The WordsManShip

Author: The WMS CEO

The Best Article Directories Analysis Series VII: The Dark Horse in the Article Directory Race, Examiner.Com

In spite of limited geographical reach, the site has become one of the fastest growing websites in the world

Launched all the way back in 1994 and re-launched in 2008 Examiner.com has come a long way. After its quick makeover, it immediately became an internet goliath. The site has a memorable and catchy domain name which is the envy of most other websites (website owners know what a traffic pheromone, a great name can be).

It is one of the most popular article directories in the world and its SEO stats and, in one way, tower high above all its contemporaries. Yet it lags behind the giants like eHow and Squidoo primarily because of its ‘No-follow’ aspect which can discourage a marketing content writer. All things considered, the site, with some slight tweaks holds the potential to gallop ahead of its competitors. Here’s how it fares in our analysis.

Strengths of Examiner.com for a Marketing Content Writer

Examiner.com is one of the few article directories to have three-digit Alexa rating but its most astounding statistic is that it possesses a Google page rank of 8. This is higher than any of it prime rivals, including the leader of them all, eHow.com. Such a rating reflects the general popularity of the site which in turn means that any content posted here will be quick to pop up in Google.

The homepage of the site is uncluttered and brief, which is unusual for any article directory since most such sites usually want to present all their content on the front page itself at all costs.

The site is also one of the most professional blogs out there as any marketing content writer would attest. The quality of content you get here may not be absolutely impeccable but it skims close to it. Once you build up a good reputation for yourself, your opinion shall receive good attention and traffic.

Along with this it is ultra-popular in the US and Canadian market, so businesses trawling for clients specifically in those two countries should consider it seriously. Plus, considering that the site gained its ranking solely by capturing these two markets speaks volumes of the gob smacking popularity of the site.

Weaknesses of Examiner.com

The geography specific strength of Examiner.com is also its Achilles heel. Since it primarily caters to the US and Canadian market, it alienates marketing content writers who are looking to expand their business in other markets.

The site also has a No-follow feature, which restricts the possibilities of extensively advertising your business on a direct level. You can get the word around about your enterprise, but the lack of adequate backlinks may be the gulf that prevents readers from turning into prospective clients.

In spite of the quality of content on the site, Examiner.com has often come under fire for material that has now and then been derided as incompetent and lacking in direction. The content has been criticized for inaccuracy and inadequate attribution. But then again, so has Wikipedia. This can be brushed off as the result of a quick surge in popularity.

Also, any marketing content writer willing to contribute to the site should know beforehand that remuneration for the said content service or SEO content will be very paltry.

The Opportunities with Examiner.com

Your business assuredly will bloom in the US and Canadian market if you advertise it on examiner.com. The Google page rank of the site makes the content more suitable for reaching out to the generic masses.

If you chisel your content appropriately, you could advertise your business and uphold the benchmark of the content in the site as well. A marketing content writer or a technical writer should not have much difficulty in adhering to the said benchmark. Your content needs to be short and to the point. Brevity is a quality this site really pushes.

The site also has a separate video portal for businesses that want to persuade its clientele with visuals. Since this exists independently, it becomes even easier to disseminate.

The Threats (issues) with Examiner.com

You will have to seek out other outlets to advertise your content outside of USA and Canada. Not that the site does not have a following outside of these markets, but the fact is its readership primarily exists in these two regions only.

The competition you are bound to face from scores of other marketing content writers that examiner.com has is also an impediment that cannot be quickly remedied. You can try hiring professional content writing services or solicit help from ghost writers. Such experts are bound to have a substantial following and would know how to polish your content as well.

August 30, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series VI: Revenue Sharing Blogging Leader; HubPages.com

Ornate and easy to use, HubPages reaches out to the general masses

HubPages, along with Squidoo.com helped popularize the concept of revenue sharing in websites. Squidoo may have brought it to wide attention, but it wasn’t until HubPages came along that revenue sharing became an internet rage. While Squidoo was the innovator who introduced the audience to the idea, HubPages took the idea and brought it to the masses and articles writing services. The former may still lead the market in terms of popularity and rank, but the latter is one of the few revenue sharing enterprises that managed to give it a run for its money.

Today, HubPages is one of the most visited websites in the world and one of largest article directories in the internet even though it does not cater to articles writing services directly. In our last entry we reviewed squidoo.com. It is only fair that we review the only other site that can make Squidoo shake in its tentacles.

