Free Article Directories: Are They Worth Your Time?

In a word, absolutely. Business owners who submit their articles to my article directory report that, when these articles are picked up and reprinted in online newsletters and blogs, they see a large bump in their website traffic and also in their sales.

How does it work? At the end of every article, you include your website address in what is referred to as a 'resource box.' When a recipient of the online newsletter or a blog reader enjoys your article and finds it useful, he or she may be curious to see what other tidbits you have to offer on your site. Offer an incentive like a discount, more articles along the same lines, or a free gift that the reader may find interesting and you'll increase your chances that that person will head over to your site and see what you've got going on.

Why would someone want to publish content that they find in free article directories? Write something informative with a catchy title on the topic that they are interested in, and why not? It's free, right? They have to fill their blog or newsletter with new content regularly or else it won't be effective. With free article directories, they get free content and you get free publicity. Everybody wins!

How long does it take to see results from free article directories? That depends on the quality of your articles and the number of articles that you submit to the directory. The better quality and the more valuable your article is, the more often it will be recognized by bloggers and newsletter publishers as a piece that their readers will benefit from reading. Publishers and bloggers want to keep their readers. If they print shoddy copy, that won't happen. Write shoddy copy and your articles won't be picked up (and even if they are picked up, few will be wowed by your work and spurred to inspect your site). The stronger your article the better results you will see.

In the same way, increase your number of submissions of strong articles to your free article directory of choice and watch your website traffic rise even more quickly. Recent studies have shown that results, or numbers of new website visitors, increase exponentially with the higher number of submitted articles. Why is this? It could be because the author increases her visibility as an expert and gains credibility when her name is viewed repeatedly, causing more publishers to choose the author's work to reprint and more readers to respect the source and want to find out more. It may be that the more times you try, the better your articles get. Your titles may increase in catchiness as you progress.

No matter what the reasons, it is clear that submitting articles that are solidly informative and sincerely helpful to a free article directory like this one will increase your website traffic and, proportionally, your online business.

About The Author-- Jeff Wilson is the owner/webmaster of www.freearticles.com the only free article directory that offers platinum members (free after 10 approved articles) free editable hotspot ads for every article submitted.

Article Source: Articles island - Free article submission and free reprint articles