ezinearticles... i think they're losing it

by thedog
69 replies
I've had a heap of articles rejected by ezinearticles of late, quality articles... I paid good money for em

Anyway, there was a vague, doesn't lead to good content reason. After contesting this, got a mail back saying that the article leads to the same article on my site... so I guess they're playing that game now.

Also, get this... they accuse me of plagiarism and give me a link to a similar article from a site thats a few weeks old... my site is 6 months old, and this article was published 2 months ago.

WTF!
#ezinearticles #loosing
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    I can't speak to the plagiarism charge, but as for the other, think about it...

    If you were a reader rather than a marketer, and you clicked the link in an article you just read, and saw the exact same article again, would you be impressed? Or would you look for a different source of information, skipping EZA?

    Enough poor experiences, and people develop a form of 'banner blindness', where they see the address of a site that has disappointed them in the search results and ignore it.

    That's what EZA hopes to avoid.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      I can't speak to the plagiarism charge, but as for the other, think about it...

      If you were a reader rather than a marketer, and you clicked the link in an article you just read, and saw the exact same article again, would you be impressed? Or would you look for a different source of information, skipping EZA?

      Enough poor experiences, and people develop a form of 'banner blindness', where they see the address of a site that has disappointed them in the search results and ignore it.

      That's what EZA hopes to avoid.
      Fair point, but there's also video... plus the other link on eza goes to the main page with lots of other content.
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  • Profile picture of the author derekmichael02
    I've been frustrated with them, too, but I do see their point... they have been abused in the past.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
    I would do the exact same thing as EzineArticles - but they should have started a long time ago. In the beginning they let stuff like that slide and gradually have become more strict which has forced people to become frustrated with them. But from what I've seen, EzineArticles is pretty frustrated with Google's Panda update and it is effecting some of their policies.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    I paid good money for em
    Is it possible that they weren't quite as original as you thought?

    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    After contesting this, got a mail back saying that the article leads to the same article on my site...
    Be grateful to EZA that they prevented you from having them published that way. Seriously, it makes no sense at all to link from an article to another copy of the same article: you'd lose all your traffic!

    With apologies for sounding so unsympathetic (), EZA editors are clearly right to decline articles for that reason, and are actually doing you a favor, here.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Is it possible that they weren't quite as original as you thought?
      Nope, they're awesome!

      I'm just looking for a backlink here. Guess this method doen't work around those parts no more.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by creature View Post

        Maybe they just instituted this policy within the past week?
        Nooooo ... a long time ago.

        They're not entirely consistent how they apply it, though. By their own admission (on their blog - stated surprisingly openly), the less they like the content to start with, and the more "derivative" they feel it is, the more likely they are to give people a hard time about the link. It's the combination they don't like, really.

        But this business of linking back to a copy (or near-copy) of the same article, to put it very mildly indeed, really is a "second-best" idea, anyway.

        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        Nope, they're awesome!

        I'm just looking for a backlink here. Guess this method doen't work around those parts no more.
        LOL ... who cares whether it works or not? All you can get from an article directory is a non-context-relevant PR-0 backlink anyway. 100,000 of those backlinks and $3.50 will get you a cappuccino at starbucks. :p

        Seriously, if you want a backlink worth something, article directories are not your port of call. It was never what they were there for in the first place, and the Panda hammered them into oblivion.

        Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

        As a result they lost a lot of earnings and they are trying to filter out any duplicate content, in other words they want the content that you upload to be only on their site....
        This is totally wrong, Yoel! I'm extremely surprised to see you, of all people, repeating something so absolutely without foundation. It's just nonsense. They even explain clearly and openly on their own blog that this isn't so, at all.
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        • Profile picture of the author creature
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It's the combination they don't like, really.

          linking back to a copy (or near-copy) of the same article.

          OK - I think I finally got it. It's fine to use your blog posts and web page content in article syndication - just don't link back to the actual source, but some other page or your home page.

          This wasn't clear as I asked recently about using your own site content as articles and everyone said...sure...but everyone left out the part (maybe it should have been obvious) about linking to something other than the source of the derived article.

          Is this the "real deal" in a nutshell? :confused:
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        • Profile picture of the author Yoel Cohen
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          Where do people keep hearing this nonsense? :confused: It certainly isn't from EZA...
          WOW...

          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post


          This is totally wrong, Yoel! I'm extremely surprised to see you, of all people, repeating something so absolutely without foundation. It's just nonsense. They even explain clearly and openly on their own blog that this isn't so, at all.
          WOW again!

          ....\

          First of all this is my opinion..to back it up...look at this:
          ezinearticles.com 5,668,969 UVs for September 2011 | Compete

          This will give the rough estimate...of the drop in traffic..
          A result: A drop in adsense earnings..

