More and more, I see articles popping up as guest post’s on blogs and as premium content on websites. Of course, people are still using article directories to mass submit their articles to a variety of websites as well. But is that still an effective way to do it?

It is true that article marketing has changed a lot in the last couple of years. The top-tier search engine marketers today are writing premium original content and sending it out to other websites for a link back. That’s becoming much more effective than the old school way of mass distribution. But I wouldn’t count mass distribution out just yet, just pick better places to submit your articles, such as eZine Articles, HubPages or Work.com.

People said the same thing about website directories. They’re no good, the provide no benefit any more, and they are a thing of the past. Not true. High quality directories such as Yahoo! Directory, Best of Web, Business.com, etc. still provide good links to marketers who know how to leverage them. True, they’re not as powerful for link building as they used to be, but that is mainly due to the search engines wising up to the ways of spammers and implementing controls to detect it. True directory submissions still work.

But keep in mind that getting an article in an article directly is no guarantee that you’ll be published elsewhere. It’s also no guarantee that you’ll see an ounce of benefit from your articles. The best guarantee of effective article marketing you have is the writing of great original content that provides value and to submit it to excellent article places, I have mentioned, but spending time developing relationships with top sites in your industry and submitting content is still a great way to leverage article marketing as part of your relevant link building program.