If you own, run and maintain an internet based business or a site you will know you need to write articles. It's as simple as that. Regular users of the internet know that as well. Articles are there to provide information, help and knowledge but for the website owner or blogger they have a much more important function.

Articles can move a site up the search engine rankings for particular keywords and phrases. The dual function is that they provide content for your site and help to build trust and confidence in the visitor. They can increase visitors to a site and that in itself can have benefits if that site is a promotional tool for selling products or building a list.

The problem is that writing articles can be time consuming and an awful lot of people don't like to write. I do but there are lots of people who don't. So what do you do if you don't like writing?

Well you could copy someone else's work but that is a no no. There is no excuse for plagiarism. It's dishonest and morally and ethically wrong. You can copy someone else but only if you copy the whole article in full and include the resource or bio box as well. That gives credit to the original writer and you can sleep easy.

So what other ways are there to write articles?

There are free articles in the public domain. Just look in Google. There is no problem with copyright but the problem with simply lifting them is that because they are freely available, others have gone before! You can however knock them around, edit them, put relevant keywords in and so on. You might find this easier than starting from scratch and very often by the time you have finished with it, you will have a unique article. It is often better than starting with a blank page.

If you have some spare funds you might want to invest in getting some articles written for you. I have to say I have had a mixed experience with this. You may find that you have to try a few freelance writers until you find one that "fits" There are many sites catering for this, such as elance and rentacoder.

What do you need to look for when thinking of using a freelancer?

1. Don't get too hung up on looking for someone who has loads of experience and "stars" after their name.

2 Look for someone whose style mirrors your own.

3 Look for grammar and spelling and presentation.

4. Look at their previous work and feedback if there is any, and if not look at their writing style. Would it "fit" with your own? Can it sound like you? If you never intend to write then this might not be important but you need to have a "voice" of some description.

5 Above all be clear with your brief. Look at what other "buyers" have said about their needs and be specific yourself. It's no good just asking for some articles, try and give some idea of subject matter, potential titles and some keywords. That way you and your potential freelancer will have a much cleared view of what it is you actually need.

There is an investment for this but the time saved when you could be doing something else can be worth it if you truly hate writing articles.

Another way of getting articles is to allow similar sites to submit articles to your own. This can only be a temporary measure because those writers will have their own resource boxes and link readers to their sites but at least it gives you some content and perhaps some ideas of your own?

There can't really be a substitute for writing your own stuff but there are some pretty good alternatives out there.