Strengths of HubPages for Articles Writing Services

HubPages boasts of a whopping Alexa rating of 327 and a very significant Google page rank of 6, which places it as one of the top five online article directories. The reason for HubPages’ instant popularity, when it was unveiled in 2006, was that its interface was much more convenient when compared to Squidoo.

Much like Squidoo’s lens and lensmasters, HubPages has ‘hubs’ and ‘hubbers’ (hence the name). The pages also offer added liberties in posting content. The site goes to good lengths to make sure there is ease in posting and accommodates all sorts of media. The hubs are intended to retain a magazine like appearance.

HubPages is also distinct in its system of categorizing its content. The sub categories, as they should be in any good article directory, are really diverse. It is this factor that gives every site its own brand of content. The categories moreover are well placed at the end of the page and are easily noticeable. Furthermore, the page really draws attention to how gracefully ornate it is. This further helps in attaching links and various media to your article.

The site also advertises its authors by having a section about the various success stories that the site boasts of. You may even find some owners of articles writing services there. Inspirational or not, the authors do manage to find themselves a good following. The site also has an apprentice program for an improved online portfolio, in addition to offering learning programs to help users improve their writing skills.

Weaknesses of HubPages

HubPages may revel in how neat and ornate its pages are, but fails to do the most important thing required of article directories; pushing its content. A sliding tab on the top advertises a handful of popular content along with another section in the sidebar, but there a new user will be clueless about the various kinds of content that exist on the site. On the part of articles writing services, this is an acute shortage in incentives (apart from the revenue you gain). The site has to help users attain a following.

If the sliding tabs are your only outlet to be advertised amongst the users, you really have very disconcerting odds to play with. Moreover, the site also has a 60:40 revenue sharing ratio. Not that this makes for an infirmity but rival sites offer over 50%. But all things considered, the margin of difference is miniscule.

The Opportunities with HubPages

The variety in topics will help you to reach out to your desired target audience better. In addition to this, diverse sub-topics really help in distinguishing content and further streamlining it for articles writing services.

The liberties in adding media and business links (a more restricted feature in other sites) in your articles provides leeway to advertise your content better.

If you fashion your content professionally enough i.e. with same standards as maintained by technical writing and content writing services, you could advertise your business without compromising the quality of your page.

The Threats (issues) with HubPages

Since the site won’t advertise your content much, you might have to go the extra mile to ensure you page is conspicuous, which means more innovative and professional content.

This can add undue pressure on articles writing services to experiment with their content. However, you can try hiring ghost writers to improve your page and maybe even engage in some report writing to improve the relevance of your page.

August 27, 2012
Media Buying Along With SEO

This is a guest post. We welcome all online entrepreneurs, affiliate marketers and content writers looking for guest posts on the WordsManShip blog. If you are interested in a guest post on this blog then simply contact us!

In the world of internet marketing, the most dominant way of getting things done is through SEO. With SEO you get more exposure, your rank goes up, and you get more traffic which leads to more profit.

However, major search engines have a habit of constantly changing in the effort of making things easier for users at the expense of the convenience of anyone doing internet based marketing businesses like affiliate marketing and others.

However, there is a way for marketers to not have to rely on SEO too much, since an alternative method which is similar to SEO but with less hassle, does exist. This alternative method is called Media Buying.

SEO

By optimizing the ways with which your site can achieve exposure with search engines, SEO grants incredible access to high search engine ranks and abundant traffic in your sites. This is done through a number of ways, but essentially the main concern is to convince search engines that you are not a waste of time for users.

As you can imagine, this takes quite a bit of careful maneuvering on your part as you will really have to fulfill a number of conditions before you are even considered. These days, you have to have good content, a presentable website, and a lot of respectable links. Even though the work is tedious, the rewards of a perfectly executed SEO strategy are great.

Media Buying

Then we have media buying which performs a lot like SEO, but with a greatly reduced amount of trouble. This is because unlike SEO, media buying only involves the purchasing of space on an already active website for advertising purposes, thus having a portal of access for potential buyers without having to rely on search engines.

The part where you no longer have to rely much on search engines in order to get people to enter your site is of particular advantage to marketers and would definitely be quite enticing. If combined with SEO, you can just imagine what you can achieve.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing, to name just one aspect of internet business ventures, runs with SEO as much as anything else. However, since it acts like a bridge between two eventual points, it involves far less trouble than actually selling products. On the flip side though, it then becomes more difficult to convince search engines that you are worth high ranks since you are just a middleman.

