Almost every marketing guru is screaming his head off, "Write those articles!" And then you come over here and I tell you that writing articles is not the way to success! Whom would you believe? Not me, certainly! Not unless I can actually show you why these article directories don't pay off and just how you can actually make them pay off!

What's wrong with Article Directories?

I'm sure you must have heard a lot about duplicate content and how search engines penalize them. Now lay back and think. If an article is posted on a hundred odd sites, isn't it really duplicate content too? Yes, it is. And search engines will determine which site actually originated the content and which sites merely copied it.

Back when I was starting out with my first internet venture, I did a crazy thing. I subscribed to a Search Engine Optimization newsletter. These guys send a weekly email with their bundle of latest tips. For the first few months, I actually followed what they said. Now, I just keep my subscription to get a few laughs.

You see, their basic advice hasn’t changed a bit. It is still about keyword laden content, back links to your site, et cetera, et cetera. Of course, every time the search engines change their algorithm a bit, there is a huge new update on how best to beat this algorithm and remain on top. And you know what? Some of the things these guys say actually work! But here I am, telling you to stop writing for the search engines. I must be really crazy, right?