There's a lot of confusion about how and where to submit your articles for publication. Whether you are submitting an article for the first time or have been doing it for years read over these frequently asked questions so you can maximize the effectiveness of your article submissions.

What article directories should I submit to?

The directory that receives the most visitors and has the highest standards in the industry is EzineArticles. Make sure you first read the editorial guidelines before your submission as they have strict standards what is required.

Should I submit to other article directories

If you have time to submit to other directories Google "top article directories" to find them listed according to their Alexa and Google page rank. If you're submitting the exact same article to other directories it will dilute the value of your content. Only the first submission will get ranked. To avoid this rewrite your content so you'll create another unique article.

What should be the optimum length?

Every directory has their own standard. EzineArticles requires a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 5000 words. Others may require 600 or more as a minimum. There is no optimum length however if it gets too long break it up into several new articles.

Should I use article submission software?

If you blast the exact same article out to 1000s of directories at the same time you are spamming the search engines. People do not want to find duplicate content when searching for information. Your content may get banned in the future.

It's best to manually submit to the directories so you can select the correct category, subcategory and insert html code to make your content stand out. If you don't wish to do it yourself look for a service that does manual submissions.

How long will it take to get published?

This will vary depending on the directory. If you are an expert author at EzineArticles it will take a few days. If you are a premium member (paid service) you can tell them when you want the article published.

By following these  article submission guidelines you'll increase your backlinks, search engine rankings, web traffic and make more sales.