But by using media buying along with your usual SEO practices, you get an extra layer of protection against being completely erased from the spectrum. Visitors of related sites which you bought advertising space from can simply click on the image that will lead them to you.

Some Downsides

As ideal as media buying might be in some points, it has to be mentioned that it does come with some negatives. For one, it costs money, which is really not that much of a shocker considering that you are buying advertising space. But depending on the size or your niche, it can cost quite a bit.

Also, in order for people to actually get interested in anything these days, you have to make the image actually attractive. Which means you have to put in extra effort to make your image catch the eyes of people, otherwise it’s just a wasted investment. If you are not very good with designing things, this could mean even more money.

Finally, just the media by itself is not enough to get you where you would want to go. Remember that you are relying on someone else’s site, a site that a number of people might never find. So dropping SEO altogether and simply relying on the media you bought can be a bad idea.

August 24, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series V: Squidoo; a True Internet Royal

Even Though the Website Is Not Without Its Flaws, Its Domineering Internet Presence As Well As the Liberty It Provides Its Users Is Undeniable

In every industry, there are leaders and there are revolutionaries. Enterprises armed with such an idea that that they take the industry by storm and change its conventions and practices for good. Squidoo.com was one such enterprise for the copy writing service industry. The website along with Hubpages.com (which we’ll review in our following entries) made the concept of revenue sharing an internet rage and stirred up a ruckus in the SEO and content writing industry. It revolutionized content service and the incumbent monetary system of forming content for the web. Needless to say Squidoo started it all and is yet to be usurped from its perch.

The Strengths of Squidoo for a Copy Writing Service

With a page rank of 7 and an Alexa rating of 212 Squidoo, in its popularity, is second to none but eHow.com which is not far off with a rating of 131. This, by default renders, it the most popular revenue sharing article directory out there.

When Squidoo started, it introduced the concept of ‘lenses’ and ‘lensmasters’ which was a fancy way of saying you could create your own web pages in the site and control great many elements in it. It goes without saying that this liberty makes for a great platform to advertise your copy writing service or any other business. The site also offers a great variety of ‘lenses’ (categories) to explore.

The additional facet of being able to incorporate any form of media in your page makes it accommodating for all sorts of businesses and doesn’t limit your content to essay writing. This offers immeasurable number of ways to innovatively advertise your ideas.

No wonder the site managed to garner over 100,000 users in its first six months itself. This was a figure which multiplied geometrically over the following years. Prospective users can check out the content that is up for display in the site to get an idea of the variety of ways users have presented their ideas. It’s eclectic, innovative and out rightly professional.

The Weaknesses of Squidoo

The site may provide a lot of options and liberties to its users, but it withholds some major incentives, the foremost of which is the reduced ability to provide your business links or other links to your site. Your content may advertise your copy writing service as much as it wants but your clientele will have to seek it outside of the site. This also means that you cannot exactly gauge the conversion rate of your page or know what sort of improvements your content needs.

You do get feedback, but business is what you seek isn’t it?

The site may also provide high royalties on the revenue it makes from your content (50% in fact) but users will soon come to understand that the royalties are pretty meager. They will not add up to the thousands you hope it might. The amount is greatly predicated on the number of hits you may get.

While there is a page list of popular content, the site doesn’t emphasize on user recognition or celebration. The user is defined by the current content. If brand establishment and recognition is what a user looking for, it’s scanty in Squidoo.

The Opportunities with Squidoo

Due to the vast popularity of the site, there is no denying the fact that appropriately fashioned content will instantly attract a lot of page hits. Considering that you get to use many forms of media in your pages, your content will have greater scope in attracting the right kind of visitors (and maybe even some scope to go viral). Niche audience or general, the following that you will amass will be in high numbers. Added to this, you will be prominently visible in major search engines.

The site also advertises its popular content for the day. Managing such a label for your content will significantly propel your copy writing service quite far.

The Threats (issues) with Squidoo

There is also a factor of content retaining its popularity in any website. This cannot be guaranteed in Squidoo owing to the fact that it doesn’t promote its authors and contributors much. Your content might see a spike in popularity one day which may, just as abruptly, plummet the next day.

