Can I Submit an Article From My Blog to Article Directories?

16 replies
I just published a new blog and loaded it with unique content - wrote all of them myself.

Do I need to write more articles to submit to article directories, or is it legal to submit one of the articles on my blog seeing as they are mine and not someone else's work. When I say article directories I'm not including EzineArticles.

Also, can I load my blog with content from article directories? I'm not afraid of writing; just want to make my work easier - got loads of things to do and no cash to outsource.

Thanks, people.

samuel
#article #blog #directories #submit
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Hi Samuel,

    Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

    Do I need to write more articles to submit to article directories, or is it legal to submit one of the articles on my blog seeing as they are mine and not someone else's work.
    Not only legal, but recommended - with a resource-box link back to your landing-page, of course (not so good to use a link back to the original copy).

    With some article directories, it's important to submit them in the same name/pen-name as the name under which they're published on your own site.

    This current little thread will interest you.

    Don't let anyone tell you that the backlinks attached to the articles you submit from your blog to article directories will be worth any more if you "spin"/edit/change the content. It's nonsense, but there are lot of people promoting "spinning software" who like to perpetuate these myths. It's often "debated" here, and the current thread discussing it is here. :rolleyes:

    Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

    When I say article directories I'm not including EzineArticles.
    Personally, I'd recommend that directory more than any other. They welcome (and, in fact, specifically invite) articles already published on the authors' blogs/sites, as long as they comply with the editorial guidelines.

    Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

    Also, can I load my blog with content from article directories?
    You can.

    That's what they're there for, after all: to provide freely available content for webmasters.

    Subject to the terms of service of service of each individual directory - of course - which will always specify that you need to include the authors' resource-boxes and backlinks with the articles.

    The content itself, if you choose good articles, can be good for your readers and your blog, but the SEO value to your site, when you do this, is limited. Your on-page SEO will be helped much more when you publish your own articles on your blog first, and have them indexed there before submitting them to directories or elsewhere.

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

      I just published a new blog and loaded it with unique content - wrote all of them myself.
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Not only legal, but recommended - with a resource-box link back to your landing-page, of course (not so good to use a link back to the original copy).
      Worth pointing out that although you have published them on your blog, you should at least wait until they have been picked up and indexed by the search engines before posting them elsewhere. This may take a little longer considering your blog is brand new.
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      • Profile picture of the author MrWhistler
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        Worth pointing out that although you have published them on your blog, you should at least wait until they have been picked up and indexed by the search engines before posting them elsewhere. This may take a little longer considering your blog is brand new.
        Many thanks.

        All the posts are indexed by google. It's a 3-week old blog. I also added my sitemap url to Google Webmasters.

        I need to know if there is any free tool to automate the article submission or if I should do it manually.

        Thanks again.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

          Now I need to know if there is any free tool to automate the article submission or if I should do it manually.
          There are tools to automate submissions to article directories. I don't know whether there are any free ones worth using.

          I've used some of them, a while ago, but now I only ever do this manually.

          In my opinion, there's only a very small number of article directories worth using for this purpose, anyway.

          This thread gives a range of opinions on the subject and is worth a good read. There's a page and a half of it, but really worth the effort.
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        • Profile picture of the author admnaffii
          Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

          All the posts are indexed by google. It's a 3-week old blog. I also added my sitemap url to Google Webmasters.

          Now I need to know if there is any free tool to automate the article submission or if I should do it manually.
          don't believe in any automation software for submitting your article. always perform manually all the submission.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrWhistler
    Wow! Thanks to all, wonderful people.

    I now see why many people prefer to outsource. I wish I had the cash. I have to work, and I'm not going to stop till I see it through. The only way forward is forward.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Peterson
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    • Profile picture of the author MrWhistler
      Originally Posted by Ken Peterson View Post

      hi friends,
      I don't know about the Automated tool for article submission but a website available when you enter article in that site, it will spread that article with other article website automatically.
      Would you mind sharing the site url, please?
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    Originally Posted by MrWhistler View Post

    Also, can I load my blog with content from article directories? I'm not afraid of writing; just want to make my work easier - got loads of things to do and no cash to outsource.
    You absolutely can, Samuel, as Alexa and some of the others have pointed out.

    One thing I would definitely recommend before you do, though, is make sure that your blog posts will also work as articles. Here's what I mean - articles are (and should be) written conversationally. However, they're still a bit more formal than blog posts. For example, you might make personal observations or offer personal opinions in a blog post, that you wouldn't include in an article. In an article, people simply want information. In a blog posting, people want information *and* your take on it - which is why blogs are alot more laid back.

    Personally, my own blog postings wouldn't work well as articles That's because my blog postings are shorter than traditional articles (and, in some cases, shorter than the minimum word count on the directories) and they offer some personal thoughts, too.

