Submit Articles, Increase Traffic, And No Penalty From Search Engines

Writing articles and submitting them to article directories to either get paid or gain traffic is popular but there is a right way to do it.

Search engines are working diligently to erase duplicate content and if you submit the same article to many different sites and use it on yours, you could potentially be penalized or even banned. That is something that all of us don't want to happen. So how do you submit articles and continue to do it effectively without being penalized?

As I stated above don't send the same article to many different sites and especially don't post it on yours. Not only could you get penalized but it looks tacky if a readers reads your article at some site and then comes to yours because they liked it and see the same article on the front page.

The best way to submit articles and still receive that traffic we all desire is to create a series of articles. Writing a part one, two, and three will allow you to submit part one to an article directory and then post part two and three on your site. Make sure to include links on the article you submitted to your site where the other parts of the series are. Also include a link on your site to the article submitted so your readers can read all parts.

Here are a few sites to submit articles too..
Constant Content
Ezine Article Submission
Zinos.com eZine digest and database
Article City
Go Articles
Article Alley
SitePoint forum thread with hundreds more links to article submission sites

Importance Of Creating A Social Network Profile

Most people have some sort of social network profile out there on the web. Whether thats a profile that's personal on MySpace or Facebook, or a profile on Twitter or Plurk for your website.

There are a few questions about social networking and creating a profile and I will try and answer them here.


Photo courtesy of Barbara Rozgonyi

Question 1: Why do I need to create a social network profile?
Creating and updating a social network profile will connect you with more people than just those searching through Google or Yahoo. Most social networking sites allow you to become friends with people which will connect you even more with them. Creating profiles at multiple sites can also bring more visitors to your site.

Question 2: How will this profile improve my site?
These profiles will allow you to create a community surrounding your site. Not only will people be able to comment on your site but they will be able to contact you through other means than email. This sort of contact is a lot more intimate than email. This community will follow your site and be loyal readers as most social networking websites will allow you to link your site.

Once you start to market your site through your social network profile, start marketing your social network profile through your site. This way they are interconnected and will expose them to the most people.

Question 3: Okay, so I made one, when do I combine my real life profile and my blogs social profile?
That is a very tricky question. It depends on if you are just blogging to express your opinions and ideas or you are trying to start a business. If your goal is to start a business than I would say combine them. You want to start building a brand (something I will talk about in a future post) and combing your two profiles will help start this. If you are just blogging to express your opinions and ideas than I would say keep them separate.

Question 4: Which social networking sites do I join and how many?
Basically if you spend a lot of time online than you can join multiple social networking sites and create profiles. But you want to make sure you can update them all. Don't create a Plurk profile and then never use it. You won't gain any friends nor will you help your site. This doesn't mean you need to update it multiple times a day like some people do, but at least keep it updated.

The kind of social networking sites depends on what niche your site is in. Facebook profiles and MySpace profiles will work for any site, but check out my big list of social networking websites and join a few that interest you and a few that are in your niche.

10 Essential Free Directories To Submit Your Blog To

Finding traffic for your blog in the beginning can be hard. There are many great ways to find that traffic and direct towards your blog, but I'm going to talk about one today. Blog directories are basically a list of blogs categorized by their topic. Here is a list of 10 blog directories that don't cost you a penny to join.

• Blog Catalog's Directory is one of the best to join. It's one of the larger blog directories on the net and is also one of the larger social networks. They have a few widgets that will directly connect you to your readers. This one is a must join.


• Blogged's Directory is another large blog directory that you should join.


• Blog Flux's Blog Directory is another one that I joined, but their directory could fix some layout problems. It was also hard for me to find a category for mine.


• Blog Hop has me still in review, but it's another one that tote's connecting readers to blogs.


• Blog Explosion also has my blog still in review, but they will be a great source of traffic.


• Bloggernity is a great directory that added my blog quickly. I have to receive any traffic from them but it's at the top of the list for new blogs.


• Top Blog Area is another great free directory which added my site quickly, but I have yet to see any traffic from them.


• Blog Hub is another free directory.


• Blog Rankings makes it hard to stand out, but it's another free directory.


• Bloggapedia's Blog Directory is a free directory and social network like Blog Catalog.

9 Simple Ways To Increase Traffic

• Write comments on blogs in your niche. Make them relevant, don't just spam. Most blogs will allow you to link your site but other readers will frown upon useless comments.


• Join forums in and not in your niche.. If your signature has your site linked, it will be in every post you have posted in the past and in the future.


• Send out a press release via Free Press Release or PRFree.com about your blog.


• Join every social network and add a link to your blog; Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.


• Add well written articles or bloggeries to social media sites like Reddit, Digg, and StumbleUpon.


• Become friends with other bloggers in your niche. This could lead to guest blogging opportunities and link exchanges.


• Add your blog to a blog directory. Here is a list of top directories to submit it to. Some of them are free and some aren't.


• Write articles and submit them to online article sites like Ezine Articles, Article Dashboard, and Go Articles with a link to your site.


• The best thing you can do is write great content that connects with your readers. This will keep the coming back and linking to your site in the future.

Blogging 101 - Driving Traffic To Your Blog

Now that you have written a few quality posts, it’s time to get some people to read your blog. There are many different things you can do to get people to your blog, but I will start with some of the easiest. If you have a Facebook or Myspace account, put a link to your site and send a quick message to all your friends and ask them to check out your site. Make sure to ask for some feedback as it will help in perfecting your blog.

The next thing is to add a signature to your email account. The signature will be added to the bottom of every email you send out. Make sure to include the title and a description of your blog. Now when you send an email to anyone there will be a link to your site.

Forums are another great way to get your site noticed. Forums are basically large communities of people that are all interested in a specific thing. Whatever your topic is, there will be a forum about it. So search Google for forums about your topic if you don’t know of any and make sure to make an account. Then just like your email create a signature with your blog’s URL and this will be seen after every thing you write on the forum. If the forum is large enough and you actually write meaningful things then you can receive a considerable amount of traffic from them. Make sure that you aren’t spamming the site as your blog will become your brand and you don’t want it to be associated with spam.

There are obviously many more ways to drive traffic to your blog and tomorrow I will post a long list with examples. Everything on the list tomorrow won’t cost you a dime, just a little bit of your time, but there are things you can pay for that might be more beneficial. I will go over them in a separate list as generally beginning bloggers won’t be able to afford them.