, social media shares and potential sales all make posting content on your site more attractive. If you decide to post content on your site, make sure you market the content in the right way. This means using social bookmarks, social networking, e-mail and word of mouth techniques (outreach) to maximise the reach of your content. Posting content on to your website is not always the best answer, however.  If you have produced content that could feature on sites with higher readerships, maybe you should start looking at third party sites.

Online newswires

Maybe not the cheapest method, but posting your content to online newswires is the least time-consuming. Online newswires such as PR Web are a great way to get your content “out there” and picked up by various news outlets or online magazines. For a modest charge, a newswire will post your content to hundreds of online news outlets who may (or may not) pick up on your content. Regardless of take-up rates, newswires provide great link juice.  You can also add anchor text links and an author ‘bio’ link.

Guest blog post

This method is probably the most time-consuming (and maybe the most difficult) –  but  it’s well worth the effort. Guest posts provide you with potentially priceless anchor text links and improve your link portfolio. Difficulties arise with guest posting when trying to source an appropriate site/blog to publish your content. When deciding on this, you need to ask yourself a few questions:

• What is the Page and Domain Authority of the site on which you’re posting?
• What is the Page Rank of the site?
• How many RSS subscribers does this site have?
• Does the site have a readership that shares content via social media regularly?

If the site ticks all the boxes, you are left with the task of persuading the site owner  to publish your content. This is the difficult part – often referred to as outreach.  It can be carried out through social media, e-mail, over the phone or any other means of communication. Remember, having your content published on one site with a high PR can be 100 times more powerful than  1000 low PR links.

Why article directories are a no-no

Article directories have steadily been downgraded in their link building importance by the search engines. They hold little weight and have been downgraded in the name of quality control.  Article directories are not monitored; they will publish almost anything; and you’ll probably have few readers.