One also has to mention the competition you will face in the site. Without the right kind of content you will face a threat of fading into obscurity in a very short span of time. It is advised that you take due regard and care in fashioning your content. You should consider soliciting outside to gain from a good copy writing service and sustain popularity in the site if you don’t feel you are equipped for the task.

August 23, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series IV: Defying SEO Conventions for Online Success, Goarticles.Com

In spite of a meager page rank, Goarticles retains its mantle as a demigod amongst article directories.

The website’s tagline claims that it’s “the world’s largest free content and article directory”, yet Goarticles presents a very puzzling picture. This has less to do with the veracity of the claim than the success of the site itself. In spite of having a Google page rank of 2, the site endures to be one of the most popular article directories in the world, a hotspot for SEO articles and content service providers. So what sort of online creature is Goarticles.com?

The Strengths of Goarticles

The site’s single biggest strength that will assuredly outweigh most of its undoing’s is its loyal legion of followers and contributors. The site’s position as a market force is unquestionable and it continues to hold on to its mantle despite faltering SEO stats. How else do you explain the site’s dominance over other directories which have a significantly higher page rank?

The site, true to its label, is fashioned like a directory and has an eclectic assortment of categories. Similarly, true to its name, it is an “article” directory. The content that you will get to see is all words and words alone which should please content service providers. There is hardly a trace of any other media. Ergo, content here matters.

The site also displays a greater propensity for celebrating authorship than you’ll find in any other website. This is evidenced by the fact in the search tab where you can search for articles by specific authors. There are also two different tabs which showcase top authors and major contributors.

The Weaknesses of Goarticles

The biggest weakness with Goarticles would be that you will need to lay greater emphasis on fashioning your content professionally as well as wording your titles and keywords carefully, especially because your content needs to stand out through the means of text and masthead alone.

This shouldn’t be a problem if you hire content service providers though. Another apparent infirmity is that you may enjoy popularity within the site but may find it difficult to get importance from search engines.

You may be potentially missing out on clientele that exists outside of the site. Since the site doesn’t boast of an impressive page rank, you may have your work cut out for you.

The Opportunities with Goarticles for Content Service Providers

The enduring popularity of the site ensures that, with the right kind of content, you can amass a significant following in a short span of time. Since the site promotes authorship, your following is bound multiply quickly too. The nature of the site itself is such that it’s bound to present a surprising conversion rate. Furthermore, it should also be mentioned that the site’s placement of advertisements instantly catches the reader’s attention.

The Threats (issues) with Goarticles

Content heavy sites like this are bound to present a formidable amount of competition, even for established content services. Good content may just not suffice; you will have to deliver great content. In addition to this, the task of promoting your business along with the article can be tricky. In fact, in order to streamline content development and produce solid content for the web, professional help is advised by most SEO professionals. After all, it does not make sense to let the internet gadfly get away, especially if the gadfly represents a potential client.

August 20, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series III: the Mecca for Technological Blogs, Technorati

There Is a Lot of Potential with Technorati But Also Many Difficulties

Now, you might think what is a blog search engine doing in our on-going SWOT analysis series of great article directories, but the fact is that one of the world’s foremost blog search engines automatically becomes a coveted platform for posting content for article writers. The site is a supposed Mecca for the content service industry and bloggers alike.

The Strengths of Technorati that Article Writers can Leverage

From articles about Search Engine Optimization to videos of celebrities caterwauling, the site provides a diverse assortment of content presented regardless of the kind of news that it provides. Therefore, all professional article writers with the right touches (within legal confines) can quickly scrounge a position high up in the listing. Furthermore, the said content of writing just has to feature in the list of articles since the categories section lies at the bottom of the page and doesn’t advertise itself much.

The site also displays the search engine rating that the article has been able to conjure. This detail can be of great help in enticing possibly curious readers. Additionally, the site also provides stocks on which blog has risen or lost out in terms of popularity. This is a section in the site you quickly want to be mentioned in.

To top all its merits, Technorati notches up a whooping Google Page Rank of 8. This is the kind of figure that sites covet and business oriented sites would like to ally with. The formidable combo of search engine and article directory assures the fact that this is a website where businesses will attract the right kind of audience.

The Weaknesses of Technorati

Technorati, due to its sheer popularity finds it affordable to let the article writers fend for themselves. After their 2009 move to stop indexing blogs that are not in English, myriads of blogs in regional languages were left in the lurch.