          Perhaps, I should have started my post with "In my opinion..."
          Now, I have nothing against EZA...far from it.

          I still use them and quite frankly it still does the work for me.

          Their blog post: read it and understood it...I also read newspapers..

          Not everything you read _______________...

          By the way: Linking to the ORIGINAL article on your site is perfectly fine...(According to Matt Cuts and even recommended) but for some reason EZA does not like that any more....

          They are after original content and they want you to submit it...I understand them, business is business....

          Let me ask you this: Why did many rules on many Article directories change AFTER the panda/farmer update??

          (That being said...I still love EZA)

          PS - Alexa: you get mad very easily...chill out
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

            They are after original content and they want you to submit it...
            Wrong, wrong, wrong.

            Yoel, they themselves specifically invite and request all their new authors to submit to them anything already published on their own sites/blogs which is suitable under their editorial guidelines. How much clearer can it be?!

            (Incidentally, you're confused about the difference between "original" and "unique" content, too).

            Please, Yoel, do everyone here (and especially yourself) a favour and read this post (which gives all the facts and all the evidence) and stop repeating this "urban myth" misinformation here?

            However many times you say this is "your opinion", it just isn't a matter of "opinion". It's both factual and readily verifiable by anyone willing to look at those facts.

            Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

            Alexa: you get mad very easily...chill out
            I'm pretty even-tempered, by anyone's standards: who wouldn't eventually become a little irascible over issues like this?

            As I've already commented once today, in another thread, part of the value and utility of a forum like this is that people can ask for guidance from those with more experience on subjects like this about which there's (clearly!) widespread confusion. The reality of questions like this, which are absolutely basic and fundamental to article marketing, is that people who actually know the factual answers to these factual questions are going to stop posting here altogether, and this forum will end up being even less reliable than some others I could name, if every time we do so, others just continually repeat factually incorrect misinformation ad nauseam, and then even try to defend it as "their opinion" as if they can fool people into believing that that somehow "justifies" it. This is on EZA's site (and on their blog, and in their email series, and in their article marketing course) in black and white. These discussions make a mockery of the forum.
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      • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        I'm just looking for a backlink here. Guess this method doen't work around those parts no more.
        Ezinearticle 1 links to Original Article 3.
        Ezinearticle 2 links to Original Article 1.
        Ezinearticle 3 links to Squeeze Page.

        EzineArticles is Happy.
        Reader is Happy.
        You are happy.

        Easy.
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        • Profile picture of the author art72
          Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

          Ezinearticle 1 links to Original Article 3.
          Ezinearticle 2 links to Original Article 1.
          Ezinearticle 3 links to Squeeze Page.

          EzineArticles is Happy.
          Reader is Happy.
          You are happy.

          Easy.
          Fraggler,

          Thanks for sharing the above, while it seems easy enough, it was a grey area for me, until seeing the simplicity of the example above.

          Thanks,

          Art
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  • Profile picture of the author Yoel Cohen
    I'm assuming your content is original...not spun/scraped/etc..

    If so, here's whats happening:

    EzineArticles and other major article directories got hit pretty hard by the panda update.

    As a result they lost a lot of earnings and they are trying to filter out any duplicate content, in other words they want the content that you upload to be only on their site....

    Which is kinda strange because after all they do have a wordpress plugin that updates your EzineArticles account with your blog posts.

    Yes, I think they are very worried and are trying to keep their current rankings by not taking any more chances.

    There are other ways of article marketing. For example: Using RSS, and guest Posts
    that being said, it does not mean that EZA it not a good source of traffic.

    With the newest panda update, less people are using EZA as a traffic source, meaning, you can stay longer and higher in their listings...

    Quality and unique content is key.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

      I'm assuming your content is original...not spun/scraped/etc..

      If so, here's whats happening:

      EzineArticles and other major article directories got hit pretty hard by the panda update.

      As a result they lost a lot of earnings and they are trying to filter out any duplicate content, in other words they want the content that you upload to be only on their site....

      Which is kinda strange because after all they do have a wordpress plugin that updates your EzineArticles account with your blog posts.

      Yes, I think they are very worried and are trying to keep their current rankings by not taking any more chances.

      There are other ways of article marketing. For example: Using RSS, and guest Posts
      that being said, it does not mean that EZA it not a good source of traffic.

      With the newest panda update, less people are using EZA as a traffic source, meaning, you can stay longer and higher in their listings...

      Quality and unique content is key.
      Original content.

      I understand where they're coming from, it's their site, they can do what they want.

      I just wish they were more clear than "your content leads to unhelpful... bla bla"

      It took me emailing them a couple of times, to find out the problem.

      I'm done with em... for real this time.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

      I'm assuming your content is original...not spun/scraped/etc..

      If so, here's whats happening:

      EzineArticles and other major article directories got hit pretty hard by the panda update.

