Making Your Articles Work Harder #1 - Using Document Sharing Sites

Submitting articles to article directories is a great way to gain back links to your website, blog, Squidoo lens, etc., but once you have put time and effort into writing your article shouldn't you get as much value out of them as you can? You can submit your article to multiple directories of course, but what I want to discuss here is using document sharing sites. The best known of these are Scribd and Docstoc which are the two I use most. Docstoc also has a revenue sharing element using Adsense which is nice bonus. There are also a number of others out there that are worth trying but I only have limited experience of those.

First of all, what is a document sharing site? Well it is simply a site where you can upload a document. Usually they can take a number of formats, but PDF is the most common - you can use Word if you prefer, but your document will not look as professional and you run the risk of someone downloading your document and editing it for their own purposes.

You can convert your articles to PDF format by using Open Office which can be downloaded for free. Open Office is similar to Microsoft Office and includes a word processor very similar to Word, with the important distinction that it allows you to convert your documents into PDF at the click of a button. During this process, make sure that you include links to your site - unlike article directories you can put your links wherever you like, so you could put one in the body of the article and another in the footer. Also, you can put in affiliate links. If you want to you can spruce up your article with some pictures as well, but this is not essential.

All you have to do now is upload your document to Scribd and/or Docstoc. Simply register with the sites, click the upload button and follow the instructions.

Unlike submissions to article directories this will not help your site get found in the search engines. So why do it? Well it is simply another way of helping people find you - what you are aiming for is for people to download your document, perhaps share with others and then click on the links to visit your site. It is very quick and easy to do, so well worth the effort.

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I don't know about you, but there are elements of SEO or Search Engine Optimization that I still struggle with. I know many people find it difficult and find themselves at a bit of loss as to how to increase traffic to their website or blog. But with the right SEO strategy you can rank well with Google and get your site found. Fortunately, help is at hand. I have a FREE SEO guide to give away. It is completely free, there is no catch and no need to opt in to a list. All you need to do is click on the link below:

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First Stage in Website Promotion - Web Directories

I have recently put together a website for my wife's new business venture. The next step of course is try and make sure that it actually gets found. I have drawn myself up a fifteen point plan to work through, the main criteria at this stage is that they have to be free.

The first step has to be submission to web directories and some business directories. The purpose of this is to gain links back to the site to increase the chances of search engines finding it, and generally increasing exposure. The question is do I invest my time in mass directory submission, or do I limit my activities to the odd SEO friendly web directory? I have submitted to DMOZ as this is clearly the most established directory on the net, but I am looking around for some others that will help in my quest to get the site easily found. One of the best directories has to be Yahoo Directory, but unfortunately they charge for submission, so I have ruled that one out for now. Many of the free directories require a reciprocal link, so there is a trade off here between site exposure and having to find places on your site for to place links.

Another key factor for me is that the directory has relevant categories in which to place the website. In this case it is concerned with patchwork and quilting workshops, so I will only be considering directories that have categories that are relevant. Placing a listing in a non-relevant category severely reduces chances of it being found through the directory.

I have also been looking at some business directories, but the problem with some of these is that a) several of them charge a fee for submission, and b) many of them want you to provide an address for the business - but in this instance that is our home address, so I don't know how I feel about that.

This is only the first step along the way of promoting the site and I have my whole list to work through. At the point of writing it is a fifteen point plan, but I keep thinking of new things to do so it grows almost daily! Once I have worked my way through the list then hopefully the site should get a reasonable amount of traffic and that a far amount of this should be organic traffic from search engines.

How Can Web Directories Help Me?

The primary purpose of the internet is to provide information, but it has become an increasingly crowded place where both finding the right information and content providers ensuring that they are found by the right people has become an industry in itself. Whether you are someone looking for information or providing it, web directories can help you. If you are a provider of content by having your own website or blog then a business web directory provide all important links. Many directories can provide you with good quality links, substantially improving your visibility to search engines. Not only that though, they provide another means by which you can be found.

If you are searching for information then a web directory provides a good alternative to search engines. Of course, unlike search engines, you will not be searching the entire web to find what you want, but this may be a good thing. Also, unlike search engines, web directories are hand edited so this can lead more focused results.

The number of directories has expanded enormously over recent years, and it is true that they vary enormously in quality. Some directories will simply list sites according to category, whereas others will provide more information to assist you in finding what you want. The most well known and most established are Yahoo Directory and DMOZ. Getting you site listed in DMOZ (which is free) can be notoriously tricky as each submission is hand edited and the editors are quite picky about which sites are included. However, the value of the link is very high when seen by search engines, so inclusion is invaluable. Some other directories may be less choosy, but the value of the link is substantially less.

So, if you have a website it is likely that you will be looking to increase traffic and visibility then web directories could part of the solution to this particular problem. After all, without traffic, what's the point?

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If you have a website or blog then you will know that your biggest challenge is actually getting traffic to your site. Of course, most people find what they want through search engines, but actually getting the search engines to find you is the tricky part. Two key features in increasing your chances of the search engines find you are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and getting backlinks to your site on other sites.

Submitting your site to free web directories is one way of getting links back to your site. However, finding the right directory for your site and keeping track of your submissions can be challenging to say the least. You can trawl your way through Google looking for directories, submitting your site at random, only to find that they have no effect on the ability of search engines to find your site. Freewebdirectories.org is a FREE service which has literally hundreds of directories listed sorted by Page Rank. But it is not simply a list, you can also track your submissions, which is a huge help.

The site includes a free SEO tool to help you choose a good mix of directories to submit your site to maximizing the effect of each link. In addition, signing up allows you to access their "5 Powerful SEO Secrets" which should further help increase your site's rankings and increase your traffic. Freewebdirectores.org is a completely free service and a very good way of tracking your submissions to free web directories so is certainly well worth signing up for.