Article directories and article marketing have been staples of Internet marketing for a long time. Changes made at any article directory tend to have a ripple effect throughout the industry.
Ezine Articles (EZA, www.ezinearticles.com) is perhaps the “Google” of article marketing and most widely used by Internet Marketers. Once upon a time, they would accept articles on any topic but those days are gone.
EZA has been evolving over the years and has made some significant changes in the recent past that will affect how you use article marketing. Some of these changes may seem like an inconvenience but in the end, all online marketers will stand to benefit in my opinion.
For example, they stopped accepting articles on the topic of PLR (See PLR = Article Vomit). Obviously, this had a big impact on PLR authors and those who submit PLR articles without changing anything before submitting to article directories. However, from the readers’ point of view it is a good change because it will cut down on reading the regurgitated content from an article directory.
Another big complaint against EZA has been their slow approval process. In response to that, Chris Knight, the CEO of EZA introduced the Premium Account. You have to pay almost $600 a year if you want faster approval service, better reporting, and other benefits like more resource bio boxes that you could store onsite.
Chris is keenly aware of how Google perceives EZA and other article directories. For 2010, he’s considering making a change that will hinder or eliminate your ability to edit your article after it’s submitted and live. Here are the details straight from EZA’s blog, Editing Your Article After It’s Live? Judging by the number of views and comments (4,437 views and 495 Comments as of writing this post), it has a hit a raw nerve with article marketers.
Why make this change now? Because Google sees an article in a certain place, if an article is then edited (according to Knight, about 83% are just resource box edits), it ceases to be live, so Google goes there and sees nothing there – making EZA look bad in the eyes of Google’s indexing system.
Other article directories are going to be clamping down on affiliate links and spam topics, too. Just like social networks, they fear their site will be slapped by Google if they allow marketers to create a “bad neighborhood” online.
As Knight said in his EZA blog this year, “Our reputation (and the reputation of everyone who participates in the EzineArticles platform/system) is on the line with every single outbound link included on every single article.”
They have to be very careful of where you are linking and for what reason. Instead of being angry about the new rules the article directories create, why not embrace them? Let’s be thankful when an article directory is working overtime to help ensure our content is safeguarded against unscrupulous spammers and is doing everything it can to maintain its positive reputation with major search engines.
Want to learn how to do article marketing right? Look at my new product, SoHo Write Marketing Suite. There are six step-by-step videos that will teach you how to use article marketing effectively in your business.
[Update: 2/02/2010] - Just saw this in a newsletter from EZA, “Articles Remain LIVE While You Make Changes.”
Achinta “Archie” Mitra is a marketing expert and author of several information products and small reports. He is passionate about coaching solopreneurs, consultants, work at home moms and dads and small business owners increase their sales through better DiY marketing. Be sure to sign up for his free reports and marketing updates. Follow DiY Marketing Coach on Twitter.
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I have been struggling with article submissions and have not seen too much traffic from them.
Keep submitting quality articles and traffic will build over time. Good luck!