Why Submit Blog Posts to 10 of the Top Article Directories?

Writing for the web is great! Good writers are always in demand, because there are lots of websites that need to update and add fresh content for their own survival. Writing online can also get you some money. But more importantly, it builds your credibility and authority. Bloggers are no strangers to online content writing. So for them, it can be far more important and useful. Submitting your articles or blog posts to article directories can be a particularly good way of boosting your stats. It can bring many benefits for bloggers. Today, we'll take a look at the top 10 article directories where you can submit your articles or blog posts and benefit from them.

Why submit your articles?

Submitting articles has lots of benefits. First of all, you can get a backlink via your author box on that particular site. Most of these article directories have a 5+ PR. And if you know anything about blogging, you'll know how important a PR 5+ backlink is. A single high quality backlink is better than multiple low quality ones. It will help increase your own PageRank.

Besides PR, these submissions will also boost your traffic. These directories are frequently visited by millions of people in search of knowledge or articles to research upon. And with your articles, you can divert some of that traffic to your own website.

Another little benefit is, you can get rid of your old, or unnecessary blog posts. A lot of bloggers post on irrelevant stuff at the start just for the sake of something to write about. Many posts end up stalling as well, with no traffic coming to them. Such posts aren't any good to anybody. So deleting them, and submitting them on article directories instead can squeeze some use out of them.

Top 10 Article Directories

Here's a list of the top 10 article directories where you can submit old or new articles of yours and get some backlinks and traffic out of it.

1. The Free Library - PR 7


2. EzineArticles * - PR 6


3. ArticlesBase * - PR 6


4. GoArticles * - PR 5


5. Article Dashboard - PR 5


6. Article City - PR 5


7. Article Alley * - PR 4


8. Article Factory * - PR 4


9. WryteStuff * - PR 4


10. Internet Marketing News Watch - PR 3

You can submit one article to more than one directories above. However, the directories marked with a sterick (*) are listed under the SubmitYourAccount (SYA) Account Manager. This means, that articles submitted to these directories come under the same account manager. Hence, if you signed up for these directories with your SYA account, then you can not submit the same article to more than one of these websites. All the starred websites can be considered as a single article directory. You can, however, sign up without your SYA account, or with another account you might have. That way, you can submit your articles to more than one such directories.

You can sign up for any of these directories for free. It usually is an easy sign-up process. Once signed up, you are ready to start posting articles. Before you submit articles though, make sure your author profile is properly filled, and that it is linking to your website. Most sites give you an HTML box where you can directly add your link and anchor it to some text such as your name.

You can submit a single article to many directories. But keep in mind their copyrights law before submitting. Some directories won't let you post already published content, while others might not allow you to reproduce them. Be sure to check out their ToS before submitting anything.

We'd recommend you sign up for multiple article directories, at least 5. That way, you can be sure of scoring at least backlink to your website. And if more accept your article, well and good! The whole purpose of this exercise is to build quality backlinks, which should be on any blogger's priority list.

Understanding the Different Ways to Use Videos on Social Media

As you’ve probably heard, videos are the single best performing content on social media – by a pretty wide margin. Still as much as that may be true if you were to just publish random videos on your social media pages, you’re likely to find they are a lot less effective than advertised.



The reason for that is simple: There are several different ways in which videos can be used on social media. Before you begin to create or publish any videos, it is important that you understand how videos can be used, and more importantly decide on the way that you intend to use them.




Naturally a good place to start is by getting an idea of the most common ways in which videos are used on social media.

Generate Traffic for a Website

When videos are used on social media with the intention of generating traffic for a website, they are essentially making use of social media as a distribution network. Because social media platforms have a large amount of internal traffic and tools to enable sharing and content discovery, it is possible to get a lot more exposure and views than if the video was just posted on your website.

Make no mistake there are many types of videos that can be used to generate traffic, but ideally they should be videos that are likely to gain views and encourage sharing. Additionally they should relate to the website or its content in some way as well, so that it is easier to convince viewers to visit it after they’re done.

At the end of the day the effectiveness of this method hinges on the ability of the video to then successfully channel viewers to the website –via a link of some kind. On some platforms it is possible to embed links in other ways as well, but the most widely-used method is to place it along with a call to action in the video description that is normally right below the video.

• Also Read: How come video Blogging is the best way to drive traffic?

Aside from a written call to action, the video should also contain its own call to action that references the link too and draws attention to it. Needless to say the call to action is extremely important, as viewers will need to be provided with a compelling reason why they should click the link. It could be something as simple as ‘If you like this video, why not check out more of our content by clicking on the link below’ or something stronger such as ‘There is a special offer on this product today so click the link below to find out more’.