      As a result they lost a lot of earnings and they are trying to filter out any duplicate content, in other words they want the content that you upload to be only on their site....

      Which is kinda strange because after all they do have a wordpress plugin that updates your EzineArticles account with your blog posts.

      Yes, I think they are very worried and are trying to keep their current rankings by not taking any more chances.

      There are other ways of article marketing. For example: Using RSS, and guest Posts
      that being said, it does not mean that EZA it not a good source of traffic.

      With the newest panda update, less people are using EZA as a traffic source, meaning, you can stay longer and higher in their listings...

      Quality and unique content is key.
      Where do people keep hearing this nonsense? :confused: It certainly isn't from EZA...
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

      in other words they want the content that you upload to be only on their site....
      Cmon dude, dont post replies if you dont know what you're talking about. This isnt even close to being correct.
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  • Profile picture of the author creature
    That's odd - last week I published the content of one of my web pages as an article on Ezine and it sailed right through the review process. Idid re-write it manually a bit so it fit the article format, but over 90% was exact duplicate.

    Maybe they just instituted this policy within the past week?
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  • Profile picture of the author rankdominator
    Using EZinearticles for a link these days is hard as hell ...

    I had a number of articles rejected because the article content and the link out to my money site had to be related. The articles were 100% unique, created them myself, but obviously was just looking for a link to one of my money sites, not related to the content, and bang... rejected.

    After I read the reasoning, at first I was like .. WTF!! but understanding their reasoning I do think it adds to the user experience. You dont want to be reading an article on niche A, and have links going out to niches X, Y or Z.

    Anyways, I now use Articlesbase - MUCH MUCH easier to get accepted - and for link juice, probably just as valid and trustworthy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Stupid Forum Trick #4

    I'm sorry. You have reached a wrong number. Customer service for that firm can be reached at http://www.ezinearticles.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbarnett
    Yeah - that is odd. I posted on Ezine Articles (free article) a week ago and it took a few days to get it up and approved. Speaking for myself the quality of the article was pretty good and I found it best to keep links in the footer than in the main body of the article... Ashame it's a NoFollow - have they changed this recently?

    Anyway - I don't think posting to article directories are wise at the moment anyway - Google seems to have a bee in it's bonnet about them. Guest writing and blogging tend to be the best form if you're interested in article based link-building.
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  • Profile picture of the author ignmmulia
    use the third parties to provide a good content for ezine. actually it's hard to get approved, but for them, it's very easy to submit to ezine and get approved.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    They don't require original content. In fact, all of my articles on EZA are also on my blog and I have never had one denied.

    If you are linking to your main blog page, you should make sure the article is indexed on your page before posting to EZA. I usually also have posted 4ish new blog posts by then. If they click the link and the first thing they see is the exact same article, they don't like that because it reduces user experience.

    Nowhere do they say they require unique content. You just have to make sure your readers are getting something from the site you link to besides reading the same article again.

    Another thing that works great is linking to a certain blog post.
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    • Profile picture of the author creature
      Originally Posted by AmandaT View Post


      Another thing that works great is linking to a certain blog post.
      Could you clarify that a bit? Do you mean linking to one of your own blog posts on a related topic, or to an external blog post? And how/why does that "work great"? Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
        Originally Posted by creature View Post

        Could you clarify that a bit? Do you mean linking to one of your own blog posts on a related topic, or to an external blog post? And how/why does that "work great"? Thanks
        For example, I have a blog about how to get your boyfriend back. I post articles on my blog and on EZA.

        Say I am posting an article on EZA about how to tell if your boyfriend really wants you back... In my resource box I would link to my squeeze page as well as a article on my blog about how get started winning your boyfriend back.

        I like to create simple link wheels where I will make a EZA page link to a Squidoo lens which links to an EZA article which links to my blog and so on. I've had great luck ranking my sites this way and generating traffic.

        I've actually had better luck linking my EZA articles to a specific blog entry than to my main blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author art72
    In light of the fact, most whom understand the process suggest indexing the article on their own site before submitting the article to EZA...

    I can completely understand 'linking' to a different article in the resource box, but how does one prevent the reader stumbling upon that same article if it is 'indexed' on the same site?

    Art
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Using EZinearticles for a link these days is hard as hell ...
      Oh my goodness - we have to submit articles people might enjoy reading? What on earth is IM coming to?

      how does one prevent the reader stumbling upon that same article if it is 'indexed' on the same site?
      What a reader finds on his own is not my problem. Linking to the same article is like telling your readers "you liked the article so read it again"....or telling them one article is all you can write on the subject:rolleyes:

      More importantly - it's a waste of a good link.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicolas simpson
    i stop posting articles to article directories some while back now. Instead i write or buy the articles and post to my very own blog. I thinks its better for me that way because when i post an article to an article directory it tense to hype up the directory and make them money rather than helping me. They always find some concealed place to put your link and have the post surrounded by ads.

