Many times people get so caught up in Alexa Rank and Google Page Rank they forget to look at the obvious benefits of certain article directories.
Don't get me wrong, Alexa Rank and Google Page Rank are good indicators that an article directory may be beneficial to submit to.
However, the less obvious and often over looked factors can end up being more important than Alexa Rank or Google Page Rank.
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before making a certain article directory part of your content syndication routine.
So, let's go more into detail on each one of these questions.
Does the article directory have an XML sitemap? XML sitemaps are important for search engines to properly index large complex websites such as article directories.
Does the article directory have an HTML sitemap? HTML sitemaps are important for the same reasons as XML sitemaps.
However, HTML sitemaps also offer the chance for humans to better navigate your website if you have a complex navigation structure.
How many pages of the article directory are actually indexed in the major search engines? This one is even overlooked by the so called SEO gurus.
Many times you come across article directories that brag about having 25,000 authors and 100,000 articles and it's true, they do.
But just how many of those pages are getting indexed by the major search engines? Well, if you have your proper SEO add-ons hooked up to your FireFox you would know right away.
The sad part is that many of these large article directories are not even close to being fully indexed.
That means a Google Bot may never find and index your article.
That doesn't really do you any good now does it.
How fast does the directory website load? Have you seen how slow some of these article directories load? Yes, I know I'm asking another question, but it's to prove a point.
Most surveys show you have about four seconds to catch someones attention before they leave your website.
Well, many of these article directories take well over that amount of time before the web page even shows up.
You are probably not going to get very many click throughs or readers if it takes too long to load a web page.
Do the moderators of the directory take the time to only approve quality articles? This one speaks for itself, but I will explain anyway.
If moderators are not taking the time to thoroughly go through each article, then the odds are there are spam links in them.
I don't know about you but I like to keep my content as far away from "Buy Viagra" links as possible.
So, you may want to do a scan and see what kind of articles the moderators are approving.
Does the directory use the rel="nofollow" tag in their outbound links? This one is by far the most annoying.
I realize that article marketing is to get click thrus and get visitors to your site.
However, why take time to submit your unique content to an article directory that will not even give you some link love for your time and efforts.
I say stay away from article directories that use rel="nofollow" in outbound links.
Happy article marketing.
Don't get me wrong, Alexa Rank and Google Page Rank are good indicators that an article directory may be beneficial to submit to.
However, the less obvious and often over looked factors can end up being more important than Alexa Rank or Google Page Rank.
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before making a certain article directory part of your content syndication routine.
- Does the article directory have an XML sitemap?
- Does the article directory have an HTML sitemap?
- How many pages of the article directory are actually indexed in the major search engines?
- How fast does the article directory website load?
- Do the moderators of the article directory take the time to only approve quality articles?
- Does the article directory use the rel="nofollow" tag in their outbound links?
So, let's go more into detail on each one of these questions.
Does the article directory have an XML sitemap? XML sitemaps are important for search engines to properly index large complex websites such as article directories.
Does the article directory have an HTML sitemap? HTML sitemaps are important for the same reasons as XML sitemaps.
However, HTML sitemaps also offer the chance for humans to better navigate your website if you have a complex navigation structure.
How many pages of the article directory are actually indexed in the major search engines? This one is even overlooked by the so called SEO gurus.
Many times you come across article directories that brag about having 25,000 authors and 100,000 articles and it's true, they do.
But just how many of those pages are getting indexed by the major search engines? Well, if you have your proper SEO add-ons hooked up to your FireFox you would know right away.
The sad part is that many of these large article directories are not even close to being fully indexed.
That means a Google Bot may never find and index your article.
That doesn't really do you any good now does it.
How fast does the directory website load? Have you seen how slow some of these article directories load? Yes, I know I'm asking another question, but it's to prove a point.
Most surveys show you have about four seconds to catch someones attention before they leave your website.
Well, many of these article directories take well over that amount of time before the web page even shows up.
You are probably not going to get very many click throughs or readers if it takes too long to load a web page.
Do the moderators of the directory take the time to only approve quality articles? This one speaks for itself, but I will explain anyway.
If moderators are not taking the time to thoroughly go through each article, then the odds are there are spam links in them.
I don't know about you but I like to keep my content as far away from "Buy Viagra" links as possible.
So, you may want to do a scan and see what kind of articles the moderators are approving.
Does the directory use the rel="nofollow" tag in their outbound links? This one is by far the most annoying.
I realize that article marketing is to get click thrus and get visitors to your site.
However, why take time to submit your unique content to an article directory that will not even give you some link love for your time and efforts.
I say stay away from article directories that use rel="nofollow" in outbound links.
Happy article marketing.