Hi

Awesome advice. Bonnie, I never thought of changing it for my site. That is brilliant.

I do lots of article submissions for myself and clients. I normally send to the top 30 or 40 places. It just brings the best results for me. There's really not a problem with duplicate content. However, as mentioned there are a few places that ask specifically for original articles and those you want to send only original. Buzzle is one of them.

I personally love Bonnie's site for her article submissions recommendations. I use it a lot, especially when I land a new client who might have different target audience than I've done before. It rocks!

Thanks!

Diana Ennen
Virtual Word Publishing
www.virtualwordpublishing.com

I just wanted to add my two cents regarding SEO, duplicate content and posting articles to multiple sites.

If you post the same article with the same title on multiple sites it is considered duplicate content and the 'SEO weight' will essentially rest with whichever of those sites has the stronger SEO to begin with - this means that when the SE returns your article for a related search the site with the stronger SEO will be presented in the search results [not necessarily your own website, even if you post the article there first].

This can be a really good thing for you though IF you promote your article at sites that already rank high in the SERPs because in turn your article will rank higher in the SERPs - ultimately sending traffic back to your own company website, or wherever you link to in your author byline.

Posting to sad little article directories with lots of 'junk' on them only dillutes the overall impact of your article - be selective about where your articles go. The key is to seek out article sites with strong SEO in general and/or in your industry/niche.

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Stuck in startup? Stop dreaming. Start DOING!
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I would use caution when using the exact same article. In addition to advertising your services, article submission is a great way to improve search engine rankings- and unique content is always better. There are directories out there that allow you to post an article and they send to there member websites. When they do this they usually adjust the article slightly so it is not the exact same content on all the websites. Also, I would not advise putting the same article on your website, as it could hurt your search engine ranking.

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Melissa- Owner The Invisible Assistant
"When you can no longer do it all"

This is great stuff! I hadn't thought about it before but now, I'd have to plump for different articles... or at least different strong statements which incorporate your key words.

If there are so many people "in the know" on article submission, think about how we feel when we search something and get lots of very similar looking searches. Google doesn't filter them all out, because I just tested it on something we submitted years ago for my artist boyfriend - it looks amateurish now and deflects from some of the geniune articles that have been written about his work since.

I think if we'd limited ourselves to 2 or 3, it would have a much more positive effect overall.

Bon chance!

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Virtual Assistant in France
www.farmhouse.fr/donna

I recently researched this.

Here's the link - directly from Google's mouth - that says there's no such thing as content penalty.

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogsp...t-penalty.html

I found myself researching it when I was looking into automated software and I found a software company completely lying about it. So frustrating when company's choose to lower themselves to try and get sales.

But this will clear it up.

Now relax, have fun writing, and submitting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Jaimie VanSickle, Premier Virtual Assistant

Ok, there still seems to be a lot of confusion on this issue of submitting articles do directories and on duplicate content penalties. Here's the short of it:

1. Most directories DO NOT restrict you from submitting the same exact article to any other directories or posting them on your own sites/blog. So you CAN post the same exact article to as many directories as you'd like.

2. You CANNOT post the same article to a directory more than once (i.e. if you try posting the same exact article to EzineArticles.com more than once, it will not be accepted; but you can still post this article to any other article directory)

3. If you plan on posting an article on your blog/site in addition to submitting to directories, make sure to post it to your site first.

For the long of it, read my post 3 Article Marketing Myths That will Cost You Money

Hi

Those are excellent points. One thing I'd like to add too is to make sure that the sites you submit to have accepted them and then see how many clicks they receive. They usually have a button where you can see your stats, or your articles.

Thanks!

Diana Ennen

Here is my take on a few directories:

1. Ezinearticles.com only accepts articles that have not been published anywhere else except your own site.

2. Goarticles.com does accept articles that have been published somewhere else provided you are the actual author of them. In case of a dispute, they will simply remove the article and if they find out that you were not the actual author, you get banned.

3. Buzzle.com only accepts articles that have not been published anywhere, including your own site. Any article published on Buzzle cannot be published anywhere else.

4. IdeaMarketers will accept any content from you and publish it right away. In case of copyright infringement, you will be responsible.

If you know about other directory sites and their rules, please post them here.

Originally Posted by VirtualPro

Here is my take on a few directories: 1. Ezinearticles.com only accepts articles that have not been published anywhere else except your own site. 2. Goarticles.com does accept articles that have been published somewhere else provided you are the actual author of them. In case of a dispute, they will simply remove the article and if they find out that you were not the actual author, you get banned. 3. Buzzle.com only accepts articles that have not been published anywhere, including your own site. Any article published on Buzzle cannot be published anywhere else. 4. IdeaMarketers will accept any content from you and publish it right away. In case of copyright infringement, you will be responsible. If you know about other directory sites and their rules, please post them here.

Thanks for this, I think I'll take this advice & use it as my general rule of thumb

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Traci Coastal Blog Coach

VirtualPro, your info is only partially correct. Specifically:

#1 - EzineArticles - Incorrect
#2 - GoArticles - Correct
#3 - Buzzle - appears to be Correct, although I've never worked with Buzzle
#4 - IdeaMarketers - Correct, with a note:

On all these sites, the ultimate responsibility for copyright infringement lies with the article's author.

Hey oneclick-va,

Could you please clarify what part of the information is not correct about Ezinearticles?

Hi

I believe what she was referring to is that EzineArticles doesn't require your article to be exclusive to them. You can post your articles that have been published on other sites.

I think IdeaMarketers also accepts press releases which is pretty cool too.

Thanks!

Diana Ennen
VirtualWordpublishing.com

Thanks Diana, that's exactly what I meant. You can post the same article to EzineArticles and any other directories you'd like. The only thing you can't do is to post the same article to EzineArticles more than once (without making substantial changes to it).

Ah, IdeaMarketers accept PR and books and e-books which is awesome if you have a free product that you want to distribute.

Originally Posted by oneclick-va

Thanks Diana, that's exactly what I meant. You can post the same article to EzineArticles and any other directories you'd like. The only thing you can't do is to post the same article to EzineArticles more than once (without making substantial changes to it).

Thanks and good to know that! (I can't submit a message that's too short. So everybody - have a good day!)