    Its very rare that persons click on your site link in my opinion. Some of the articles are so unique and influential that it would work wonders for our blogs if we had posted them there in the 1st place.

    I even started thing about what would google search do if they saw the same article on my blog on a major article directory. Its abvious that they will give the one on my blog less priority and not only that but also mark my site as a plagiarism site..

    Best regards
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  • Profile picture of the author KarimPPC
    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    I've had a heap of articles rejected by ezinearticles of late, quality articles... I paid good money for em

    Anyway, there was a vague, doesn't lead to good content reason. After contesting this, got a mail back saying that the article leads to the same article on my site... so I guess they're playing that game now.

    Also, get this... they accuse me of plagiarism and give me a link to a similar article from a site thats a few weeks old... my site is 6 months old, and this article was published 2 months ago.

    WTF!
    They have every right to reject your articles, because clearly your spelling and grammar is poor.

    It's losing, not loosing
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  • Profile picture of the author robp12
    I've written original articles on EZArticles and had no problem getting them published whatsoever. However, I received essentially ZERO traffic from them and I'm not sure the affect it had on my page rank either, likely minimal.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by robp12 View Post

      I've written original articles on EZArticles and had no problem getting them published whatsoever. However, I received essentially ZERO traffic from them and I'm not sure the affect it had on my page rank either, likely minimal.
      Same dude, but you need to remember that there are two separate methods when it comes to this, both of which Alexa has pointed out numerous times.

      They are...

      1. Article marketing
      2. Article directory marketing

      I personally use article directory marketing, as a single process as part of my overall SEO strategy. (offsite optimization)

      I dont submit articles to EZA and expect to sit back and watch the traffic come rolling in.
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      • Profile picture of the author robp12
        Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

        Same dude, but you need to remember that there are two separate methods when it comes to this, both of which Alexa has pointed out numerous times.

        They are...

        1. Article marketing
        2. Article directory marketing

        I personally use article directory marketing, as a single process as part of my overall SEO strategy. (offsite optimization)

        I dont submit articles to EZA and expect to sit back and watch the traffic come rolling in.
        I agree with you on all parts. I wasn't expecting tons of traffic or anything, I was just curious about SEO strategies, etc. To be honest, I only wrote a few EZA before I stopped because I'd rather spend time writing quality content on my own site, then for EZine..

        Especially with the Panda update that hurt EZA pretty bad, I just figured time was better spent on my own site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rose Anderson
    Actually, Alexa shows incredible patience considering how often she has to respond to the same incorrect information being given day after day.

    It's bad enough that this has already been discussed in numerous threads. But what is mind-blowing is that it has often been covered within the SAME thread. Is it truly that hard to read the entire thread before making comments?
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    • Profile picture of the author Diane S
      Originally Posted by Rose Anderson View Post

      Is it truly that hard to read the entire thread before making comments?
      It is tempting to reply before reading the entire thread...I am guilty of this myself, but am being more careful about it.

      Alexa, thank you for continuing to give factual replies on everything related to articles.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yoel Cohen
    Thanks..for all the comments about my post...

    I've been using EZA since 2006 and still have many articles ranking high in the search engines driving traffic to my sites and carrying a decent page rank for link equity.

    To make a long story short...

    Over the past 5 years I've seen EZA's guidelines change several times.
    Not even one of my articles has been rejected before.

    Now, I dont have over 1,350 articles submitted to EZA (like Alexa) I just prefer to use
    EZA in a very specific way...not the traditional article marketing, that is - Articles = backlinks.

    Read your post and especially:

    7. Immediately after Google's recent algorithm change, EZA held an open discussion on their blog, in which they (briefly) raised the possibility of for the first time not accepting content previously published elsewhere. Predictably enough, many of their top authors more or less said "We obviously won't be submitting to your directory any more, if you do that", and they very rapidly recanted the suggestion and announced that they wouldn't, after all, change their policy in this regard.
    I know, they didn't change their policy. (I still think according to feedback I've been getting from others) that they are more strict with the content they approve.

    Let me ask you this:

    If the Google Panda/Farmer update would NEVER occur in the first place, do you think marketers would have complaints similar to the OP?

    PS...Alexa - I need to double check every word with you...you're like a lawyer.
    "Alexa Smith - Attorney at law" sounds pretty good...

    PPS...Unique content - the first "copy" YOURS (not indexed/found anywhere else)
    Original content - your stuff, not scraped/copied/spun/stolen/hijacked/etc'
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

      Let me ask you this:

      If the Google Panda/Farmer update would NEVER occur in the first place, do you think marketers would have complaints similar to the OP?
      They did. :p

      EZA sometimes declined articles for this reason before the Panda update.