Create Brand Awareness

For brands that are looking to build up a presence for themselves, videos can be used to increase awareness of the brand and shore up their social media following in the process. That can be accomplished in either a general sense or a specific one – depending on the end goal.

In a general sense videos can be published on social media to gain exposure and ultimately increase brand name recognition. For this the videos don’t need to directly relate to the brand, but rather can reference it in some way so that it gains exposure. On the other hand videos can also create brand awareness in more specific areas, such as by showcasing the brand and its culture and values with behind-the-scenes videos, blooper reels, or other content of that kind.



While videos are often used for both purposes, the latter tends to provide more benefits to the brand in the long term as it gives potential customers a reason to want to follow the brand. The videos themselves will also put a human face on the brand, which is proven to be extremely effective when building relationships as customers will find it easier to establish an emotional connection to the brand.

Promote a Product or Service

Another very popular use of videos on social media is to promote products or services – either directly or indirectly. In this case ‘directly’ refers to videos that are used to encourage people to make a purchase outright – and most often take the form of advertisements. On the other hand, ‘indirectly’ refers to videos that are far less salesy and attempt to pave the way to sales by highlighting the benefits of the product.



On the whole the indirect route tends to be preferred as most social media viewers respond better when they feel that they aren’t being ‘sold’. That is why how-to guides, product reviews, case studies and demonstrations are often used to showcase what the product or service has to offer and the benefits that it provides. Emotions have an often overlooked part to play in this type of video, as more often than not purchases are made on emotional decisions.

It is worth nothing that despite indirect and non-salesy videos being preferred, the direct route does have benefits in some situations. That is why social media videos are often used to promote specific time or stock-limited offers with a hard sell. In such cases however it may be more beneficial to use advertising as opposed to simply publishing videos – as the former tends to have a wider reach.

Customer Service

Although very often underrated, videos on social media can be a great customer service resource. The fact of the matter is that nowadays many customers will turn to a business’s social media presence when they encounter issues or have questions, and as such it makes sense to use it both to respond to customers directly, and as a knowledge-base of useful information.

As you can imagine video guides, tutorials, and other such videos are an important part of this equation – and they can be tailored as answers to frequently asked questions. On a more involved level however, social media videos can also be used to elicit a response from viewers with any questions or queries they may have that can subsequently be answered in a video too.

Over the last few years the direction in which social media platforms have been heading in has made this type of video all the more appealing. The inclusion of live video feeds allows businesses to interact directly with their customers via social media videos, and answer questions that are posed in comments on the spot.

Because of the overlap between the types of videos that are used for customer service purposes with those used to promote products, these videos can often indirectly help to do the latter as well. Still it is important to identify what the main purpose of the video will be, as for customer service it is important to focus on being informative and non-promotional.

Identifying Where Videos Fit in a Marketing Strategy

For every video that you create and publish on social media, you should identify the way in which you wish to use it. Doing so will allow you to make informed decisions about the type of video that you want to create, its topic, and even the structure of the video as a whole.

As you can see from the examples above, each method of using videos on social media is distinct in its own right. Some are promotional, others are informative, and some have a strong call to action, while others have none. Keep in mind that some videos can fulfill dual purposes, such as an informative how-to guide that can channel traffic to a website while also indirectly promoting a product or service. In such cases though the main focus of video will be what drives your decisions regarding it.

The best way to identify the way in which a video should be used is to determine where they fit in your marketing strategy. Make no mistake social media videos don’t exist in a void, and so it is important to identify how they will be used in a manner that will eventually lead to conversions and sales.

It is also important that the video takes the right form, and conveys the information effectively. In some cases rather than recording live footage you may want to record your screen instead – which can be done with Movavi Screen Capture Studio. By using screen capture to grab footage from your screen you can create a wide range of videos including tutorials, interviews, software demonstrations, and so on. Because it also has a built-in editor, you will be able to also edit the footage that you record, so that it looks great when you upload it onto your social media page.

Conclusion

Suffice to say, knowing the ways in which videos can be used on social media is an important first step, and will act as a foundation that you can then base these additional decisions off of. Assuming you intend to use videos on social media sooner rather than later (which would be advisable) – it is time to sit down and think about the ways in which you could do so.

Do share your feedback on these insights and let us know how do you broadcast your message to your targeted customers and how do you use videos to market your product or service.

10 Popular Blog Topics that will Make you More Money in 2017

The thought of becoming an entrepreneur and building your own empire in no time was a dream few years back, but with online money making opportunities today, it is all possible. The urge to start a blog and becoming rich and popular at the same time is increasing day by day, resulting in producing thousands of Newbie Bloggers each week. However, it greatly disappoints them when soon they realize that their blog would hardly generate any revenue for them, forcing them to leave this domain to earn money.