And if you operate in the same manner, your content (especially if it’s amateur in its effort) will barely fetch you the response that you are scouring for. There are thousands of defunct blogs in the site as testimony to this fact.

Technorati has in the past received flak for being a PR tool for public relations firm Edelman which came to head in its 2006 fake blog scandal. The deal was terminated shortly thereafter, but the website is yet to be free itself from the taint it acquired with that incident.

The Opportunities with Technorati

The high page rank of the site ensures that your popularity within the site will shade off to other search engines as well. And by ensuring that your content climbs the ranks in Technorati, you will be able to catch the attention of the niche clientele that looks for great business at professional places. SEO articles and professional article writers should be fairly quick in racking up the needed traffic.

The Threats (Issues) With Technorati

Considering the wide popularity of the site and its very own article directory, it will be a tough job getting to the top of the randomly assorted list of articles. Since the site barely provides much in the way of topping a category list, article writers will need to fashion their content in such a way that it has great generic appeal.

Since the site is its own search engine and assessor of the popularity of articles, you need to design SEO content specifically aimed at Technorati and need to be acquainted with how to tackle the hurdles the site will present you with.

August 17, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series II: the Common Man’s Hero, Ezinearticles

Despite suggestions that panda and penguin updates stomped all over ezinearticles, the article directory is still doing well

In the previous instalment of this series, we made a study of eHow.com in terms of its usefulness to an online entrepreneur. Now, we will look to do a SWOT analysis on another one of the stalwarts of the article marketing world, ezinearticles.com. Much like our previously reviewed website, Ezinearticles.com too is a prominent article directory and chances are that professional writers in the SEO world are well acquainted with the site’s popularity.

The Strengths of ezinearticles.com for Professional Writers

Quite unsurprisingly, ezine boasts of an Alexa rating of 316. Even though it lags slightly behind e-how’s redoubtable page rank of 7 at 6, the website still commands a fiefdom of online contributors that few other article directories manage to muster. Posting an article on ezine assures that, with the right heading (and a few other embellishments), you will not take much time in amassing a respectable number of readers and becoming one of the more popular professional writers.

It is also worth mentioning that merely labelling each group of articles as ‘categories’ would be greatly belittling the strength in depth that the site displays. All the headings (Arts and Entertainment, Business etc.) yield further sub-categories when you hover over them with the classification being as meticulous and diverse as is logically possible.

Another benefit of posting on ezinearticles.com is that the site helps promote authors. Authors are often rated and promptly occupy a merit list at display on the homepage of the site (The quality of your content writing skills will propel you there). This is exactly what bloggers and content writers should be looking for.

The Weaknesses of ezinearticles.com

We, at the WordsManShip, often wonder, how ornate a page needs to be in order to attract readers. Going by Ezine standards, your homepage might as well look like a dictionary. This hasn’t been its undoing of course, and to tell the truth, such a stand would veer close to nitpicking. Besides, this characteristic actually compels readers to actually ‘read’. Unfortunately, it also means that you do not easily stand out of the vast plethora of articles that may follow or precede yours in the vast list of posts that the site provides.

There are two things to keep in mind here for professional writers. The first is that words alone will not help you trounce your competitors and second is that first impressions do matter. What is needed is professional quality to stand out in the ocean of words that the website boasts of. Either you acquire professional level skills for this, or you buy content to ensure this.

Ezine, incidentally, was also, purportedly one of the victims of the Penguin-Panda onslaught. These claims, of course, are yet to be confirmed and going by the site’s performance, are probably untrue.

The Opportunities With ezinearticles.com

Ezinearticles much like eHow offers great opportunities for professional writers to tap into their target audience and convert them to prospective clients. However, there is a difference between these two sites. eHow with its varied uses of multimedia may command a vast audience, but ezinearticles will have readers who are methodical and meticulous in looking for what they need. Thus, at ezinearticles, you will catch the attention of a greater percentage of your niche audience. Ergo, the site does offer prospects of an increased conversion rate.

Along with this, the authors are also prominently promoted in the homepage. With significant contributions, you will be on your way up and will exponentially multiply your readers. A very big benefit of the site is that links are overtly visible in articles. Your page can also feature other links and pages and vice versa.

