There are two basic things you can do with articles. The first is to post them on your website as a way to give the search engines more reason to refer people to your website. The second is to use them as a way to build backlinks to your site without having to reciprocate.

Posting articles on your site works quite well as a tactic. I recommend keeping things as unique as possible. There is a place for private label articles or articles from article directories, but you will do best with unique content. If you use private label articles, do at least a minor rewrite. If you use articles from article directories, comment on the article or create a summary of it, so that your page is not identical to every other one that has published that article.

However, without links to your site, it doesn't matter how great your content is. The search engines need to be able to find your website in order to index the content. Backlinks are one of the great ways to do this.

Reciprocal links have been used for a long time, and they can be pretty effective. However, they are also quite tedious to get. A well-written article, submitted to the article directories, however, may be posted on many sites, all with the link of your choice in the resource box. Yet all it costs is the effort of getting the article written.

Don't be intimidated by the prospect of having to write. Who said you had to be the one to do it? You can always hire someone to write for you. However, this requires that you be very careful to check over their work. This article is going to represent your business after all. Since not all of us can write well this is a great way to get quality articles created.

When it comes time to submit your articles, you will want to hire someone to do it, use software that lets you select appropriate categories or use an article submission service. If you don't use something to make your life easier, you can take hours to submit a single article.

Are your results immediate? You can see some results relatively quickly, but as with anything else online, it does take some time get the full benefit. You can be seen as a great resource or an expert on the topic of your choice. You might make more sales or have a busier website. But there are no promises. You have to do a good job with your articles to improve your chances.