It's no great secret that the way to gain ranking positions in the search engines is by getting back links. Up to recently this used to consist of contacting other webmasters and asking them to link to your site in return for linking to theirs. Unfortunately this form of reciprocal linking is no longer as useful as it once was. One way links are now the key. There is no better way to get lots of one way links than by creating and distributing articles.

Regular new content is important for any website. By writing and distributing articles you can provide site owners with new content and at the same time get a back link or two for your site. In this article I'll attempt to answer some of the most common questions asked by people considering article marketing as a way to promote their sites.

What should I be writing about?

It is always easier to write about what you know to start with. Once you develop your writing skills then you can move on to subjects you need to research. Always make sure that the topic is related to the site that you are promoting.

How will people locate my articles?

Once you have finished writing your article you add a resource box to it which contains links to your site. You then submit the article to article listing directories where they are placed in categories. Site owners can then copy them from the directories and use them. They must however keep your links intact

Will Webmasters just delete the links?

This does sometimes happen but it is often a genuine mistake. If you find one of your articles without live links a quick email to the site owner is usually all it takes to get the links restored. By using a unique pen name or a unique phrase in all your articles you'll be able to trace them through Google much easier.

What length should the articles be?

There is not set length of article but anywhere from 200 words to a maximum of 3500 words is normal. Personally I usually aim for 350 -500 words as this usually sits nicely on a page

What is the ideal number of submissions?

There is no definitive answer to this. Personally I try to make each article unique and submit it to only 1 site. This is not as difficult as it sounds if you have the right tools at your disposal. Try to monitor the results you get and if you are getting good links from submitting to multiple sites then carry on doing it.

How many articles should I be writing?

Write as many as you can. Some people find they can only write 1 or 2 a day while others like my wife can churn our 25-30 in a day. Set yourself a target of writing 1 before breakfast everyday to start with and then take it from there