It’s important to figure out about the most productive niches that generate maximum revenue, even before planning to start a blog. What happens for example is, a person might be a good painter and plans to share his painting techniques and his creations on his blog. The idea is appreciable if we talk in terms of talent, but such a blog would hardly attract any traffic. The reason behind this is, the global change is making lives busy where people do not have time to read about your skills, but are in search of fulfilling their own thirst.

Many of our readers have been complaining since a long time that their blogs are not paying them anything, so here is something they need to check about their blogs.

If you are looking forward to high profits in return of easy blogging, you must first know which niche to choose as your blog topic.



Let me share 10 popular blog topics that can bring you massive traffic plus more money in 2017.

10.Health

As the world going online, people are now interested to find solutions for their health related matters online. This blogging niche enjoys an open traffic where there are no barriers of culture, state or society. A person from Pakistan would be equally interested to know about the remedy for losing his weight as a person from USA. If you have a command on medicine and fitness related issues and think you have the potentials to provide people worth-reading and then worth-following tips regarding fitness and Health, then you will see a huge traffic following your blog in no time.

9.Fashion

Health and fitness blogs are mostly visited only by those who are either going through some disease or are way to curious to learn tips for their fitness. But above health blogs, comes Fashion. Knowing about health is need but learning all about fashion is addiction. If you have got that glamorous side of yours and enjoy learning and sharing about Fashion trends leading the society, you can really earn huge money with it. People all over the world find internet as the most easiest access to know about fashion and follow it.

8.Relationships

Recent statistics have shown that 90% of the people have an emotional part in their personalities that leaves an effect on the entire life per fifteen hours a day as an average. People find internet as the most secure way to improve their relationships, believing in the idea of self-aiding learning online about professional working relationships, love relationships and getting advises from people around the globe. According to the latest reveals, blogs with this domain enjoy huge traffic.

7.Finance

Man’s love for Money will last till the end of this world. This common nature of people to learn ways to double their money forces them to search about such methods. Blogs having a domain related to ways of improving their finances and helping them setting up their own business, telling ways to manage their money always appeal them, further generating good traffic for a blog.

6. Question and Answer Blogs

Let us go back to school to make the concept clear. Which teacher you preferred to visit the most in times of need, the one who always had a solution for your problems or the one who used to tell you to “come later”? We all have same views about it I hope. Similarly, starting a blog with a niche of active question and answer session will soon generate considerable revenue for you. People look forward to places where they can be listened and can get their queries been answered. Just like answer.com, you can start a question and answer blog and make real dollars with it!

5. Celebrities

The easiest- yet the most interesting niche to adopt in a blogging career is undoubtedly to start writing reviews, updates, latest photos and everything associated with them, is the celebrities. The best part about this domain is, all you need to have as your qualifications to rule is your interest in entertainment world

4. Buy and sell

Online shopping has taken up the physical market with a great pace. Now you choose all what you want to buy from your living room and get it delivered at your doorsteps. If you have the ability to work like a middle man, establishing a forum similar to olx.com, you can attract bulk of visitors each day.

3. Social Media

This post will be too less to describe the power of social media at this time of life where one might not have a bank account but must be having three or four accounts on different social networking websites. Due to the huge number of Social media users, the sites that write about every single happening on Social media get the most of the benefit. Take an example of Mashable.com. What do you think is the reason for the success of this site? It can’t be uniqueness, there are much better unique sites available than it, it can’t also be a good grammar, as even I have been noticing grammatical mistakes in the posts plenty of times. Then what makes it a hit? It’s the domain of the blog! People want to know each and everything about their social media. Therefore, picking this niche to start a blog is one of the best choices available among the most productive niches.

2. Technology

Techcrunch.com has been making Millions of Dollars each year by simply cashing its niche. In this Hi-tech world, staying up to date with the latest technology been revealed in the market is mandatory. Moreover, the biggest benefit of choosing this niche as your blogging topic is , when a new gadget/device is launched in to the market, it automatically creates a hype, big enough to bring visitors to your blog to know more about it. This happens every time-little too often, ensuring a continuous inflow of money.

1. Blogging Tips

Blogging has recently become too popular even in the developing countries. The best sources to learn for the new bloggers are the blogs themselves. Just like MBT, blogs having a domain of sharing tips and tricks, making blogging easy with tutorials and everything related to blogging world are earning considerably large at this time. However, such domains require you to have the capability and knowledge about web designing and web development so that whatever content you share, it gains reliability for you from your readers.

The decisions you take on initial stages while starting a business, decides the future of it, therefore always play it safe and think about your potentials and pick the domain that goes most smooth with it.

All the best