Article Directories Must Raise Standards

Article Directories Must Raise Standards

As a firm believer in the power of article marketing and an editor of a general article directory this article has been slowly simmering away inside me for some time now.

The issue I want to address is the appalling quality of so much of the writing that has slowly but insidiously penetrated the whole article industry.

Just the other day, being pressed for time and hoping to address a few specific web hosting questions that had been submitted to me over at my directory, I went in search of a well written article on the subject. In theory, it should have been simple. There was certainly no lack of promising looking subject headings, but on closer inspection the writing was invariably on a par with what you could reasonably expect from a not very well educated child.

I trolled my way through article directories both large and small, and was shocked by the low standard of the majority of the writing on offer. Even well established and supposedly trustworthy sites seemed to be exercising little or no editorial control, allowing embarrassingly unskilled authors to publish, it seems, with impunity.

With article marketing experiencing an all time high and with increasing numbers of people entering the ranks of article authors, you would think that the directories would be enforcing even stricter controls. Apparently not. I was disappointed to see at directory after directory, the same badly written, poorly constructed, dreadfully punctuated and, in some cases, downright illiterate and nonsensical rubbish again and again.

I suppose I should not be surprised, as I see these terrible submissions on a daily basis, but why do article directories allow them to get through the net? I can only think that in many cases there just isn't a net; nobody capable of weeding out the rubbish, or nobody who cares enough.

This is a very shortsighted approach. I won't mention names, but one of the biggest general article directories out there was among the worst offenders. Maybe this lack of any kind of editorial intervention is due to laziness, lack of resources, greed, or plain old complacency but the rot has definitely set in. Gradually, article writing and distribution is becoming the province of the lowest common denominator and earning a poorer and poorer reputation.

I suppose I could just as easily blame the "authors". It is true that those responsible for submitting such shoddy examples of penmanship are a major part of the problem, but if nobody points out the errors of their ways, or educates them to the fact that they cannot spell, punctuate, or construct a simple sentence, it is no wonder that they persist. Make it clear that they must meet your editorial guidelines or remain unpublished.

I realize that there has been a slow swing to the prevailing attitude that telling children or even adults of their failings is "damaging to their self esteem" and that people should be coddled and praised at every turn, deserving or not. The last thing we should do is give an honest appraisal or express dissatisfaction for fear of hurting someone's feelings. My issues with this kind of liberal and damaging viewpoint is something else entirely, and I'll say no more.

As an article directory operator I find myself in a somewhat delicate position. I need authors to write and submit content. I therefore view them as valued customers, whilst also understanding that we both stand to benefit from our business arrangement. However, there are some things that authors must understand about directories, and their owners and operators.

For the owner, an article directory is an investment in terms of both time and money. By hosting the content submitted by authors, the directory hopes to recoup their operating costs and preferably turn a profit. They also exist to serve up quality content for their visitors and publishers, who, just like the authors, are also customers. If you write articles, your aim in submitting them to article directories is to spread your message to a wider audience, which is exactly what the directories help you to do. You also hope that third parties will find your work interesting enough to syndicate on their own websites and blogs, thus spreading your e-footprints even further.

Now, do you want to see your hard work buried in the middle of a pile of badly written barely understandable rubbish? If this happens, the chances of your well crafted articles being found are that much slimmer. Publishers soon tire of having to wade through 30 pieces of crap just to find one good article and will likely give up before ever reaching yours.

Using the same argument, do you really want to associate your name, your business and your reputation with very poor quality writing? If you are guilty of submitting rehashed PLR content, or repetitive strings of sentences "written" by software and passed off as an article, maybe you should reconsider your strategies.

There are too many mistakes made by would be article marketers to go into them all here. Making yourself look foolish by pontificating about a subject and then making rookie mistakes is a classic example of why you should not 'wing it' when writing articles. Using a title such as, 'How To Do Article Marketing", is a classic example, causing you to fall flat on your face before the first word of the first paragraph.

A few words to the wise from the other side of the fence. If an article directory is worth submitting to, they will insist on certain quality guidelines. They are often operated by just one person who acts as webmaster and editor. They will probably receive hundreds of articles every week, all of which have to be approved - this means they have to read them. If the title or the first few lines are badly written, you stand a very good chance of being declined or deleted. There is a difference and much of the time it is far more expedient to just vaporize your article completely - no explanation, no second chance.

They will also recognize the names of individual authors very quickly, so if you submit rubbish on a consistent basis, they are likely to delete anything with your name on after a short period of time, often without even reading it. Like it or not, mud sticks, so recovering a position of trust might take some time. Don't get off on the wrong foot by ignoring the rules of the directory in question, as you will probably find yourself reciprocally ignored in short order, defeating the entire purpose of your article writing.

So, my message to article directory owners and authors is simple. Focus on quality writing and quality content. This must be placed above all else if the benefits of articles as a means of promotion are to remain. No quality means no winners. Get tougher on the spam, the ad copy, the irrelevant linking, the keyword stuffing and demand basic literacy before blindly publishing to the world at large. If you do not, the barbarians will soon take over the city.