The Threats (Problems) with ezinearticles.com

Ezine may help you tap into the niche section of the audience but then again, you are not exactly expanding your base. You will not grab the attention of the internet gadfly; the kind of user who habitually checks out random posts and videos. The reason is simply that the attention span of such an individual is next to zero and a verbose page can make such a person yawn. Furthermore, when your page is just too wordy, you forego most opportunities to go viral.

In addition to this, let’s not forget the competition you will face with a legion of professional writers. The only way to counter these threats is to ensure that the content that you submit to ezinearticles is exceptional in its own right and sourced from a good content writing service.

August 14, 2012
The Best Article Directories Analysis Series I: The King of How-To, eHow

There are enough content service providers who recommend instructional articles; there is a reason for it

Entrepreneurs have a hard time finding the optimal market for their product. More difficult yet, is getting the word around for their products. This is why one has to be aware of the proper platforms to market their product. The internet being the gargantuan labyrinth that it is can a bit tricky to navigate.

Sure Search Engine Optimization helps, but that needs certain acumen to get right. Finding the right avenues for SEO is crucial in many ways, especially for entrepreneurs with businesses that may cater to a “niche audience”. (For the rest, the world is possibly their oyster)

The New Best Article Directories Analysis Series

In a continuing series of entries, we, at the WordManShip.com, will review the top most article directories and our intention is to provide you with a detailed SWOT analysis from the perspective of content and SEO writers. We do not claim to be connoisseurs or critics of how to administer a website since it is a fickle and an ever evolving process that few seem to have the reins on.

The following will merely be helpful points of assessment to help you make an informed decision on which article directory to tell your content service provider to write for how easy or difficult it will be for you to leverage its page rank.

As to the question of how we select the article directory to analyze, it’s a simple confluence of high traffic, possible incentives and a good amount of randomness so as to ensure fairness since there are a whole lot of websites out there. But be assured, the entire collection of websites that have caught our fancy attract quite a lot of traffic and, therefore, are filled with promises of a good business opportunity. We begin with the How-to master – ehow.com.

The Strengths Of eHow.com for SEO Writers

Garnering a formidable Alexa rating of 128 and Google Page Rank of 7, eHow.com is not conventionally an article directory but a content website. In fact, if you go to any third party website on the internet that ranks generic content websites on the basis of their usefulness, you would see eHow at the summit of the pile or thereabouts. The website offers user based entries on a vast collection of topics which are arranged categorically based on the subject.

Moreover, it is crucial to note that eHow also accepts how-to videos along with articles. The biggest usefulness of eHow comes in the form of the structure of its content. The very basic how-to format is very useful to get through to any customer owing to its instructional nature as there is a lot of demand for how-to articles in the online community. SEO writers will cherish this avenue of marketing.

The Weaknesses Of eHow.com

While eHow.com is a wellspring of online information, it has one flaw and that is the unholy No follow feature of its site. What this means is that any backlink that you create through this website would have with it the dastardly No Follow link that would prevent your website from getting any SEO related juice from your posted content.

In addition to this, eHow.com is said to be one of the websites that took a major hit due to the recent updates from Google. However, as you can see from the page rank of seven, the website seems to be doing fine.

The Opportunities With eHow.com

eHow.com boasts of a very high traffic simply because of the type and quality of its content. This can be highly beneficial for online entrepreneurs and SEO writers. Let us explain with an example. Imagine posting a how-to article on how to paint a glass window on eHow.com with a link in the resources section to your website that sells painting kits.

Any visitor interested in your article would be planning to paint some glass windows and, hence, may use the link at the bottom to purchase the painting kit from you. Even though this is a crude and basic example, it captures the idea of opportunities with eHow.com perfectly i.e. you get a chance to convert already targeted audience.

The Threats (Difficulties) With eHow.com

Now, barring the painful No Follow attribute which will prevent the link juice to flow from eHow.com to your website, the above mentioned information on eHow.com must have made an impact on you. Furthermore, when you see eHow.com sitting pretty on top of most article directory ranking tables, it is likely that you would want in on the action along with other SEO writers as well. Herein rests the biggest problem with eHow.

eHow is not like other article directories in that it allows all SEO writers to post articles. Instead, eHow has dedicated content writing professionals that it hires on an individual basis. In order to have an article posted at eHow, you either need to join its ranks of authors or find a content writer who is already a part of eHow.

