Build Killer Link Popularity with Syndicated Articles
Copyright © 2005 Scott Hawksworth

There are many schools of thought on how to build strong
backlinks to a Web site. Some webmasters build reciprocal links,
while others register their site in many directories. Still
others do both of those, and rent links as well!

But one method used by a growing number of webmasters is that of
building link popularity through the syndication of original
articles. Syndicated articles are becoming increasingly popular
because article syndication builds permanent links from many
different, topically related, keyword rich pages. There are
several steps one can take in order to ensure that an article is
syndicated as much as possible, and that the links from those
syndications are of the highest quality.

1) Write High Quality Articles

The amount of syndication an article receives is directly
proportional to the demand for that type of article. Higher
quality articles will prove more valuable to webmasters looking
to reprint articles. Perfect spelling and grammar are requisite
in order to ensure the widest syndication possible. Webmasters
will be more inclined to reprint well-researched and well-written
articles. Most articles are not of the highest quality, so a
higher quality article will stand out significantly.

Articles should be more than simply a place to put a link in
a resource box. The goal of article writing should be to make
the article itself interesting. An interesting article can be
syndicated on websites with high traffic and PageRank. Increasing
article syndication will cause the link in the resource box to be
copied by many Web sites.

In addition to building more links with higher quality articles,
webmasters will find that quality content articles will result
in an immediate traffic increase to a site. An article that is
appealing to readers will naturally attract a large readership.
The more readers an article has, the more likely those readers
are to click on the link in the resource box.

2) Manually Submit to Related Sites

Another technique used by many webmasters to increase an
article's syndication is to submit articles to related sites. The
best syndications and links come from quality sites in a specific
niche, not simply article banks. For example, there are many Web
sites that will only accept business-related articles. Any
webmaster of a business-related website looking to build link
popularity should write an article concerning business and submit
it to these sites. Potentially, other business sites could take
note of a high quality business article and syndicate it on their
sites (which are all related under the unique subject of
business). Doing this will build topically related links which
can improve a Web site’s search engine rankings dramatically.

3) Write a Compelling Title

Articles have to be interesting in order to get the readers to
scroll down to the resource box, or inspire webmasters to reprint
the article on their Web site. The best way to draw a wide
variety of readers is to have a compelling title. Catchy titles
and sometimes even controversial titles can draw more readers.
Coupling a compelling title with a high quality article is an
excellent way to attract readers specifically looking for
articles to syndicate.

Article topics should also be interesting. If a website is
focused on a specific subject, an article about an interesting
element of that subject will be syndicated more than a general
article. For example, there may be hundreds of available articles
about mortgage refinancing, but how many articles focus on ways
financial advisors will try to manipulate someone seeking to
refinance?

4) Stay Organized

Time should be taken when finding article sites to submit to.
There are many Web sites that have large lists of article sites
that accept submissions. A good technique is to submit articles
to all of the article sites in a list and check later to see if
those articles have been syndicated. Searching for the title of
the article submitted in quotations on Google will show where
exactly it has been reprinted. Backlink searches on MSN and
Yahoo! can also be helpful. Building a solid list of verified
article sites can help maximize article syndication and also
time efficiency.

Some article sites only accept submissions via e-mail. Some SEOs
shy away from e-mailing articles because it is more time
consuming and often involves the creation of a biography and
picture submission. E-mail submission article sites however are
often more inclined to only reprint articles of high quality, and
thus these types of sites' articles are often widely syndicated.

5) Write a Killer Resource Box

The heart and soul of a syndicated article is its resource box.
The anchor text and link destination of the links in the articles
should be varied. Varying anchor text will help avoid penalties
in search engine rankings and create higher-value links. Often
changing the resource box after submitting to each site proves
beneficial. An article about dogs with the anchor text "dogs"
should be varied with anchor text like "puppies" for the other
article submissions. Using technology such as latent semantic
analysis, search engines will notice "dog" and "puppy" as related
words, but will not penalize the site for having unnatural links
(e.g., if all of the links used "dog" as anchor text). This same
effect can be achieved by varying the link target. Linking the
first half of the article submissions to page A, and the second
half to page B will avoid penalties from search engines like
Google. Articles are a proven way to get links, but if a new site
suddenly acquires 100 links to the same place in a short time,
search engines might penalize it.

Article submission is a great way to get high quality links from
topically related sites. The more effort and care given to an
article that is submitted, the more syndication potential an
article has. Compelling titles, high-quality content, and
interesting topics will all improve the syndication of an
article. Varying backlink text and destinations can also help
avoid heavy penalties from search engines. Some SEOs believe that
only traditional directory submissions and link swapping are
effective methods of building links. I, however, am a firm
believer in the power of a well-written article to deliver a
large number of topically related links to any fledgling site.


Scott Hawksworth works for
<a href=http://www.andyhagans.com>Andy Hagans Link Building</a>
as a link popularity building campaign manager.
See http://www.andyhagans.com  for more information.

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