      There were threads here with people complaining about this when I first joined this forum, and that was more than 2 years before the first of the Panda updates.

      The Panda update is not responsible for everything that has ever happened in the entire history of article directories.

      It has always been a principle at EZA (which they've enforced when they felt like it, and post-Panda they feel like it more often) that the site linked to has to give content of interest to "their" readers (as they like to call them). And another copy of something they just read obviously isn't that. (And makes no sense at all from the author's perspective, anyway).

      I know that people imagine that EZA changed a lot of their rules as a response to the Panda update, but they actually changed very few.

      They went through an open consultation process with their authors (on their blog - worth reading, Yoel, if you're interested). What they did, though, admittedly, was to double the size of their editorial staff and to announce openly that they were going to become a bit stricter about enforcing some of the existing policies about which they'd previously been a bit lax and inconsistent. And they did that, too.

      (There's still the odd one that slips through the net, though. Especially from the immediately post-Panda period when they were training up all their new editorial staff. That's kind of understandable, though, isn't it?).

      Originally Posted by Yoel Cohen View Post

      PPS...Unique content - the first "copy" YOURS (not indexed/found anywhere else)
      Original content - your stuff, not scraped/copied/spun/stolen/hijacked/etc'
      Let's just say that you're using those words differently from how both Chris Knight (owner of EZA) and Matt Cutts (mouthpiece of Google), and many of the article marketers here use them. But this is opinion and you're entitled to yours!

      They are confusing terms.

      For myself, I find it helpful to discuss this issue in terms of "previously published" and "previously unpublished" content.

      Not to everyone's taste, I know, but it really does avoid a lot of confusion, and it allows me to state clearly and unambiguously, with no risk of anyone disputing it, that article directories (including EZA) "do not require previously unpublished content".

      Everyone understands what that means.

      People do occasionally like to try to come up with a counter-example, it's true, but when they do so, it invariably turns out not to be an article directory. It couldn't be, really - it would actually be a contradiction terms for an "article directory" to require "previously unpublished content". It would make no sense at all. The only one anyone's ever heard of who ever tried that game ("for reasons best known to themselves!") was "Buzzle", who were all but destroyed by the Panda update and are now genuinely not an article directory at all, having totally changed their business model since then. Interesting, isn't it, that Buzzle's always-ridiculous and always-totally-illogical policy of requiring previously unpublished content didn't apparently protect them from the attack of the Panda at all? The moral of the story for these people (I nearly used another noun, there ) is: if you're going to require previously unpublished content, then don't pretend to be an article directory!

      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      I'm only surprised no one has posted that old "Matt Cutts on article marketing" video clip yet.
      Perleeeeeeeeease ... anything but that! There's one guy who posted that thing three times in three days, and never reads the replies to it, and still probably imagines that it really is about "article marketing".
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  • Profile picture of the author art72
    Kay King,

    Thanks, that makes sense. There too, I am determined to have so much content on my site, that I have yet to really concern myself with submitting too much to EZA yet.

    In relation to the above, I have no problem writing several unique articles on the same or similar topics, but it does make me wonder; if my 'information' site is to be focused on several topics, and providing readers with quality content/information, is there a specific ratio like 1:5 articles should get submitted to EZA?

    I ask this from the perspective of someone newer to article syndication, and under the belief; there should be a suitable amount of content indexed before submitting my articles to EZA, correct.:confused:

    Naturally, if I were just throwing up a single 4-5 page niche site, I may consider having 1-2 articles submitted to EZA and enough 'fresh' content on site (*say 15-20 articles) to 'blend' the content accordingly.

    Personally, I don't want to submit an article to EZA, and only have 3 articles on my site, as it would be a bit thin, and likely give a similar impression to EZA as those who complain about their AdSense accounts being shut down or de-indexed.

    Is this a practical approach, I have no clue!

    Truth is, I am still creating my pages, menu's, topics and cataloging articles for my site now, and writing more articles in between. However, I have no intention of submitting my articles to EZA until I have at least 100+ articles indexed on multiple topics, and then slowly submitting those to EZA as new content gets added, so not to waste a visitors time.

    Is it safe to assume, many who are complaining about EZA's stringent policies are seeking something greater with a less than suitable approach to EZA's real purpose?

    There too, is my approach too complex and all wrong?

    Naturally, I have several affiliate offers and am steadily working on having targeted opt-ins and email campaigns to accompany my relevant content, but it seems at times from the outside looking in, there are several different approaches, and many are seeking an easy way out.

    Mine just happens to be focused on one site with a ton of content, which then links out to those offers directed at targeted prospects. Hence, it's a ton of work... before I can even think about the syndication benefits, which seems to be the end goal many are not seeing here.

