It’s no great secret that the way to gain ranking positions in the search engines is by getting back links. Up to recently this used to consist of contacting other webmasters and asking them to link to your site in return for linking to theirs. Unfortunately this form of reciprocal linking is no longer as useful as it once was. One way links are now the key. There is no better way to get lots of one way links than by creating and distributing articles.

Content is the life blood of the Internet every webmaster needs it and every website needs fresh content to keep Google and the other Search engines coming back regularly. By writing articles you can provide this content and at the same time get yourself permanent back links to your website. This article will attempt to answer some common questions asked by first time article writers.

What should I write about?

Write about what you know and make it relevant to the content of your website this will ensure that the links back to your site are also relevant and enhance the links value in the search engines.

How will people locate my articles?

Once you have finished writing your article you add a resource box to it which contains links to your site. You then submit the article to article listing directories where they are placed in categories. Site owners can then copy them from the directories and use them. They must however keep your links intact

Won’t people just remove the links?

Yes this does happen but not as often as you think. It is very easy to track these webmasters down. Use a tool like Google alerts which checks the Internet for relevant key phrases. It is very useful if you add a unique key phrase to your articles that you can enter into the search tool. You can also search for your name to ensure that all the links are live.

How long should the articles be?

There is no fixed length recommended. If you try to keep between 350 and 500 words you should be fine. Some people write much longer articles but I see this as a bit of a waste of time as a 2000 word article could easily be split into 4 500 word articles and give you 4 links back to your site.

What is the ideal number of submissions?

That is a matter of personal choice some people believe that you should submit them to as many as possible, personally I only submit to 2 or 3 sites with a Google PR of 3 and above. My personal belief is that this keeps the articles unique enough to benefit any webmasters who use the articles.

How many articles should I be writing?

The more you write the better If 1 article a week gets you an extra 50 links then imagine the links you’ll get if you write one article a day. I usually try to write 1 article before breakfast everyday.