    You might have blog postings that will work well as stand-alone articles. Or, they might need some tweaking before you can post them on an article directory. Just take an honest look at your blog postings and see if they will work.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrWhistler
    I started out with standard 300-500 word articles. The short posts will come later. Thanks for pointing that out, though. It never crossed my mind.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ken Peterson
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author dcrdomains
        In my opinion, there's only a very small number of article directories worth using for this purpose, anyway.
        Would you mind telling us which article directories are worth it in your opinion?

        Thanks!
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        • Profile picture of the author Alan Ashwood
          Just trust Nicole Beckett and Alexa Smith say on this subject.

          I more or less posted the same query myself, and went with their answers.

          They are correct. In simple terms:
          1. Write your original content article for your blog
          2. Wait for it to be indexed by Google
          3. Submit AS IS to article directories - DON'T BOTHER SPINNING.
          Cheers

          Alan
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          Now where did I put that pencil?

          Time for a cuppa.
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  • Profile picture of the author uqmoore
    Sorry, just to make sure.

    If I write articles for my site, I can submit the exact same, unchanged article to article submission sites as long as I use the same pen name AND wait until my article is indexed by google?

    There's no duplicate content risk?

    In checking articlebase today I see many articles that were obviously "spun" so I figured I needed to do the same thing.

    Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      Sorry, just to make sure.

      If I write articles for my site, I can submit the exact same, unchanged article to article submission sites as long as I use the same pen name AND wait until my article is indexed by google?
      Yes, you can.

      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      There's no duplicate content risk?
      Nope. Duplicate content refers to content that's duplicated on your *own* site. So, if you published the same article on 10 different pages on your site, it would count as duplicate. However, if you submit the same article to 10 different directories, it will be counted as "syndicated".

      All of those 10 articles may not show up in the search results, though. Since the search engines don't want a page of results that are all the same article (just on different websites), they will show 1 and put the other 9 results in what's called the "supplemental index" (or, what you see when you click on "similar" in the Google results). But winding up with articles in the supplemental index is not a penalty


      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      In checking articlebase today I see many articles that were obviously "spun" so I figured I needed to do the same thing.
      Absolutely not! Since there is no "duplicate content penalty" by submitting the same article to different directories, there is no reason to spin any of them.

      Let me ask... when you saw those spun articles, what did you think? Did you have more respect for the writer? Or, did you think the writer was a clown for posting "obviously spun" content. That should answer your question
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      If I write articles for my site, I can submit the exact same, unchanged article to article submission sites as long as I use the same pen name AND wait until my article is indexed by google?
      Correct.

      You can do it even without waiting for Google to index your article, but that would be ill-advised.

      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      There's no duplicate content risk?
      There's no duplicate content risk, because there's no duplicate content. There's only syndicated content. They're two very, very different things.

      Nevertheless, most (typically not all) of the article directory copies will probably be indexed in Google's supplemental index, rather than in the main index. That doesn't make their backlinks worth any less, though.

      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      In checking articlebase today I see many articles that were obviously "spun" so I figured I needed to do the same thing.
      No, indeed not.

      The fact you could see they were "obviously spun" speaks volumes. They're typical volumes, but they're not good volumes.

      Today's "spinning discussion" (complete with a statutory 'dissenting opinion') is here. That's just today's, you understand. Just like a smoothly running transport timetable, there'll be another one along tomorrow.

      This post from earlier today also answers your question, I think.

      Edited to add: oops ... sorry, I was typing while Nicole posted, just above. Beaten to it ...

      PS "Article submission sites" (the words in your post) is an ambiguous term: Nicole and I have both answered your question with regard to article directories. There are also other non-directory sites to which one can submit articles, of course - and they each have their own terms of service and guidelines.
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  • Profile picture of the author uqmoore
    Thank you both!

    I'm reading through the threads Alexa posted earlier in this thread and I'm learning a lot. Much appreciated!

    Let me ask... when you saw those spun articles, what did you think?
    Well, I first learned about the best spinner when I found this site yesterday. I watched the TBS video and thought, "Wow, this is great!"

    Then I went to article base today to scope out similar articles. Almost all of the ones that came up in my searches appeared to be spun. I then thought, "Wow, spinning sucks!" :rolleyes:

    I can see using spinning to prop up some autoblogs or other quick buck stuff. On my current project I plan to focus on creating good articles. After they get indexed on my site, I hope to post them some place where they can get syndicated (including links to my site of course).

    Thanks again!
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    • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
      Originally Posted by uqmoore View Post

      Well, I first learned about the best spinner when I found this site yesterday. I watched the TBS video and thought, "Wow, this is great!"

      Then I went to article base today to scope out similar articles. Almost all of the ones that came up in my searches appeared to be spun. I then thought, "Wow, spinning sucks!" :rolleyes:
      LOL! Don't worry... you're certainly not the first person to have those reactions (and you certainly won't be the last). When I first heard about spinners, I tried one, just to see what all the hype was about (not for a client's work BTW ) It didn't take long for me to feel like I was drowning in brackets. And, in the end, nothing came out that I couldn't write better myself (and in less time!)
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