    While reading these types of threads increases my understanding, it too almost appears frustrating at times, leaving me to think; I'd be better off taking a 30-day break from this forum, and just get er' done!

    -Art
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    Goodness! Some of the "advice" offered in here is downright scary. Kudos to Alexa and the others for being patient enough to offer the same exact info time and time again.

    As for the original question:

    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    I've had a heap of articles rejected by ezinearticles of late, quality articles... I paid good money for em

    Anyway, there was a vague, doesn't lead to good content reason. After contesting this, got a mail back saying that the article leads to the same article on my site... so I guess they're playing that game now.

    Also, get this... they accuse me of plagiarism and give me a link to a similar article from a site thats a few weeks old... my site is 6 months old, and this article was published 2 months ago.

    WTF!
    As some of the others have pointed out, the first issue is easy enough to fix... stop linking back to the same article on your site. John's right. No one wants to read an article, click on the link for more info, and find the same exact thing. That's actually a great way to drive traffic off of your site. Instead, link to your home page or another internal page that offers new information that relates to your topic.

    As for your second issue, if I was paying good money for articles and then I was accused of plagiarizing, my writer would have some serious questions to answer. Have you checked to see that your articles were, in fact, original when you bought them? If they were, an email back stating the facts should be enough to clear everything up.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Yoel, I wasn't trying to take a shot at you personally. You got caught in the crosshairs when you spouted the same nonsense, even though you had the evidence to the contrary in your own post. It looked like you chose to believe the myth rather than the evidence right in front of you.

      If it felt personal, I apologize.

      I'm only surprised no one has posted that old "Matt Cutts on article marketing" video clip yet. Someone is asleep at the switch...
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  • Profile picture of the author thecableguy

    Anyway, there was a vague, doesn't lead to good content reason. After contesting this, got a mail back saying that the article leads to the same article on my site... so I guess they're playing that game now.

    Also, get this... they accuse me of plagiarism and give me a link to a similar article from a site thats a few weeks old... my site is 6 months old, and this article was published 2 months ago.

    Actually I did get a couple of articles accepted that were linking back to the same article, this was after the Panda update after listening to a video by Matt Cutts. He was referencing syndicated articles ranking higher than the original article and also determining the original source, to avoid this he suggested linking back to the original article in the resource box. I tried a couple several months ago that were accepted, but I used something like - original article located here...(article title) - along with another anchor text link I wanted to use. I haven't submitted any articles lately though, and the article on my site was published, and submitted to ezineartcles almost immediately.
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  • Profile picture of the author jwmann2
    You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro. Article marketing ain't what it used to be and you need to be creating quality content. I can't stress that enough.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      In relation to the above, I have no problem writing several unique articles on the same or similar topics, but it does make me wonder; if my 'information' site is to be focused on several topics, and providing readers with quality content/information, is there a specific ratio like 1:5 articles should get submitted to EZA?
      Some might argue (but there are always arguments about everything) but I don't think there's any "ratio". Some sites I submit much of the content to EZA while other sites very little or none. Up to me.

      Sites where I submit some of the content to EZA have more than one page using keyword phrases for the site. I may have 5-10 main keywords but then add in long tail KWs, too, and so there's plenty of related site info to link to in the bio box. Hope that makes sense.

      You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro.
      Are you kidding? What do you think "outsourcing" is used for???
      If you hire a writer to write unique content for YOU - it's your content.

      kay
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by jwmann2 View Post

      You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro.
      Sometimes one hopes against hope that comments made here were intended ironically or in jest, but still instinctively has a suspicious, skepchick feeling that they were actually meant seriously ... in which case "Where do people get this stuff from?!"
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by jwmann2 View Post

      You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro.
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    • Profile picture of the author anwar001
      Originally Posted by jwmann2 View Post

      You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro. Article marketing ain't what it used to be and you need to be creating quality content. I can't stress that enough.
      Since when has article marketing become black hat? And paying for articles - why is that bad???

      If you can get content written by a professional writer on any topic when you can't do it yourself due to lack of skills or lack of time, then there is nothing wrong in that as long as the article is of good quality, is useful to the end-reader and is not copied content from somewhere else.

      Syndicating your content to top websites and other related blogs or sites on internet in order to get backlinks or traffic is also not considered BlueFart if you do it in moderation. After all, we all want a little exposure for our products or websites. And we are providing good quality content in order to gain exposure. So, is that really bad?
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      • Profile picture of the author thedog
        Right, they've replied to my email about the ban....

        They want me to clarify why
        this content was found there, ...with no author name or submit date.

        Eh... it was stolen?

        I think they think that it's me who's submitted this! It's an amazon review by the way.

        I've sent them a link to cubestat.com... I would have assumed a leading article marketing website would have known how to check when a site was updated.