If you choose the first option then you would need to apply to the company managing eHow.com i.e. Demand Media Studios. Their requirements are not very difficult for a good writer. They need an online form submitted, a content sample and the most recent resume. The resume needs to show that you either have educational qualification in journalism or an associated field or have experience in the content industry. Your writing sample will need to show your ability to simplify complex concepts, your grammar skills and your encyclopedic style of writing.

Finding SEO writers who already have an approved account with eHow can be a little difficult and you would have to trawl through various digital products marketplaces to look for them. Alternatively, you can hire a professional content writing service capable of writing the how-to article for you, but it is unlikely that you will find any content writing service that already has access to eHow.com and would be able to post the article.

With the above SWOT analysis, we hope to help you make a choice on whether you want to put in the hard work to leverage the traffic generated by eHow or not. In the following installment, we will take a closer look at ezinearticles.com, an article directory that is particularly friendly for online entrepreneurs looking to hire content writing service providers.

August 9, 2012
Content for the Web: Curious Case of Time Bandits

A Discourse In Improving Page Loading Time For In the Internet; Patience Is Pest

I could employ clichés like “it’s the cyber-age” or “time is money” to state the point that the world of internet is an impatient age. But we have to suck up to the fact that time is an essential part of any user experience and directly affects user satisfaction. Be it on the internet or otherwise. Content for the web should be delivered at the speed befitting the medium.

Significance of Page Load Time for Content for the Web

Now, you may ask how this relates to SEO and content for the web. Brass tacks, improved page loading time helps in SEO. It is a fact that increased page loading time by a margin of 100-400 ms increases searches per user by around 0.6%. That may not sound like much, but remember we’re talking per user units here, which on the whole sums up to a great figure.

It’s also given to some claims (claims, since they have not been completely verified but at the same time have not been debunked) that faster page loading increases the probability of attaining a greater page rank since you would pop up on the search engine’s radar quicker. Since every search engine would want to give its users faster results (to reiterate, less time equates to more searches), the page that loads faster would also be detected early. Plus, they would also make for a better SERP considering these pages provide added user satisfaction.

Of course, we, at the WordsManShip, would concede that this would seem like nitpicking at an element that has been hitherto neglected to the point of being insignificant. Added to this, most web site administrators and owners must be under the impression that speed is a factor that mostly falls under the realm of hardware management. It is something that can be achieved only by computer hacks. Not quite.

There are various factors that can be tinkered in your website pages itself which would elevate the page loading time. They are as follows

Minimize Redirects

The Dwarves Say Yes to Quality Content!

Redirects are often required to indicate new location of URLs, reserve multiple domains and connect different paths. This would require extra HTTP requests and added latency. Cutting back on redirects ought to speed up the entire process of loading a page. For e.g. minimize the reference of URLs which in turn leads to other URL’s. You should try to update applications to automatically update URL references whenever there is shuffling of content on the web.

It’s also important that your site doesn’t take up more than one (or the minimum manageable number) redirect to get to the content on the web. This is to be taken care of especially when you buy content for the web or employ ghost writers for certain tasks. Report writing as an activity may witness the usage of multiple domains for the posting of content.

Minimize Domains That Further Lead To Redirects

This is especially imperative if they don’t really provide any content which only means they are extra baggage. This is mostly observed when sites purchase extra domains so as to prevent counterfeiting sites from taking over and benefitting from various misspelt variations of the site name. The flipside is, when you do purchase multiple domains, you give your users the liberty to access your content for the web from multiple URL’s. You can use Will Peavy’s Minifier or Autoptimize for compression. This move might be a cliff-hanger since it’s predicated on what provides greater incentives.

Remove Bad Pages

This would entail removing bad request pages and those familiar unholy 404/410 errors for content for the web. It’s simply a waste of time that takes up a waste of space. You have to regularly monitor your site for broken links or links that are void.

Serve Content from a Consistent URL

In continuation to the first point, try to provide references that employ identical URL’s. Serving content for the web from a singular hostname will also provide caching benefits which will further boost your website’s performance levels.

Employ a Content Delivery Network

It is a collection of web servers distributed across multiple locations. This provides ease in delivery of content. Administrators often suffice with standard web-hosting, but CDN clearly would provide improved performance.

Optimize Images and Specify Image Dimensions

Keeping image sizes low can be of great help for slow internet connections (content writers in India are well aware of this tip). Images often contain worthless comments useless colours and superfluous details. Since most images need not take up a vast section of the page, it only makes sense to not have them hog so much time in processing and downloading.

