Writing Articles is a Pain: There’s got to be a better way!

By: Stacy Moore

As a website owner or blogger, you've likely heard about the importance of filling your site with articles and submitting articles to article directories. Not only do articles keep your visitors coming back for more, when strategically used, articles can provide many other benefits. But, writing articles is a pain for many of us. Is there a better way?



The Benefits of Writing Articles

Articles can boost your site's ranking in the search engine result pages for relevant keyword phrases, helping draw traffic to your site. Your well written, informative articles can lend credibility to you, your site, its products, and your recommendations.



If you incorporate "share this" and social media buttons, readers may feel inclined to share links back to your site or tell friends to check out your article. Again, this could lead to an increase in traffic to your site. Since your articles are credible and informative, they build trust and can lead to increased sales. Not only that, they act as a soft sell.



Free Articles – The Easy Way to Populate Your Site

Now that you understand the importance of articles to your site, you may be thinking "But I hate writing articles!" or "That's great, but I can't write and I can't afford to hire a writer." Even if you are a decent writer, you may not be interested or your time may be better spent doing something else.



Whether you hate writing articles, you lack the skills to do it yourself, or you simply can’t afford to hire your own writers, here's an option to consider: Using free articles from free article resources such as the public domain or article directories. Remember, you never want to copy and paste articles without permission or you'll be guilty of copyright infringement or plagiarism. However, public domain articles have either had their copyright expire or have been placed in the public domain by the authors for public use. These articles can be used however you'd like. Public domain articles have a downside, though: Anybody can do the same. If you go crazy with public domain articles, your site won't be unique.



Using articles from free article directories is another option. You will not be able to edit these articles in any way and you must retain the author's resource box and links. Again, originality and uniqueness are issues to be aware of, so don't rely solely on free articles for your site or blog.



Rewriting PLR Articles

Another option is to buy PLR articles and use them as a launching point. Private Label Rights (PLR) articles give you full control. While you could use them as-is, it's smart to rewrite them so that they are completely original. Use the article as a base and reword it to make it your own. For example, this article originated from a PLR article, yet it is completely unique. The original article provided structure and inspiration, making it much faster to write.



Commissioning a Writer

Original articles definitely deliver the most bang for the buck. If you hate writing, consider commissioning an original article or buying articles from a site such as Constant-Content.com. You'd be surprised at how affordable this option really is. Plus, you can get well written, original articles containing the keyword phrases your site needs.



Original articles, whether you write them yourself or hire someone to do it for you, are worthwhile because you have full rights to them and can use them any way you please to generate traffic to your site or blog.



If you're interested in article marketing, check out the article marketing video course which also comes with thousands of PLR articles on which to build, making article writing much less of a pain.

Article Courtesy of Free Articles To Go

Free Articles to Go

The Pros and Cons of Using Articles from Free Article Directories

By: Stacy Moore

When it comes to populating a website, blog, or newsletter with content, you have several choices including writing the content yourself, hiring a writer to write it for you, and using free articles offered on free article directories. In a perfect world, you'd have the time, skill, and resources to either write the content yourself or hire a talented writer to do it for you. In fact, you may have these options most of the time. However, you may find yourself in a bind and in need of some free articles to fill in the gaps. If you do, be aware of the pros and cons of using free articles from free article directories so that you can make the best choices possible.



The Pros of Using Free Articles



The first major advantage of using free articles is the price. After all, it's hard to beat free! While it may cost you over $100 to commission a writer to write a custom article for you, you may be able to find decent general articles for free on an article directory.



Before you get overly excited, realize that you do pay a small price in exchange for free articles: you cannot change the article. This includes the author's resource box containing a link to the author's website, blog, or other online presence. If you don't mind an article with a small plug at the end, then selecting free article directory articles may be an excellent choice for supplementing your existing Web content.



In addition to the cost advantage, using free articles also frees up your time. For example, if you normally spend about ten hours writing articles for your monthly newsletter, you could cut the time commitment dramatically by using free articles instead of writing them all from scratch. Consider writing a feature article yourself and then adding free articles that fit that month's theme.



The Cons of Using Free Articles



If using free articles sounds too good to be true, you're smart to be cautious. The downsides to using free articles include: finding well written content, finding relevant content, and finding content that's not overly promotional. Remember, just about anyone can call himself a writer and submit an article to an article directory. Editorial standards vary amongst the thousands of article directories. As a reader, you most likely know good and bad writing when you see it, so use your discretion when selecting free articles.



Finding relevant content that's not overly promotional is your next challenge. Focus on specific categories and use the article directory's search function to filter the list of available articles down to relevant choices. For example, if you need an article for your fashion blog, browse through the beauty and fashion categories or enter a keyword term such as "fashion trends" into the directory's search box.



Most article directories limit promotional content to the author's resource box, but some overly promotional articles do slip through. Carefully read the articles you're considering and pass on those that do not server your readers or your publication well.



If you need occasional help filling your site, blog, or newsletter with content, free articles from article directories can help fill in the gaps.

Article Courtesy of Free Articles To Go