        So, not only was my content robbed, I get account suspension from ezineartices to boot!

        Lovely.
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  • Profile picture of the author temp_12000
    EZA can do whatever they want, they do not have to provide any reasons. it is true that article marketing is changed, but depends on how you use it, it is still pretty effective (do not ask me how). and you need change the mind set, ask yourself a question:

    without eza, will my entire plan fail? if not, then no worry.
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  • Profile picture of the author Memo
    I don't have any problems with ezinearticles. I submit original articles, and I don't post the same article to my site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Memo View Post

      I don't post the same article to my site.
      Possibly this thread may interest you, then, Memo?

      In it, a whole succession of successful, experienced, professional article marketers explain in detail and at length all their shared reasons for always posting articles to their own sites first and having them indexed there before submitting them to EZA.

      It's "all gain" doing it that way round, compared with the alternatives. Nothing to lose at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author Melanie Crouse
        Originally Posted by jwmann2 View Post

        You paid for the article? Black Hat technique, bro. Article marketing ain't what it used to be and you need to be creating quality content. I can't stress that enough.
        Ummmm.....some of us make a living ghostwriting....Shall I dig out my black hat to wear while working? :confused:

        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Possibly this thread may interest you, then, Memo?

        In it, a whole succession of successful, experienced, professional article marketers explain in detail and at length all their shared reasons for always posting articles to their own sites first and having them indexed there before submitting them to EZA.

        It's "all gain" doing it that way round, compared with the alternatives. Nothing to lose at all.
        Where do you get the patience to continually answer the same questions over and over and over around here?? Have you considered working for EZA as their official PR person and bull$hit corrector?
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  • Profile picture of the author flx89
    all websites similar to ezine are going done, check the alexa rank for them. They are desperate right now
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  • Profile picture of the author MoneyMonkey
    Ezine got slammed last year as we all know. They're current clean up operation is an attempt to salvage their role in the content realm online. You are an unfortunate victim of this but you have to realise that they need to clean up their act and by doing so you will end up with much more quality links and traffic
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  • Profile picture of the author bailbondsguys
    Purchasing articles does not guarantee the content is original. Most likely your article may have been written for you specifically but resold to other authors that wanted similar content. Writing your own original content and linking back to your home page like Nicole said is your best option.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dougn57
      Originally Posted by bailbondsguys View Post

      Purchasing articles does not guarantee the content is original. Most likely your article may have been written for you specifically but resold to other authors that wanted similar content. Writing your own original content and linking back to your home page like Nicole said is your best option.
      I've purchased articles in the past and been less than satisfied... order just a few, pay a little more and make sure they work ok. With that said, I never used any I bought. I started writing my own and they aren't hard to do - the first few may be, but once you get the hang of it they write quickly and the you are SURE.
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    • Profile picture of the author Trevor W Miller
      Originally Posted by bailbondsguys View Post

      Purchasing articles does not guarantee the content is original. Most likely your article may have been written for you specifically but resold to other authors that wanted similar content. Writing your own original content and linking back to your home page like Nicole said is your best option.
      I partially agree with bailbondsguys.

      I agree, it is not guaranteed the content provided on sites where you are able to purchase articles, is original content. It is not, however, guaranteed that fresh content was specifically written for you. Most of the content is sourced from the internet and then altered slightly, i.e. disguised, as original content.
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      • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
        Originally Posted by Trevor W Miller View Post

        I agree, it is not guaranteed the content provided on sites where you are able to purchase articles, is original content. It is not, however, guaranteed that fresh content was specifically written for you. Most of the content is sourced from the internet and then altered slightly, i.e. disguised, as original content.
        If you're paying for "custom content", then you should be getting something that was written just for you and sold to no one else. If that's not what you're getting, then you're dealing with the wrong writer.

        Sorry, but most content isn't just "sourced from the internet and then altered slightly." You've been dealing with some real shady folks if that's what you think all web content is
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        • Profile picture of the author Trevor W Miller
          Originally Posted by NicoleBeckett View Post

          If you're paying for "custom content", then you should be getting something that was written just for you and sold to no one else. If that's not what you're getting, then you're dealing with the wrong writer.

          Sorry, but most content isn't just "sourced from the internet and then altered slightly." You've been dealing with some real shady folks if that's what you think all web content is
          Hi Nicole,

          I agree with you; if you're paying for "custom content" then you should be getting something written just for you and sold to no one else, however, you need to make sure that the writer and/or the website is reputable. You cannot assume, for instance, that any writer and/or site that offers their services will provide original content.

          I don't think that most, or as you say I imply, that "all" content on the internet is just sourced from the internet and then altered slightly...I think you got me wrong. When I say this, I am referring specifically to irreputable writers and/or sites, or, if you don't mind me saying so, "bogey writers".