August 6, 2012
Taming the Shrew; Named Google

Some Strategies against Google’s Various Mood Fits

Petruchio: Come, come, you wasp, i’faith you are too angry.

Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

Petruchio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.

Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.

Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.

Katherine: In his tongue.

Petruchio: Whose tongue?

Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell.

Petruchio: What, with my tongue in your tail?

This of course is an extract from the Bard’s own Taming the Shrew and bears a fitting allusion to Google. (It’s kind of true when they say that the themes in Shakespeare’s plays are universal in nature.) How shall we put it delicately? Google is at times, difficult, when it comes to SEO articles, especially as business strategies become more labyrinthine and competition more rapier. Google often puts up shrewish and moody fits and we in the world of SEO articles are periodically subjected to a world of misery.

We are not just referring to the diabolical rolling algorithmic updates that are ironically named after adorable critters that Google unleashes on us, we also mean the replication of dominance of ad-words in searches, the usage of ad-words to find high paying industries and cut down middle men, by-passing of search within search etc. Tongue, Tail, this wasp wears its sting pretty much everywhere.

We concede that some changes are for the better and make the system far more efficient but there exists the displacement of one SEO article strategy over another in rapid succession. With the rules of the game changing this quickly, it becomes difficult to monitor and revamp your own strategy to suit the erstwhile need. And what is the point of coming up with strategies and tactics to just tackle the problem at hand? It becomes infuriating when you come up with an elaborate strategy only to have it sink to obsolescence due to another of Google’s “improvements”. Considering the innovation legion at Larry Page’s and Sergei Brin’s employ, the SEO article business changes like an adolescent stuck in perennial puberty.

Now, the title of this entry may give you the impression that we will dole out tips to counter these changes. Close, but not in the strictest sense since it’s difficult for anyone to anticipate the various vicissitude of the SEO world. These tips have to be seen more as measures that might inoculate your website to these changes.

Brand Building

Forging a brand identity is one of those long term strategies which will get you through any form of SEO maelstrom. By establishing a brand identity you won’t have to rely wholly on Google and your SERP’s. Employ web content services, buy web content if the need be, but once you’ve established a brand identity for yourself, you will gain an instant visibility through your content, audiences will return to your website automatically. Besides, content for the web comes cheap these days anyway.

Furthermore, as word of mouth spreads about your site, you won’t be completely reliant on a search engine intermediary for your traffic. Writers, (may be not SEO article writers or technical writers) SEO bloggers and columnists etc. can start by employing authorship mark-ups.

Of course, when we say long term, we mean it in two ways. While this shields your website for a long while, it will take a great investment of time for the brand to attain the following and image that you’re aiming for. (There is a punch line in here somewhere about a beast with two backs, but it somehow seems to escape me)

The Ad-Words Game

Google is gradually laying emphasis on Ad-words, now more so than before considering they are a key. It is advised that you strengthen your online advertising, especially targeting a niche set of audience that your website may be aimed at. Mind you, the relation between advertising and SEO articles is growing more intense by the second.

Ad-words are particularly scrutinised for their quality score and are a well affected SEO technique. Traditional form of SEO in this sense is still to be usurped in its efficiency. You will have to try hard to acquire more customers while still cutting back on your costs. This will be a primary indicator of your success in the game.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Acquiring a loyal tribe of visitors is more important than seeking out new ones. It ensures that you are catering well to your niche and your niche audience identifies as well as trusts your brand adequately. It is wiser to steadily acquire a consistent (and sizeable) traffic for your site than just scouting for stray spikes in it.

Try to find out what proportion of your traffic is not converting into regulars and how you can remedy it with your content while retaining your focus on SEO articles. You can also try polling your sites regulars about what they like and what kind of changes they may like to see. Of course, don’t be too persistent. Lack of incessant polling may be one of your site’s plus points.

Remember, a loyal audience is a powerful key for sustained Search Engine Optimization.

Leveraging Emerging Markets With Top End SEO Articles

Reaching for business abroad makes you an international entity. And that means something even in a place like the cyber-world. Not only will you boost your standing in search engines, you will be expanding your business (another example of the two backed beastie punch line).

It is even better if these are markets are bereft of Google’s overwhelming dominance.

The only catch is, coupled with the language barriers; this may turn out to be quite arduous. Then again, how else do you tame a shrew?

August 3, 2012