          I have written and published articles, for instance, that have been re-hashed, rather poorly I might add and then posted on the internet by a "bogey writer/author", as their, supposed, original content.

          Cheers,

          Trevor
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  • Profile picture of the author RAMarketing
    You can't pay someone else to write your articles; that's black hat. Not only will you get Google slapped, you could go to jail. Why do you think ALL CEO's do ALL of the work by themselves instead of hiring?
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    • Profile picture of the author profitmaster7
      RAMarketing, why can't you have someone else write your articles? Google-slapped? Most magazines and other publishers have someone else do their writing. I'm sorry; I'm just not sure what you're talking about. As far as EZA, I don't blame them for bouncing your articles back. Lots of people are taking advantage of the site and they're suffering for it. They have so much crap content, I never even read their stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author anthonyb
      Originally Posted by RAMarketing View Post

      You can't pay someone else to write your articles; that's black hat. Not only will you get Google slapped, you could go to jail. Why do you think ALL CEO's do ALL of the work by themselves instead of hiring?
      I am sorry I for one have heard enough of this rubbish. Getting someone to write your content is called outsourcing that specific task. It is certainly not a crime in the real world, and most definitely not one online. Outsourcing is a legitimate business practice. Can we stop repeat things that just don't make any sense?
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffreys
    Hi bro,

    You paid for the article. That's black hat. The EZ know their stuff. Don't mess with them. They will ban you in no time.
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    • Profile picture of the author RAMarketing
      Originally Posted by jeffreys View Post

      Hi bro,

      You paid for the article. That's black hat. The EZ know their stuff. Don't mess with them. They will ban you in no time.
      Hoping this is kidding, but since I can't tell: not black hat to outsource article writing. EZA DOES NOT CARE who writes your articles, as long as they meet their editorial guidelines, their terms of service, and the author name matches where it has been previously published.

      YOU DO NOT have to submit 100% unique, unpublished content to EZA. Good gracious, just test this stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author dagaul101
    It's unfortunate that Ezinearticles have now become extremely strict in accepting articles, if they only stated that they wanted unique articles, then many of the authors would know what to do
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    • Profile picture of the author RAMarketing
      Originally Posted by dagaul101 View Post

      It's unfortunate that Ezinearticles have now become extremely strict in accepting articles, if they only stated that they wanted unique articles, then many of the authors would know what to do
      They want unique articles in the sense that they cannot already be in their directory. If you write an article, put it on your site, then put it on 34,712 sites with the same author name, EZA will take it (as long as it meets their guidelines).
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    Why do folk bother with eZine any more? HubPages or your own site are way better.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by dagaul101 View Post

      if they only stated that they wanted unique articles, then many of the authors would know what to do
      Meanwhile, all the authors who read their blog, their website, their article marketing course and the email series they send out (in all of which they specifically invite non-unique articles which have already been published elsewhere) DO seem to manage, somehow, against all the odds, to know exactly what to do.

      Originally Posted by brettb View Post

      Why do folk bother with eZine any more?
      This current thread will interest you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...g-eza-why.html

      (The answer is "for syndication" - but to be fair, that is why article directories exist. There's clearly not much point in trying to use them for their own traffic and/or their own backlinks. In fact, trying to use them for their own traffic can even directly damage your business.)
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Diane S View Post

        It is tempting to reply before reading the entire thread...I am guilty of this myself, but am being more careful about it.

        Alexa, thank you for continuing to give factual replies on everything related to articles.
        Diane, not only is it tempting to reply before reading the entire thread, some folks can't be bothered reading the entire original post. They see the subject line and fire away.

        Some of the threads started by Bill Platt (tpw) and Dan Rinnert have proven that.

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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    Many times I land on an article from EZA and I have to say, it's one of the worst pieces of crapola I've even seen. Am I alone in this?
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

      Many times I land on an article from EZA and I have to say, it's one of the worst pieces of crapola I've even seen. Am I alone in this?
      Nooooo ... not alone at all! They continually update the editorial guidelines and thereby gradually improve the average quality of their content, but there are still many articles already in the database which wouldn't be accepted today.

      Some of them, as you say, are among the worst pieces of crapola.

      And the very worst-quality ones tend to have been submitted by the people who are most clueless about article marketing, and they're also quite often the ones who have built backlinks to their EZA articles (instead of to their own sites :rolleyes: ), so in a sense those may also be the ones you're most likely to find, I'm afraid. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogtoBlog
    Panda Update- yup, I agree. I've also had headaches with EZ saying my spelling/grammar is wrong and would have to email support to get it approved.

    Original content is now KING online. I don't purchase articles anymore. I think it's better to manually re-write a few articles, create a small amount of original content, rather than go for volume.

    Rules are changing, so it's either bend or break for people like us!
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